It’s been a very long and arduous journey. A journey fraught with uncertainty, delays and vague speculative assumptions. In the intervening period between reserving my Steam Deck and actually receiving the device, Frodo Baggins was able to trek across Middle Earth, through corpse ridden marshes, treacherous mountain peaks, the clutches of men and their tenacious obsession with power. All while being pursued by ring wraiths, paralysed by an 8-foot arachnid and endured the insufferable burden of the rings virulent malignancy. All without even wearing a stitch on his bulbous feet. In short, Frodo has no idea what real suffering is! With the interminable component shortage, a perpetuating consequence of COVID, one that resulted in a revised release and an adjusted time frame that is still very oblique. The Steam decks gradual release has been a fatiguing experience for a company renowned for its software.
But today that all changes. A day that will mark a pivotal moment in my life. A life that will be forever partitioned into a period of “before” and “after” the Steam deck. Appropriately abbreviated to “S.T.D” in the Gregorian calendar. There’s a sense of relief, like a year long bowel movement that has finally been shifted. But also a burgeoning sense of anxiety. An interminable reluctance elicited by such a prolonged yearning. A need that its release can’t possibly satisfy, with a daunting accumilation of aspirations you’ve conjured in your subconscious. The kind of self inflicted sabotage that occurs when you’ve invested a significant amount of not so disposable income on an extravagant device, that has been festering in my account for almost a year!
There’s an expectation that has gestated into this great irrepressible entity. Its tormenting binds finally splintered into a cacophony of euphoric liberation. Possessing the Steam deck is a lot like bringing home a new pet. And with any new addition to the household, it’s compulsory to accessorise. In this instance its natural to manifest this same effusive sense of pride by purchasing software. A vigorous process that only further expedites the flourishing relationship between man and device. If such a bond can exist between a living organism and inanimate object. But judging by my experience with the Steam deck so far, I think it could become my most cherished possession. One that I can also take for walks.
Do you own a Steam deck? If so what do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Cheers.
First impressions are important. They enable individuals to positively affect how others perceive them. Most of us want to endear ourselves to another or casually aggregate oneself into a tight-knit group of friends. Yet attempts to positively influence a strangers view of you with only momentary interaction can be difficult to convey. It only takes one flippant gesture, one awry word and the congenial nature they’ve tried to project is forever tarnished. Warframe is the same. Despite its best intentions, employing some fun combat and visual allures we never really clicked. There was no chemistry, no attraction. Our severance was amicable as well as mutual. We’d moved on, seen other people and were content with our lives apart. Until one innocuous day, from across a crowded bar surrounded by dozens of would be suitors you see them, glowing in riveting exultation. They look different, act different. This isn’t the same person I remember, is it? It’s funny how a perception of something can drastically alter after a period of absence and that’s certainly the case with Warframe.
Having originally played Warframe about 3 years ago on the PS4 I’d almost immediately dismissed it as just another pedestrian, free to play third person shooter, customary for the systems conspicuous lack of quality and quantity at the time. But I’ve got to tell you that this really isn’t the game I left behind. So much content has been added through updates that not only expands on the mythology and story but the amount you can do. You can travel to all nine planets in our solar system, and I’m including Pluto in that, as well as quadrants such as the Rift. I’d like to beguile you with each planets environment mystic but to be totally honest with you I can’t, because I’ve only reached my second planet, Venus. Whether you’re defending an alliance stronghold, capturing specific enemies, procuring intel, appropriating civilians from alien incarceration or simply murdering colonies of intergalactic terrorists to death, there is so much to occupy your time that you will probably repeat missions to accumulate resources to build better artillery for your expansive library of guns, as well as other implements of death.
There are a variety of Warframe’s to choose from, each with variable ballistic capabilities as well as special talents that can be activated during combat, dispersing compact groups with devastating effect. Your essentially a space ninja, circumnavigating the galaxy assassinating anyone stupid enough to impede you, and with such a huge roster of Warframes at your disposal you will discover ever more intriguing ways to initiate planetary genocide. Warframe is as mad as Mel Gibson’s drunk addled memoirs, and at times just as explicit. You’ll be hacking and shooting creatures in half with relative ease, even at such an early stage. But it’s not until you’ve really understood the dynamic nature of the Warframe that you’ll truly comprehend the insatiable lustre for speed.
Being a free to play game encourages participants to really enjoy exploration. Having an initial, obligatory fiscal value attached to it would somewhat diminish its success, but not by much. And of course there’s a premium service available to those that want to purchase a rare weapon or attire their Warframe in more appealing cosmetics, emblazoned in colour coordinated vibrancy. But almost everything you can buy can be earned through rigorous exploration and dedicated repetition. It’s grinding essentially, a deficiency often used to categorise Destiny’s own substantial limitations, but it’s never been this much fun. In fact you begin to wonder why the word grinding is uttered with such contemptuous derision?
Few games offer this kind of dedicated support to a game almost 4 years old, let alone contribute substantial updates that maintains the attention of both new and veteran users. Case in point is a new update expected for release sometime this year called 
Game, Complain, Repeat 