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Warframe Isleweaver’s Spider-Man-Like Frame Is a Masterpiece of Design

From concept to completion, creating the character Oraxia presented unique challenges for developer Digital Extremes.

There’s a lot to get excited about in Warframe’s Isleweaver expansion — which is free to play today on PlayStation, Xbox and PC. The update links the time-lost Warframe 1999 and the timeless islands of Duviri, pushes the Void War narrative arc forward and gives tight-knit player guilds a new large-scale operation to contribute to.

The biggest allure of a new update for many players will always be the shiny new toys, and Isleweaver has tons of those too. A new whip and throwable clustered barbs will make a fine addition to any stealthy player’s arsenal, while endgame builds will benefit from a new Incarnon weapon that’ll evolve and gain special abilities in the heat of battle.

But the most impactful addition to every Tenno’s toolkit is Oraxia, the 61st unique Warframe that players can pilot. She’s the culmination of a years-long community meme about adding a Spider-Frame into the game, and you’ll soon get a chance to scuttle around on spindly legs, summon an army of multilimbed children and assassinate enemies from above.

But it turns out that deploying extra legs and climbing on walls took an immense amount of effort to make work in Warframe, another challenge for a team that continues pushing itself to make wild fantasies playable in the game.

Oraxia «was definitely something that we only did because we’re crazy,» Warframe Design Director Pablo Alonso joked. «Honestly, we shouldn’t have done it. But at the same time, I’m happy we did, even though it pushed the team a lot to get this done.»

I spoke with Alonso and Warframe Creative Director Rebecca Ford to find out more about how Oraxia evolved from concept to reality, the stresses of modeling a completely new type of Warframe ability, and the challenges of creating this fearsome arachnid’s boss fight.

A skittering threat stalks the shadows

Warframe is all about empowering players to pick a power fantasy and live it out on the galactic stage.

Whether you enjoy playing more traditional roles, like a hack-and-slash knight or a damage-soaking tank, or you get your kicks from playing more unorthodox characters, like Sun Wukong or a walking nuclear reactor, there’s a frame in the game for nearly everybody’s favorite play style.

Each Warframe has to widen the net a little more, doing something completely different from the previous playable characters. The vision for Oraxia was actually quite simple: Like Spider-Man, she does whatever a spider can.

«She’s a predator,» said Alonso. «She lurks, she strikes, and she has her little army. That’s the core theme we were going for with her.»

Unlike in-your-face tanky frames, stealthy Warframes strike from the shadows, going invisible or lulling enemies into a deep slumber. When you play with Oraxia, you’ll skitter on walls with her ultimate ability and engage with your foes from above — they’ll become your prey.

«The walking with the elongated legs is the most exciting part of her kit,» said Ford. «Her ultimate move set is so cool, I feel like it’s unlike anything we’ve ever done before.»

«Especially once you start web whipping between walls and stuff, it makes the game feel very different and it’s a lot of fun,» Alonso added. «It almost makes you think of the game in a little bit of a different way, which is what we want.»

Alonso explained that gameplay diversity is one of the most important design pillars guiding the Warframe team, and that Oraxia already feels like a success because there’s nothing else in the game that compares with the feeling of popping out extra legs and web-swinging around the map.

«It’s very satisfying,» Ford said. «It’s a testament to not only the mechanics that were put in, but sometimes you just see the sound team hit with a small WAV file that makes all the difference. The sound for the web is excellent.

«All those little pieces come together when you have people working in their craft so excellently to create that satisfying button click,» Ford said. «Because at the end of the day, that’s all we’re doing, right? We’re putting together buttons and dressing them up in a way that makes it feel like something that’s never been in Warframe before.»

More legs meant more design challenges

Believe it or not, Oraxia existed far before the Spider-Frame meme took root in the Warframe community. Ford said the Warframe team wanted to piece this frame together as far back as 2023.

While developer Digital Extremes has a very close-knit relationship with Warframe players, Oraxia’s development process was largely unaltered by the memetic feedback the team was constantly bombarded with.

«For us, this was always a character that needed the whole treatment,» Alonso said. «There are memes that can be hard to overcome — think ‘Hydroid trailer‘ — but this one wasn’t much of a problem because we had so many cool concepts for what the Warframe was going to be. The meme of it being a secret was just kind of fun for us.»

What made Digital Extremes hold off on Oraxia for so long? Understandably, bringing this frame to fruition was something of a design nightmare.

«The perfect summary is that this was the ‘Oh, god, what have we done?’ Warframe,» said Ford.

Alonso explained that Oraxia was far more complex to create than the average Warframe because there were so many considerations that needed to be made regarding the legs that appear during her ultimate ability.

Every Warframe team needed to work in tandem to smooth the kinks with the latest frame. Oraxia required new model rigging, animation trees, animation tweaks and complete animation overhauls for how the frame’s legs move and react to the environment around them.

The unique shape of the frame meant collision hitboxes had to be tinkered with, and the player camera needed to be pulled back away from Oraxia because her legs were obscuring the aiming reticle.

There was a cascading series of issues that made the Spider-Frame a tough character to integrate into the game. But seeing the frame in action for the first time validated the team’s decision to commit to it.

«There were just so many things to fix with Oraxia, but the frame ended up being really cool,» Alonso said. «That’s the thing that always catches us: We want to make something cool, and it can be painful getting there, but it’s worth it in the end.»

From foe to friend: Creating a Warframe’s boss fight

Before you get a chance to try out Oraxia for yourself, you’ll have to challenge the sticky seamstress on a newly revealed island in Duviri.

This isn’t the first time players have had to fight another Warframe, of course. Solar rail specters have historically gated every new planet on the Star Chart, and the Stalker’s Warframe acolytes routinely show up to threaten you if you’re bold enough to walk the Steel Path.

Kullervo, one of the other Warframes featured in Duviri, has a boss fight of his own, where you challenge the tortured soul in his gladiatorial arena. But Warframe’s design team has had a lot of practice with boss fights since his debut, learning lessons that will apply in the battle against Oraxia.

«We’re getting better at telegraphing moves and being more careful explaining how things work,» Alonso said. «You know, we have a few bosses within Warframe that — even people that have been playing for years don’t really know how they work. They just know ‘shoot them until it dies’ and they don’t know why. So we want to find where those communication breakdowns are happening and fix those.»

Perhaps more importantly, Alonso explained that traditional boss fights really don’t work in a game like Warframe, so it’s up to the team to find fun new ways to make things challenging, without creating bullet-sponge enemies.

«We’re also trying to have more mechanics rather than just making bosses that essentially soak up damage. When it comes to just avoiding damage or dealing out damage, Warframes are so good at those things that fights become a DPS race,» Alonso said, referring to damage per second. «If it’s just a survivability race, you just subsume Mesmer Skin and stand there — there’s no problem in your life, right? So we’re basically trying to find those spots where there are interesting mechanics.»

Oraxia’s boss fight will include movement mechanics at different intervals, forcing you to avoid hazards in the midst of tangling with your venomous foe.

«In this one, we have some tunnels between boss stages, where you have to dodge some lightning,» Alonso said. «It’s not a complicated thing. It’s not a hard thing. But it’s fun to dodge, jump and slide under it. It adds a different beat of gameplay that feels very Warframe.»

If you’re looking for a model of what the Warframe team believes a good boss fight should feel like, look no further than the Technocyte Coda enemies introduced in Warframe 1999, Alonso said. You might not battle the same infested lich every time, but the stage hazards, like laser lights and explosions, anchor the fight.

«I think that shows a little bit of what we like, which is a bit of combat, then some kind of mechanical component before you’re back in combat again,» he said. «That flows really well, and we’ve found that it has a good rhythm to it.»

The Isleweaver update is available for free now on PlayStation, Xbox and PC. You can dive into the Duviri invasion, help Dominus Thrax retake his throne, and battle Oraxia at her island lair next time you log in to Warframe.

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Missed Out on Hades? Play the Original on Game Pass This Weekend

Game Pass subscribers can also play the early access open beta of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 starting on Oct. 2.

The god-like rogue-like dungeon crawler game Hades is one of the most popular games in recent memory — and one of my personal all-time favorite games. The gameplay feels smooth, it’s easily replayable and the game’s writing is full of heart and emotion. The game’s developer Supergiant Games is gearing up to release Hades 2 soon, but if you missed playing the original — or want to replay it — you can on Xbox Game Pass starting on Sept. 19.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, a CNET Editors’ Choice award pick, offers hundreds of games you can play on your Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Amazon Fire TV, smart TV and PC or mobile device for $20 a month. A subscription gives you access to an extensive library of games, with new ones, like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, added monthly, plus other benefits such as online multiplayer and deals on non-Game Pass titles.

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Here are the games Game Pass subscribers can play soon. You can also check out the games Microsoft added to the service in early September, including Hollow Knight: Silksong.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Xbox Game Pass Standard subscribers can play starting on Sept. 17.

This rebooted first-person shooter comes to Game Pass Standard subscribers more than a  year after Game Pass Ultimate subscribers could play it. You can continue the story of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as you and a team of special forces members try to track down an ultranationalist terrorist. You can also take on hordes of the undead in the zombies gameplay mode, or challenge your friends in multiplayer mode. With the Carry Forward feature, you can transfer much of your content and weapons progressions from Modern Warfare 2 to this game. 

For the King 2

Xbox Game Pass Standard subscribers can play starting on Sept. 17.

Get ready for this turn-based roguelite tabletop RPG — try to say that five times fast. You and up to three others will work to overthrow the tyrannical Queen Rosomon and bring an end to her oppressive reign. You’ll encounter enemies and friends in lush forests, lava-filled wastelands and Merling-filled tropical seas. 

Overthrown (Game preview)

Xbox Game Pass Standard subscribers can play starting on Sept. 17.

Build and manage your kingdom as a monarch with a magical crown in this city-builder game. Be prepared to defend your home at a moment’s notice. Farm the land, build structures needed to survive and protect your citizens from mutants and bandits to keep your people happy. 

Game Pass Ultimate subscribers could play this game in January, and Game Pass Standard subscribers can get in on the fun, too.

Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play starting on Sept. 17.

If you played Vampire Survivors, you should give this game a try. It’s another auto-shooter game where your character automatically shoots at enemies, and you have to avoid attacks while also mining minerals from the alien world Planet Hoxxes. And really, you play a dwarf miner in space, need I say more? 

Frostpunk 2

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can play starting on Sept. 18.

Game Pass Ultimate subscribers could play this game on PC in 2024, and now Microsoft is bringing this game to console and Xbox Cloud Gaming (beta).

This city-building survival game asks you to make the tough decisions needed to ensure your community survives in an arctic apocalypse. Set 30 years after the events of the award-winning Frostpunk, you play as the Steward, who takes control of the city after the Captain — the original game’s player character — dies. The city is struggling with overpopulation plus food and coal shortages, among other issues. It’s up to you to build shelter and provide enough food for everyone while dealing with the factions vying for power. 

Wobbly Life

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard subscribers can play starting on Sept. 18.

Get ready to explore this silly, vibrant, open-world physics sandbox game with your friends or on your own. The world is filled with minigames, missions, secrets, collectibles and tons of clothing options to find and unlock. Plus, there are almost one hundred vehicles you can use as part of jobs, or that you can just crash for the fun of it. It’s up to you.

Hades

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard subscribers can play starting on Sept. 19.

If I were stuck on an island and could only play five games, Hades would be one of them. It’s an engaging roguelike with tons of different ways to overcome your enemies, but the real star of the game is the touching story about relationships and forgiveness. There’s a reason it made history as the first (and so far only) game to win a Hugo Award — an accolade usually given to science fiction and fantasy literary works, but that created a special category for video games in 2021.

Endless Legend 2 (Game preview)

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play starting on Sept. 22.

Lead your faction to build a great empire that can crush your enemies in this fantasy strategy game. You can play as warriors descended from the stars, cursed knights or hive-minded beasts, but know that each faction has its strengths, weaknesses and unique philosophies that can influence the rest of the game. And fending off enemies is just one challenge in this game. You’ll have to adapt to the changing environment as well. Will you expand as the tides reveal new treasures, or focus on improving your defenses?

Sworn

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play starting on Sept. 23.

Arthur and his Knights of the Roundtable have been corrupted in this roguelike game, and it’s up to you to bring them down. This game supports up to four-player co-op action, and players’ strengths can be combined in surprising ways to become worthy knights.

Peppa Pig: World Adventures

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard subscribers can play starting on Sept. 25.

Make a pizza in Italy, climb the Eiffel Tower and explore more places with your friends and family in this Peppa Pig game. You can meet new characters, build your perfect house and go on adventures across the world with Peppa and others.

Visions of Mana

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard subscribers can play starting on Sept. 25.

Square Enix’s latest game in the Mana series follows Val and his childhood friend Hinna as they go on a journey to the legendary Mana Tree. You’ll encounter adorable yet ferocious creatures, use the powers of Elementals in battles and explore a vast semi-open world on your adventure. 

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Game Pass Standard subscribers can play starting on Sept. 30.

Lara Croft is back in this action-adventure game as she attempts to find the Mirror of Smoke. Along the way, she encounters a Mayan tribesman named Totec who has unique weapons and skills to help Lara on her quest. This game has the classic Tomb Raider gameplay elements like exploration, platforming and puzzle solving.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Early Access Open Beta

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play between Oct. 2 and 7.

Fight it out in new 6v6 multiplayer maps, master an arsenal of new weapons and experience the next Call of Duty game before everyone else in the open beta of Black Ops 7. Early access to the beta launches at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on Oct. 2 and will last 72 hours. Then, the open beta launches at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on Oct. 5 before concluding on Oct. 8. 

Sopa – Tale of the Stolen Potato

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers can play starting on Oct. 7.

Miho goes to the pantry to grab a potato for his grandmother’s soup when he lands in a fantastical land. Now he has to find his way back home by following in the footsteps of a mysterious traveler from long ago. You’ll meet quirky characters, gather exotic ingredients and take in vibrant environments in this world of magical realism inspired by Latin America.

More games on Game Pass Core

Xbox Game Pass Core is the cheapest subscription tier ($10 a month) and gives people access to a handful of games. Microsoft occasionally adds new games to this tier, and on Oct. 1, the company is bringing these games to the service.

Games leaving Game Pass on Sept. 30

While Microsoft is adding those games to Xbox Game Pass, the company is also removing a few games from the service on Sept. 30. You’ll have to buy these games separately after that date.

For more on Xbox, discover other games available on Game Pass now, read our hands-on review of the gaming service and learn which Game Pass plan is right for you. You can also check out what to know about upcoming Xbox game price hikes.

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You Can Snag a Pair of Refurbished Sony WH-1000XM5 ANC Headphones for Just $180

These Sony headphones are popular thanks to their strong active noise canceling and great sound, and now they’re 55% off.

Quality headphones can cost a fortune — unless you can find a way to save. Going refurbished is one such way, and right now you can put a pair of Sony’s WH-1000XM5 headphones on your head for just $180. This model has been around for a while now, but they’re still among the best ANC headphones on the market.

That price gets you certified refurbished headphones that are a full 55% off the price you’d pay if you went for a brand-new pair. You’ll also be able to take advantage of eBay’s refurb warranty program, which means that your headphones will be covered for a full two years as well. This price doesn’t require any coupons or discount codes and the seller, Secondipity, has a positive review rating, too.

The Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones are known for being comfortable and great-sounding. Their battery life is rated for up to 32 hours per charge. Sony’s active noise-canceling technology is present, and among the best you can get.

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Best-in-class voice call quality is also part of the package so you can use these things for virtual meetings and phone calls, too. You’ll even get a carrying case in the box so you can take your headphones with you when you travel or just when you go to the office.

There are always headphone deals to be had if you know where to look. And if these WH-1000XM5 headphones are not your style, take a look at our picks of the best noise-canceling headphones.

HEADPHONE DEALS OF THE WEEK

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Why does this deal matter

Sony’s over-ear headphones have built a reputation for top-tier sound and some of the best noise cancellation you will find anywhere. Normally, that level of performance doesn’t come cheap — but because these are refurbished, you’re looking at half the usual cost. For anyone who’s been holding off on upgrading to a pair of premium headphones, this is the golden chance to buy one before the deal runs out.

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