Over the last few years, Warframe has grown in scale thanks to its many big updates, like the recent Saint of Altra update. Sometimes, though, it’s the small things that really grab people’s attention, like the fact that players can now play a guitar-like instrument in the game.
The three-stringed instrument in question is called a Shawzin, and it was added in to the PC version of Warframe as part of the most recent update this past weekend. While Shawzins have appeared in the game before, as background decorations, it is now possible for players to buy one and pull it out whenever via an emote command.
It's worth noting because the Shawzin is basically a full-on musical tool players can pull out anytime throughout their space adventures. Controls are mapped not only to each of the strings but to different frets as well, and there is also the option to adjust scales while playing. What's more, players can record their music and share it with others in Warframe as song codes, letting them play through the songs in Guitar Hero-style mini-games.
For what is essentially a bonus item, it's surprisingly versatile, and musically-inclined Warframe players have been taking advantage of that fact all weekend. Looking up "shawzin" on Reddit and YouTube turns up all sorts of songs that people have put together, ranging from original tunes to renditions of popular songs like "Old Town Road," "Despacito," and more.
This isn't the first time Warframe has let players get creative with music. Beside the Shawzin, there is also the Mandachord, another flexible item tied to the music-themed Octavia warframe. With that players are able to create custom tracks through a built-in grid-based music editor.
Things like these are a part of why Warframe has been able to carve out an impressive niche for itself. Digital Extremes has put much care into keeping players coming back with all sorts of new features: new warframes to unlock and areas to explore, a greater variety of missions, and plenty of interesting miscellanea (like the Shawzin) to break up the tedium of grinding for new upgrades. It's led to Warframe becoming a much more expansive title than it was when it first debuted as an open beta in 2013.
Warframe is free-to-play and available for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
Source: Kotaku