A Lackluster Introduction for the Zariman
The Zariman 10-0 has been a massive part of Warframe’s lore, literally being the place where it all began. A ship full of families disappeared, sucked into the void and changing everyone within. This is where the Tenno came from, kids trapped within, forced to save themselves from the monsters that were formerly their parents. For such a prestigious place, a location full of mystery, chaos and death, you’d think that a proper visit to the Zariman 10-0 would be a rather impressive story piece, right?
Well, no, not exactly.
The first time we actually go to the Zariman is during the New War. It’s where the Operator and the Drifter first meet, and we get some kind of information on what’s actually happening. We don’t see much of the Zariman, just a few areas that we walk through. After all, the Narmer have taken over, Natah is all over the place and Ballas wants to eat the sun because he couldn’t play with his favourite toy.
While we’re there though, the place is seemingly empty. And we don’t stick around either.
After the New War though? The Zariman 10-0 just kinda… appears. Somewhat. Already. Corpus and Grineer are fighting over bits of it, and we’ve got deadly, winged metal monsters roaming the place. Basically a void version of what the Infestation does. The Lotus suggests that we go and have a look and see why it’s acting like a siren, bringing people to their doom. The Operator/Drifter feel uneasy about that but go and do it anyway.
A Jump Scare
The first time you step into the Zariman is kinda… lame. You head inside and see Grineer troops, who are already littering the place. But what takes you out is seeing a Void Angel for the first time. You don’t even get to fight it, it literally just knocks you out and buggers off, only for you to be saved by four people.
Wait, people? Yes, four people. Adults. People who should have been dead. The only reason they’re not dead is because… uh… um… I’ll be honest, I’m not sure. Seeing the state that the Zariman is in, there’s no real way they’d have realistically been able to keep things going on their own. Yet here they are, doing basic Syndicate things.
The Zariman should have been empty.
I can somewhat understand what DE are trying to do. They want this to be scary, creepy and unsettling. A traumatic, terrifying place. After all, the Zariman 10-0 is where it all started for us. But how the Zariman was introduced makes little sense! We go to the Zariman and find what is in fact another Syndicate. The terror fades away instantly as soon as you wake up, after seeing that scary Void Angel. The crew that you meet all have friendly faces and like you already. It’s basically Cetus but in space. The atmosphere tries its best to be unnerving, but how unnerving can a place be when you have someone selling bedroom decor next to the lift which takes you to the more void-y parts of the ship?
At the end of the day, the Zariman is just a massive buttplug, blocking the path of something genuinely bad. But its reveal was anticlimactic, to say the least, and it’s just another teaser for something else.