There’s just one factor worse than being chased throughout the desert by a sandworm in Dune: Awakening, and that is getting eaten by a sandworm in Dune: Awakening. Not solely does the enormous phallic cretin suck you down into the bowels of Arrakis, it eats every little thing you are carrying. Your garments, your weapons, and particularly your Spice Liquor. Suddenly you are respawning at your base in nothing however your underwear and are pressured to do the run of disgrace throughout the sands to begin rebuilding your stock.
It’s straightforward to be sceptical about an MMO survival sport set within the Duniverse, however after a number of bouts of dehydration and sunstroke, the day I spent in Arrakis satisfied me that Dune: Awakening is one to observe. More than that, if the developer can ship on its plans for the endgame, it may see an EVE Online-style future for its hardcore playerbase. This huge challenge is the work of Funcom – the studio of the Conan: Exiles dong slider fame – and units you on a path from broke-ass Arrakis hobo to an influential determine harvesting Spice on an industrial scale and pushing their private agenda on the Landsraad. It’s bought every little thing you count on from an MMO – intricate talent bushes, PvP mechanics, base constructing and character customization, however with ornithopters and mind-altering substances thrown in.
Dune: Awakening is ready in a world the place Lady Jessica had a Sliding Doors second and selected to comply with the directions of the Bene Gesserit and have a daughter, Ariste, as a substitute of the little twink we all know and love, Paul Atredies. Cut to 29 years later and the Harkonnens and Atredies are at battle over Arrakis, the Fremen have been (apparently) worn out, and various religions have advanced to fill the hole left by Lisan al-Gaib. The alternate timeline is not meant as a nipple twist to followers, Funcom wanted the narrative area to make the participant character consequential.
“Obviously we did the considerably controversial however I feel very right selection of making the alternate historical past, which allowed us to detach a bit from what was happening within the films and form of concentrate on creating the sport,” explains producer Nils Ryborg.
“It’s additionally been very useful in that it permits us to carry quite a lot of the big-name characters that individuals actually wish to work together with again into the story. So within the books, quite a lot of the big-name characters die off fairly early. With our story, we get to maintain them round, which is actually cool. There are clearly issues that we wish to embrace extra of sooner or later that had been very talked-about within the films. We will not have sandworm driving at launch, for example. But someday sooner or later we’ll take a look at that.”
If it nonetheless would not sit proper, Dune purists ought to know that Funcom bought the blessing of the Herbert property for the challenge, working with it and the makers of the present films to maintain every little thing true to the lore. It influences every little thing from the talents you’ll be able to be taught to the crafting development, and it is a key a part of attempting to make sure that Awakening stands out in an ever-growing pack.
Survival video games are throughout Steam proper now, and I’ve tried most of them. Drop me bare in a jungle and I’ll fortunately bash rocks and branches collectively for hours. Abandon me penniless in a fantasy panorama and I’ll be crafting swords earlier than breakfast. Dune: Awakening stands out the minute you exit character creation for one very annoying motive; Arrakis is not precisely a tropical island or verdant forested ecosystem. In the opening space, Hagga Basin, there is no water, scarce wildlife and a definite lack of coconuts. Oh, and the solar is like actually, actually sizzling and also you’re prone to sunstroke, there are scavengers who wish to kill you in all places, and did I point out the sandworms? For the primary few hours my complete life hinged on dew drops, granite, and plant fibers, and the recommendation of an NPC with a pet bat who babied me by way of masking the fundamentals of weapons, armor, and hydration till I may make it alone.
You’re not completely pathetic throughout this time because of a choice of talents that you could unlock as you achieve expertise. I leaned into my manipulative wifey facet and selected the Bene Gesserit abilities, giving me the ability to compel enemies in direction of me and to hold in entrance of me for a number of moments earlier than going again to attempting to kill me. Don’t get me fallacious, I used to be nonetheless very a lot a toddler within the eyes of Dune: Awakening – one means I unlocked was higher sunstroke tolerance – however by the tip of the day in Arrakis I had barely higher weapons and had mastered a brilliant quick sprint transfer that bought me out of some hassle. I may solely dream of the wild combos of ranged and melee fight, mixed with passive and lively talents that may very well be swapped out and in in accordance with want, proven off by the builders, however the talent level acquisition felt quick sufficient that I’ll get there with out an excessive amount of hanging round as soon as I’m enjoying at residence. You will not be tied to your first specialty of selection both, so you can combine and match. The different beginning courses are Trooper, Mentat (recon and technique centered), and Swordmaster.
The Spice of Life
Another key ingredient we solely bought a style of was the very lifeblood of the Dune lore, Spice. Spice is highly effective on the planet of Dune: Awakening in each sense of the phrase, nevertheless it’s additionally not straightforward to amass as a lone noob within the early hours. You’ll discover Spice Liquor and meals on the planet which unlocks a quick interval of Prescient energy – although it comes with withdrawal signs – however later within the sport you’ll be able to construct transports, harvesters, and automatic Spice-collection methods to attain the portions you will want for commerce, critical crafting or managing a raging Spice dependancy. I think the worth of Spice to gamers, versus the ache of amassing it, might be one thing Funcom might be balancing lengthy after the sport is launched.
“I feel Spice is actually cool. Obviously tremendous vital within the lore and we use it not solely to… it has some story features that I will not get into, nevertheless it’s additionally the truth that we are able to use it to enhance the power of our talents and the way properly we get to work together with them,” says Ryborg.
“But then having the downside of Spice dependancy and needing extra of it, and it is like fixed want of an increasing number of and extra. Lots of the endgame methods being reliant on, ‘Hey, are you able to get sufficient Spice to pay all of your taxes in your enormous base and to have the right political sway that you just want and construct no matter endgame issues that it’s good to construct?’ I really feel that is been a really rewarding factor to drag off as a result of we’re now permitting all the long-lasting issues that you just consider from the Dune books to turn out to be pure mechanics that match very properly into the sport.
“If you are continually excessive up on Spice, you’ll begin seeing bizarre and wonky issues. I feel it is enjoyable, proper? Because you are empowering your talents, however you are additionally doubtlessly placing your self in a scenario the place you could have worse prospects. So you are balancing that complete act of, ‘Oh, I want to do that or this.’ And then additionally realizing that you just want this useful resource for development in different mechanics. So you are tapping into it now for a short lived increase for this battle however long-term I want this to pay taxes, achieve political sway, and so forth.”
Once you have realized to reside Arrakis type, you can begin to concentrate on extra than simply drinks. There’s a easy constructing system so you can begin to assemble your base, or sub-fief, and which you will slowly begin to fill with machines that automate the fundamentals of survival. A machine to extract water from blood that you could harvest from enemy corpses, one other to purify the ores you discover. You’ll want a fabricator to create armor and weapons. We solely had entry to very fundamental granite constructing blocks on the early stage of Dune: Awakening, however choices for personalization will enhance as you progress. Personally I am unable to wait to construct some extreme mansion with Harkonnen aesthetics. You can even copy your base to maneuver as your focus turns to new areas of Arrakis, so none of that tedious a number of base nonsense that survival gamers are generally cursed with.
It’s straightforward to image my time spent in a loop of harvesting supplies, finishing facet quests or contracts, and taking out Scavengers each time I come throughout them. And I did come throughout them rather a lot. There are camps dotted across the map, and enemies will respawn there frequently, so you will all the time have some strolling blood baggage to exsanguinate when it’s good to. At instances the enemies and the camps felt somewhat cut-and-paste. Early on I used to be passing the identical camps time and again as I ran throughout the map, staying within the shadows to keep away from the warmth of the solar, and coping with them began to really feel like a grind. Close to the tip of the demo the event group took pity on us and spawned ornithopters, and it is easy to see how that challenge will not reappear as soon as you are not trudging forwards and backwards throughout the map on the lookout for a brand new provide of ore.
You’re free to only wander the desert amassing twigs, however there are a number of story arcs – or Journeys – that push you deeper into the world. As properly as bat boy’s Arrakis 101 seminar, there is a Herbertian set of trials you are tasked with finishing after a Spice Dream, and that is the place issues get trippy. No spoilers, however the first, the Trial of Aql, includes stealthing round a cavern to keep away from the discover of an enormous golden glowing eye. The weirdness was a welcome interlude within the cycle of harvesting supplies, killing scavengers, and fulfilling fundamental contracts for the tradepost, and I’m hungry to know what the opposite trials have in retailer.
Some stuff we did not get to attempt for ourselves had been the extra social features of Dune: Awakening. Prove your abilities for survival and skulduggery in Arrakis and you will get to the endgame, wielding affect on the Landsraat, the place factions of gamers could make selections that can have an effect on the world. Being as we had been within the toddler finish of the Dune: Awakening pool, we solely bought to expertise the PvE a part of the expertise, which with every little thing else I used to be attempting to cope with felt like a blessing. Ryborg says that whilst you can benefit from the sport as a loner, these later social features might be very important to being an Arrakis Kingpin, from taking up the robust dungeon-style lab places to buying and selling for objects.
“So we have got the entire story and there is quite a lot of single participant content material however there are areas the place you positively want different folks. If you wish to get into the actually robust ecological testing stations, among the more durable ones, you positively want folks.
“But particularly if you wish to delve into the deep desert, the complete endgame. If you wish to have interaction within the endgame political loop, you’ll need extra folks. If you wish to do the correct massive Spice raids and truly get sufficient sources to essentially make a dent into the endgame, you’ll need folks. But I feel a technique to consider it’s you do not have to try this each second of the day. That could be like, let’s plan a giant occasion as a bunch of individuals, let’s go do this. And then the remainder of the time you’ll be able to get pleasure from constructing your base and fascinating with the story and build up your character in several methods.”
It won’t be straightforward, dwelling on the planet of Dune: Awakening, however as a Frank Herbert fan I’m assured that the expertise is in good arms. It’s a mixture of stable mechanics that put a twist on the same old eventualities, and a deep deep obsession with the work of Herbert that strengthens the world constructing past the talents of most narrative designs. Yes, I’m principally peeing in my Stillsuit with pleasure, even after all of the sandworm trauma. Now I simply want Funcom so as to add a capability to make a Muad’Dib my in-game pet, slightly than simply one other furry blood bag.