There’s a fine line when adapting something to the video game medium: a balancing act between making an experience that’s enjoyable to play, but keeps things in line with the source material. Creating a Dune game is a task fraught with peril, especially at a time when love for Dune’s popularity – thanks to both the original novels and theatrical releases – is at an all time high. Dune Awakening walks that tightrope with grace, for the most part. But there are a few wobbles here and there.
Playing on an early press server over the past two weeks was my second hands-on experience with Dune Awakening, my prior preview in a controlled preview environment with a hard time limit. The content I got to mess around with isn’t much different, though the playing at home allowed for the real MMO experience to shine through. Late night sessions, fast food, and the added exploration and depth the lack of a time limit allows.
It’s a moreish journey; a cycle of researching a new mining laser or tier of armour, then heading out to gather the requisite materials necessary to construct these upgrades. Stronger guns, a tougher bike, a sturdier energy shield. A familiar experience for anyone who has played around in a survival MMO, though draped in fine Dune-ery. Certain resources require treks to old Fremman hideouts, bandit camps, or sprawling dungeon-like research facilities. All while darting between islands of stone, lest the worm take you.
What was crystal clear to me in this preview build is how the difficulty ramps up. The starting zone is, as you’d expect, introductory. No more than a handful of enemies come at you at once, offering you a chance to familiarize yourself with how the game’s basic combat and survival mechanics actually work. Once you journey north, Dune Awakening turns up the heat a little. Melee fighters will leap at you with flying knees, ranged riflemen will pick away at you from afar, while shielded heavy weapon fellas unload barrages at you. It’s here that you’re forced to make the most of the tools available to you and, actually, where Dune Awakening’s biggest flaw lies.
Funcom has created a game true to its roots here. As any Dune lore goblin will tell you, shielded foes are best taken out at close with the slow knife. How this translated in game is a repetitive process of slicing away at enemies until they stagger, then thrusting once through the shields for a chunk of damage. Against tougher enemies, this must be repeated several times. When taking out packs of murderous ne’er-do-wells, what should be a tense battle can quickly devolve into a slog.
Now, it’s worth noting a few things. My time playing Dune Awakening was largely done solo. In research facilities, where this problem bares its fangs most ferociously, another player assisting you may reduce the slog. But the flip side of that coin is this; everything I played didn’t feel as though I needed another player to help out. I can only hope that, in the game’s later regions, the difficulty continues to increase in such a way as to encourage collaboration. Otherwise expect lengthy runs of these stab sessions that even I – a British person! – felt was a bit much.
Even during these less enjoyable periods, though, I found myself thoroughly impressed with the point-of-interest design, and the wider world itself. When the Funcom team talked of the varied biomes (promising me the whole game wouldn’t just be a bunch of sand,) I reckon I shared the opinion of many: Yeah, sure.
But, believe it or not, the various wrecked ships and ruined bases are distinct enough to keep the sands of Arrakis fresh and rich for exploration. The best work is done within research facilities, where uncontrolled plant growth offers sweet succor for its madened inhabitants, or the bones of a cavernous installation are hollowed out and retro-fitted into a salvaging base for raiders. Diving into these spaces open up the setting in glorious fashion.
Quests, or rather tasks provided from bounty boards, are the major call-to-action for such exploration, and while these aren’t especially spectacular in terms of what they have you do, they do offer some glimpses into the wider narrative. A girl will ask you to venture into a grey market hub filled with goons to grab some gizmo or data. This is your typical fetch quest, sure, but the thought of otherwise missing this lovely example of world-building makes it worth the trip.
Now. Let’s talk about the worms. I like the worms. They remain an ever-present force of nature that must be taken into account at all times. While the map itself is open, you can’t just zoon across the open desert willy nilly. The worm will get ya’, so organic paths that connect each island reveal themselves naturally. As you upgrade your bike with a booster, these open up drastically in a fashion that proves fulfilling. It does not, however, remove the threat altogether. Resources like Flour Sand (only harvestable in the desert), require some quick thinking. Drive out to the harvest location, jump off your bike, harvest the sand, jump back on the bike, then rush back to safety. Every time I did this, the worm nearly had me. It’s exhilerating.
This constant threat is a major boon for Dune Awakening. The cost of dying to one is a total inventory loss, versus the push to venture out and brave the worm for sweet loot. But it’s worth it. It’s always worth it. I almost wish that Sardukar patrols, nightly ships that patrol the world, were as big a threat.
I’m left with the same questions following this preview than I had during my first time playing the game. I was locked out from the rest of the world, and while I could look at the Lansrad screen (the end game mechanic that allows player factions to fight over influence of the server), I could not interact with it. All of what I played is the early game: learning who your character will be, learning whether you’ll go Atreides or Harkonen, landing on what abilities and passive skills you like. This should lead into an endgame where you’ll be able to further dive into your player expression, land on a loadout that works for you, and build a base that isn’t just a box in the sand.
I’ve not seen nor experienced any of that. The only people who have are the closed beta testers, who can’t convey their experiences to the wider public. Why is this important? Well, it’s the juice: it’s the part of the game that keeps folks around, that leads to friendships and rivalries. Writing this, I can say that I had a great time exploring Arrakis, but the only sensibile conclusion I can take from different fighting styles, player backgrounds, and base building is to say it’s all building up to an endgame I haven’t seen.
Whether all the time spent getting immersed in the world, staying loyal to the Harkonen or getting invested in the narrative will blossom beautifully 30 hours later is a mystery. A mystery that I’m guessing a sizable number of people won’t be willing to bet $50 on.
My takeaway from my time rotting in my chair and sinking days into Dune Awakening is that it feels like a solid start to a great MMO. I can say that Dune fans should enjoy this depiction of the universe, and that the Funcom team is clearly passionate about making this game the right way. I would recommend it to people, with the understanding that the part of the MMO I truly care for is shrouded in mist.
I do hope that, in the next month or so before the game’s release, we actually see this part of the game in action. Otherwise, Funcom will be asking players to take a leap of faith with Dune Awakening. I’ll be taking it, but praying I land softly on a game that’s as compelling at its 80th hour as it is when you start.
