Developer: Funcom
Publisher: Funcom
Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PS5
Dune: Awakening – Review
Dune: Awakening is an absolutely gorgeous game, placing you in the setting of Dune as we know it from the movies of Denis Villeneuve, with a matching visual style and sound design. This game features a story that fits perfectly into the setting and lets you explore Arrakis on your own terms. This game is developed and published by Funcom.
Story
Dune: Awakening takes place in the same universe we know from the movies and books, but in an alternative timeline: Paul Atreides was never born, and his mother had a girl instead. This means House Atreides was never eradicated and is still a faction in this timeline. You start your journey as a prisoner, brought before the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother, and undergo the Gom Jabbar test. After surviving this, you’ll be sent to Arrakis to try to find the Fremen, who seem to have disappeared. There’s also a mysterious legend mentioning ‘The Sleeper’ which you must investigate.
When the transport you’re on arrives on Arrakis, the ship is shot down and destroyed. You are saved from the wreck by someone called Zantara, who teaches you how to survive on Arrakis, guiding you through several locations. During the game, you’ll meet many characters who directly tie into the lore of Dune. For Dune fans, it’s a lot of fun to learn the stories of this timeline and the characters. It really feels like a plausible story which fits perfectly within the setting of Dune we know from the movies and the books.
Graphics
The graphics of Dune: Awakening are absolutely gorgeous and make you feel like you are actually exploring Arrakis from Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movies. The desert environment is beautifully designed, with lots of variation while feeling empty and hostile at the same time. Scavenger camps are often hidden from sight, so generally if you look around you’ll just see barren rocks and plains of sand, occasionally being disturbed by an enormous sandworm. Whenever a sandstorm is approaching, you’ll get an auditory warning, but you’ll also see the storm clearly approaching and battering the structure you’re in. The buildings look really impressive with the brutalist style architecture we know from the movies. Depending on each faction, there are some differences in style.
The suits and weapons you’ll wear are beautifully designed and fit within the setting. The UI is quite expansive since there’s so much to do in the game, but it’s easy to navigate once you learn where you need to look.
Sound
The music of the game is beautiful, just like in the movies. The music feels epic and cinematic, and fits the desert atmosphere. Whenever enemies are nearby, the music intensifies until all enemies are defeated. Of course, you’ll also hear enemies call out when they discover you. The game is fully narrated, and it’s done very well. Of course, you’ll talk to many NPC characters, but you’ll also often discover audio logs telling more of the background story of certain locations. The soundscape is absolutely amazing; you’ll hear the wind howling, the environment creaking, and a massive sound whenever a sandworm is approaching, which feels terrifying. The sound effects in the game feel pretty unique and fitting to the universe.
Gameplay
Dune: Awakening is at its core an MMORPG, but for this review we’ve selected single-player mode, placing us alone in the universe alongside the NPCs. The game features an epic story and relies heavily on survival mechanics to endure the harsh desert environment of Arrakis.
The Gom Jabbar test at the very beginning enables you to build your character. When asked questions, you can choose your backstory, faction, and the class you’d like to play. Creating your character like this feels very fitting. You’ll select a base class with its skill tree; however, you’ll gain access to other skill trees as you progress through the game. You’ll meet characters who can teach you things like sword fighting if you finish their quests, unlocking the skill tree that belongs to that skill. You’ll earn skill points when you level up, but you really have to specialize since you get many skill trees and just a few points.
Surviving the harsh conditions of the desert on Arrakis requires you to keep an eye on many different stats. You’ll need to drink enough water and never run out, or you’ll die. Luckily, you can craft water containers, and if you’re really desperate, drink your enemies’ blood. Blood can be refined into water as well. If you stand in the full sun for too long, you’ll get overheated, so you’ll need to stick to the shadows or move around at night. Sandstorms will kill you too if you’re unsheltered, so whenever you hear a warning of an approaching storm you’ll quickly need to find a structure to hide in, which can be a building but also a cave. Moving around in the open desert will attract a sandworm to your location, which will eat you, making you lose everything you’re carrying. If you die of other causes, you’ll be able to retrieve the contents of your backpack at the location where you died. Surviving the desert is something that needs to be on your mind constantly. The desert really feels deadly, and in the beginning you’ll probably die a few times before you learn to keep an eye on all your stats.
To protect yourself and everything you own, you’ll need to build a base, which can be placed anywhere with suitable terrain. Within this base, you can place storage containers and different machines to refine ore and blood and manufacture items. To protect this base from the storms, you’ll need to have a shield active at all times, requiring power cells to power your machines and the shield.
You’ll gather materials in order to craft everything, which you gather in the world, steal from scavengers, earn through quests, or gain while looting. You’ll also discover blueprints in chests you’ll discover in scavenger camps or in questing areas. Essential blueprints are also unlocked through progressing in the game. With these blueprints, you can craft weapons, mining tools for all essentials, suits, armor, machines for your base, and vehicles enabling you to move around faster. Some materials are only found in certain locations, since those are off-world materials, often needed to craft extremely useful items like vehicles.
Combat feels a bit clunky at first, since you need to use a radial menu to switch weapons. However, you’ll get used to it quickly, and when combat becomes more challenging as the game progresses you’ll likely be able to switch weapons quickly. Switching weapons from long-ranged rifles to daggers is something you’ll do often when encountering enemies. Enemies can also be shielded, and in such a case, only special knife attacks will damage them, just like in the movies. If you’re approaching enemies and attack one with a knife while others shoot at you and you’re unshielded, you’ll be dead pretty quickly so it’s best to take on enemies just a few at the time. This makes combat feel fitting to the setting as well, although you’d imagine there’d be less people just walking around in a place like this. Sometimes you’ll feel a bit like a murderhobo, where you shoot first and never ask questions, just assuming anyone is your enemy (which indeed they are). You’d imagine if there were actually so many scavengers living in harsh conditions like these, they’d try to band together and pool their resources to survive more efficiently together. However, combat like this is logical in a game such as this, and the action is a welcome diversion from just gathering and surviving.
Conclusion
Dune: Awakening is a beautiful game which absolutely honors the Dune setting we know from the movies. The survival mechanics are very good and really fit the setting. The same can be said about the combat, although it feels a bit clunky at first. The graphics and sound design are absolutely magnificent and really make you feel like you’re experiencing the hardships of the universe firsthand. The story is well thought out and very believable in the setting of Dune. All in all, Dune: Awakening is a great game, especially for fans of the Dune universe.
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