Dune: Awakening Evaluate in Progress

If there’s one factor past doubt after greater than 35 hours with Dune: Awakening, it’s that Funcom has executed its homework in crafting essentially the most genuine tackle the Dune-iverse possible. As a longtime fan of Frank Herbert’s iconic sci-fi setting, that’s an unimaginable factor to expertise most of the time, and my time on Arrakis has been full of moments of real shock. It’s very intelligent how the tough environments and empty area are repeatedly used as development checks, turning what seem to be they need to be weaknesses into strengths. Different instances, that cussed adherence to established lore ends in annoying or simply plain boring irritations, like the way you’re all however compelled to undertake a nomadic way of life in a style the place placing down roots and increase your base is among the fundamentals. There have additionally been loads of technical points and bugs within the days instantly following launch, plus fight hasn’t landed with me a lot up to now (although I’m admittedly nonetheless early in crafting my fight construct), however on steadiness my mates and I are having a fully superior time nerding out.

In the event you’ve ever performed a survival sport (and have seen a Dune film) earlier than, you’ll know most of what that you must really feel at dwelling among the many big sand worms: you collect supplies from the world, construct your personal ugly-as-heck dwelling, and improve your tools to realize entry to extra harmful areas with rarer supplies. Like loads of survival video games, together with Funcom’s personal Conan Exiles or final yr’s As soon as Human, all of that is occurring on a server filled with equally sunburnt gamers in a perpetually on-line world, the place cooperation and restricted situations of PvP are each a definite chance, and which account for many of its greatest moments.

The place this sport units itself aside, although, is by simply how a lot it adheres to its legendary setting, and that has a significant affect on nearly all the pieces you do. For instance, clever use is product of Arrakis’ harsh atmosphere, which is weaponized in opposition to you fairly actually each second you keep inside its ambiance. Standing straight in daylight unprotected will bake you alive in a matter of seconds, sandstorms blow regularly and can kill you in the event you aren’t in a position to get to shelter first, and most notably, there’s the difficulty of these pesky huge man-eating worms which gobble you up in the event you dare tread upon their area for too lengthy. By leaning into the unforgiving world as a lot because it does, Awakening places you in a continuing battle in opposition to the planet itself. So as a substitute of casually trotting round accumulating sources at your leisure and settling your personal little piece of the world, you’re frantically ducking behind rocks to keep away from the solar’s harsh rays and drink what little water you could have left, and enjoying a unending sport of “the ground is lava” as you rush from one place to a different with a shai-hulud sizzling in your heels.

All of those hazards offer you obstacles to beat. For instance, early on you’re unable to depart the tutorial space thanks to an enormous hole of empty area the place solar publicity or, extra seemingly, a large worm would definitely kill you in the event you try and go on foot, so it’s a must to craft your first car with a purpose to safely cross it. Afterward, you begin to encounter locations which might be too sizzling or irradiated to discover with out correct tools. There are many examples identical to this, the place the distinctive nature of the setting is changed into an attention-grabbing mechanic. Equally, you’re continuously starved for water, which is used each as a crafting materials and a useful resource to maintain your self alive, and normally Awakening is a greater, extra attention-grabbing survival sport for it.

However there are different instances the place this fanatical adherence to Dune conventions might be fairly obnoxious, like the way you’re inspired (and in some circumstances required) to maneuver your base of operations from place to put as you unlock entry to higher-level areas. Pulling up stakes means you both need to abandon all you’ve constructed as much as that time or tediously relocate as a lot of your tools as you may, piece by piece. Then there’s stuff like the truth that weapons are sometimes ineffective, since many enemies make use of the all-important Holtzman shields that utterly defend from ranged assaults. This creates a bizarre state of affairs the place you’re juggling forwards and backwards between weapons and melee weapons relying on which enemy is presently working in direction of you, oftentimes having to decide on between addressing the swordsman barreling down on you or the man just a few toes behind him with a chaingun, which may create a extremely oppressive rhythm to fight. I truthfully kinda respect how a lot Dune: Awakening sticks to its weapons by making its weapons ineffective to maintain with Dune lore, even because it generally comes on the expense of me having a very good time. Even when these things annoys the hell out of me, I can’t assist however respect it.

That’s simply a part of the explanation that, like virtually each single considered one of its friends, Dune: Awakening has fairly terrible fight. I knew going right into a survival MMO that might be the case, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a very bitter tablet that by no means will get any simpler to swallow. I’m nonetheless fairly early in unlocking all of the choices for battle and seeing a number of the extra attention-grabbing weapons and builds obtainable, however up to now gunplay is sloppy, melee fight is repetitive and janky as heck, and I’ve largely simply been making an attempt to get by way of it as shortly as potential. It’s such a low level in a sport I’m in any other case having fun with.

Dune: Awakening – January 2025 Screenshots