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Bending over I pick up a handful of the sand, the lifeblood and death sentence of Arrakis. If it is not coated with iron dust it is infused with the all holy Spice we wage eternal war over.
Brutality, Harshness, and Beauty
When I arrived here I remembered Arrakis as a concept, but the longer I stay I know I have been here, lived here before. The brutality, the harshness, the endless nature of it and above all its unmistakable beauty. This world is worth fighting for not just for the Spice, but for what Arrakis makes us.
I have hunted the remnants of the Fremen for months, learnt their ways, explored their past in strange visions and as I grow, learn and conquer I feel more attached to this world. The families all want a piece of Arrakis and their paths align with mine in some ways, but I will use them as I use any tool I find, steal or make.
Today I approach a vast reach of desert; the great worm has yet to catch me but this may be the day. I must head across to the ridge I see in the distance; more visions linked to the soul of this planet await. My sandbike is worn, but still fast, and I will need all of its energy to get there safely.
The sand drops from my fingers as I get on the rusted machine that is my only way across this barren and scorched stretch of desert. Gloves tightened and mask on I kick into gear praying I don’t hear the worm approach and that the answers I seek are on that next ridge. If not I will keep searching, for Arrakis, for my very soul.
Dune Awakening is the latest game from Funcom, known for its Conan survival games, and is the only survival game in recent memory that has grabbed and held my attention. Built upon the rich legacy of the Dune books and visual style of the movies, Dune Awakening is an addicting experience despite some repetitive mechanics that would normally hold a game like this back.
Alternative Narrative
The concept of the game is an alternate narrative in which Jessica Atreides gave birth to a daughter rather than Paul. This alters the story of the Atreides family and triggers a war of assassins between them and the Harkonnens, with all the other minor families choosing sides or stuck in the middle.
The custom character I play in the game is a prisoner who has crash-landed on Arrakis with a mission to discover why the Fremen disappeared from the planet. Over the course of the game alliances are made, mysteries discovered, and many, many things mined and crafted.
Paul Atreides Not in the Mix
Dune Awakening is a third-person multiplayer survival game that hinges heavily on exploration, resource gathering, and crafting. Starting with only some basic schematics I had to learn to survive, grow in power, and create tools to discover the secrets of the Fremen and uncover our own destiny—without a figure like Paul Atreides in the mix.
The game follows the standard survival mechanics at the start: Find basic resources, create basic items, get shelter, discover more advanced resources, and create better gear and shelter. However, the exploration, story elements, and immersiveness of the world makes these somewhat standard mechanics addicting and most importantly worthwhile.
Literally Addicted
As I worked my way through the tutorial areas and into the wider desert and more treacherous regions I found myself literally addicted to just seeing one more area, or creating one more new tool or weapon. Normally these kinds of mechanics bore me to tears, but here, in the economy and ecosystem of Arrakis, they were fun and fresh.
The world is brutal, and exploring carelessly will lead to death, not to mention in some cases heavy loses of resources. Unlike in my introductory narrative above, I have been destroyed (eaten) by the great worm Shai-Hulud and let me tell you that was a devastating loss.
Harsh But Important Lessons
My sandbike, my money, my gear—everything was gone. I almost rage-quit the game at that moment, but instead logged back in and started over and learned some harsh but important lessons. Always have the materials in a base to build back necessities; set up a respawn beacon; and never carry all your hard-earned money with you.
Now I have an evolving group of three bases I use as forward stations, with one set up as a prime location. I have sandbike parts ready to assemble, full stillsuit and weapons, and a cache of the main resources.
All of this is stored in the bases that all players can create and use as sanctuaries. Mine tend to be modest one- or two-floor but well-made buildings, but on the evidence of all the buildings I pass as I explore, the Dune Awakening community has gone crazy in their creativity.
The reason is that Funcom made base-building easy with a ton of options to choose when making any new home in the desert. Using primarily granite, salvaged metal and copper resources which are just about everywhere, building up a new base with general fabricators and refineries is a breeze and actually really enjoyable.
The developers even implemented some great quality-of-life items, like a vehicle backup tool and solido replicator to copy base floor plans. This enables quick layouts of new bases or vehicles to get restored quickly so any new area can be explored as easily as possible.
Power Is Plentiful
Power is plentiful as are the generic resources including water once you learn where and when to find them, making getting up and running seem within reach even if the worst happens. In my case I have lost everything I had when eaten and a ton of money and resources when killed, dying without recovering my backpack while exploring.
As in real life, all of these challenges can be and are taken as lessons on how to get further, in this case building up faster and more advanced weapons, armor and vehicles to keep the momentum going. The give and take of the systems is enhanced by many quests given, found and obtained as part of story progression.
This is where Dune Awakening both shines and stumbles a bit. Like many other MMOs and survival games there is a cadence of activities. Farm this, battle that, recover this, explore that—it is familiar and this game leverages all those tropes, though it mostly stays engaging thanks to the fun mechanics and unique world.
A great example is combat. I had a blast trying to figure out how to handle encounters, outsmart enemies, get through shields, and just stay alive. Now that I have a shield as well I tend to come to every encounter the same, using some special abilities to parry and kill the melee opponents, whittling down the remainder focusing on heavies first.
Every little encampment, base, cave, and settlement generally has the same array of enemies, the same tactics, the same techniques to beat. Is it still fun? Yes, for now, but I could likely beat all of them with my eyes closed time after time.
Lack of True Variety
The same goes for the more generic quests which end up being go here, explore, find a journal or item, go to the next place, find something or someone, complete quest. While the joy of exploring and getting new skills, crafting better gear, and getting new schematics makes it worthwhile and enjoyable, the cracks in the game from the lack of true variety start appearing.
But these are nitpicks on a fantastic game with mechanics and a world that are joys to explore and experience. As a solo player I never feel overwhelmed or unable to complete a mission if I plan and execute it carefully.
While there are repetitive tasks, the sheer aliveness of the world and the sheer cool factor of what you can do just makes it a game I come back to over and over. The joy of floating down from a cliff with a suspensor belt, or deflecting darts with a Holtzman shield, and especially flying an ornithopter, just never gets old.
The Verdict
This is a survival game. It is hard, it can be brutal, but just living in and exploring the world of Arrakis and the Dune Universe is exhilarating. The game is not perfect and can be frustrating but it is damn addicting and just plain fun to explore, build, grow, and battle through this amazingly crafted world.
We were provided Steam keys for review purposes. Dune Awakening is available right now for PC via Steam and is planned for release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in the future.
