Shares in worms, sand, and knife fights have by no means been larger, which is nice information for each the youth of Margate and the builders of Dune Awakening, who now discover themselves proudly owning a golden goose of an IP following Dune 2’s launch. That ought to have the nice of us at Funcom excited, but it surely’s useful that their upcoming survival MMO seems particularly rad, even with out the theatrical context.
Let’s begin at developer stage. The minds behind Conan Exiles and Anarchy On-line bringing their abilities to the Dune IP is a type of pairings the particularly nerdy of you may need introduced up at a bar years in the past. It being actual is a deal with, as a result of we get to see their dedication to lore delivered to Arrakis with earnest ardour and hanging element.
Which means large worms that may chase and eat you precisely as they need to. It signifies that Ornithopters look, fly, and sound precisely as they need to too. It additionally signifies that Dune Awakening’s setting – the sweeping deserts and mountainous spines that run alongside its floor – appear as if the Funcom gang hoarded authentic novel illustrations and Ocean 11’d movie reels from Villeneuve’s home.
The wanting it: Dune Awakening seems precisely as I might want it will, and that is all because of Unreal Engine 5. Aesthetically, I am down. 5 stars. However there’s extra to a sport than its seems, in fact. We all know the sport can have each a PvE and PvP side. Gamers can construct up their very own settlement and try to outlive Arrakis with out some fancy prophecy and a genocideal twink available to assist them out. From there, you develop, finally delving into the deep desert the place different gamers will attempt to suck you dry.
Harshness is sort of the purpose of Dune. Whereas it is good that your entire sport is not some free-for-all PvP fest, like Rust, purely all the way down to accessibility causes, it in all probability should not be a cakewalk both. It looks as if gamers might be strongly inspired to enterprise into the deep desert late sport for all method of goodies, however I sincerely hope Funcom applies strain all through your entire expertise. It’s going to be a troublesome steadiness, however its an necessary one to nail given the supply materials.
We additionally know that there might be ample weaponry obtainable in Dune Awakening, starting from snipers, shotguns, melee weapons, laser weapons, and – in fact – The Voice. I can solely think about the difficulties in balancing this all inside the Dune universe, with its shielding and number of automobiles you possibly can fiddle with. It feels like hell. It is onerous sufficient making all this really feel good to make use of and genuine to the supply materials, however to make every thing really feel viable in a multiplayer survival MMO? I pray the Funcom workforce give whichever gameplay lead accountable for this important process as many excessive fives, drinks, and backrubs as they need. This factor can actually make or break a sport like Dune Awakening.
As can the political alignment system. Ultimately in Dune Awakening, you possibly can align with both Home Atreides or the Harkonnen. This impacts your bases’ decor, in addition to your strategy to politcs by way of candy, candy violence to please the Landsraad. I stay curious as to how precisely your political illustration and achievements might be rewarded, although: is it only a elaborate coat of paint on your private home? Or are there distinctive skins, titles, and different prizes relying on which despotic Nice Home you set your warrant to?
One faction can outperform the opposite in terms of Landsraad missions, however what does one earn for being a part of the profitable workforce? Flip that coin – if the rewards are luxorious, how do you stop World of Warcraft-style faction imbalance? But once more, one other difficult problem for the Funcom workforce.
It’s possible you’ll be sensing a development right here. Whereas Dune Awakening seems improbable (and completely is the kind of factor I might throw myself at), its longevity and total high quality depends upon leaping over a number of difficult hurdles. The studio’s earlier expertise on Conan Exiles ought to assist, however that is no assure Funcom can nail it right here with all of Dune’s intricies and roadbumps.
Do I feel Funcom will wrestle to get of us by means of the door on launch? Probably not. As talked about in the beginning, it is sitting on stable gold with the Dune IP, particularly proper now, so until it pronounces the sport is $100 or one way or the other delays it so lengthy that we’re nonetheless sitting round watching hype trailers in 2030, individuals might be eager.
The legacy of this sport will come from how partaking the precise survival gameplay of Dune Awakening is and the way diabolical that finish sport political warfare finally ends up being. Do we’ve got one other Eve on our fingers? It is a curious predicament. For what it is value, Conan Exiles had nice endgame content material, however survival points typically really feel a contact boring. Here is hoping Funcom can keep the previous parts of its sand-blasted MMO whereas enhacing the latter.
And positive, we’ll be dropping Conan Exiles’s (in)well-known cock slider this time round, however teh developer is swapping that out for an entire totally different kind of worm that I reckon might be extra common with a wider viewers. I do assume being chased down by Shai-Halud is the kind of factor that may get individuals hyped on its lonesome, even when it lacks the vulgar virality or Conan’s beefy wangs.
WFrom what I’ve seen up to now, I am inspired to maintain tabs on Dune Awakening to see if Funcom can really hit the excessive bar anticipated by new waves of Dune followers, or if it will merely be one other MMO experiment consumed by the desert. Seeing the sport is one factor, the way it performs and the way it launches (bugs, server points, balancing issues, and many others) is an entire totally different monster. It is a huge process, however one I hope Funcom is as much as.
This preview was written throughout a press and influencer preview occasion which Funcom organized, and supplied journey help.