With the success of the Dune film series, creating an MMORPG based on its foundations seemed like a natural choice. So when Dune Awakening was announced, with Developer Funcom behind the helm of the project, it came as little surprise. During Summer Game Fest MMORPG was given a glimpse into what gameplay loops in the Survival MMORPG would be. What was shared with MMORPG was a presentation, and not a hands-on demo of Dune Awakening. Instead, we were given a glimpse into various systems and mechanics that explored the complex nature of various alliances and traveling through the desert world of Arrakis.
As we settled in, one of the developers showed us their private base which was nestled away in the side of a cliff face, hidden and kept far from the scorching sun. Keeping cool and hydrated is necessary on Arrakis, the developers stressed that the survival aspects of Dune Awakening are integral to the overall player experience. Even when they climbed into the Ornithopter, there was a meter gauging how the vehicle was. We never saw what happened if this particular vehicle overheated, but I can imagine that it would be disastrous, especially at higher altitudes.
You can also have a ground vehicle, which looks like a nondescript buggy, which is another method of travel. You can also go on foot, but it isn’t recommended, as making noise can and will summon the worm. The more you increase the amount of noise you make, the more likely you will attract the attention of the worm. And if you are killed by the worm, you will lose all of your equipped gear, the developer stated. Being killed by a player allows you to keep some of your gear by contrast, and further outlines what the true danger on Arrakis is, outside of the power struggle between the great houses in the wake of the War of Assassins.
For those not familiar with what Dune Awakening is, it’s more or less an alternate history where Paul of House Atreides wasn’t born. And in place of the events that come to fruition in the novels, a War of Assassins has torn through Arrakis. The player has come to Arrakis for one reason or another, and can involve themselves in the various power struggles still present on the planet with their main objective clear — control the spice, and you control Arrakis.
Naturally, players can ally themselves with House Atreides and House Harkonen, along with other factions. Gaining enough reputation with either will allow you to create faction-specific decorations and vehicles. Visually, everything falls in line with Denis Villeneuv’s idea of Frank Herbert’s Dune. The Harkonen, bald and pale, wore black armor that I immediately recognized from the film, inspired by the costumes created by Jacqueline West for the film. It isn’t surprising that Developer Funcom would abide by the aesthetic choices present in Villeneuv’s film adaptation, as there is a certain kind of utilitarianism in their designs, while still managing to be distinct in appearance. The Ornithopter the developer was piloting around Arrakis was ripped straight from the film, its dragonfly-like wings buzzing as we hovered in place to watch a ship plummet through the atmosphere and crash nearby.
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The developer explained that these events happen at random, and are a chance for players to obtain valuable resources to craft gear, but that they more or less function on a timer. Naturally, a crash is going to make a lot of noise, which means the worm will be drawn to it, especially as players fight over spare parts to fashion into new weapons and what not. But there are other ways to obtain materials, and that is to find crevices on the map and take out enemies to loot their bases for rewards. Other players will always be a persistent problem, which means you will need to watch you back while scavenging.
Dune Awakening seems to be a game of allegiances, temporary or permanent. Player versus player conflict is bound to arise, which means communication could be key in keeping yourself safe or even extracting materials from the smoldering remains of ships. And with a world as expansive as the one Funcom has made, it will be curious to see how frequently you will come across other players outside of these potential conflicts. These social aspects, along with the fact that you can more or less summon the worm has me most interested in what this can mean during encounters involving a lot of players. Could this potentially be abused to wipe out swaths of players from another faction, or what hilarity could ensue if everyone just gets swallowed up, setting their progress nearly back to zero.
Given Funcom’s experience with large, open world experiences, based on what I was shown it seems like they were the right developers for the task. Dune Awakening seems vast, with a lot of different social systems at play, which did remind me of the Secret World in some respect. Overall, it looks like a more than competent Survival MMORPG with a dense layer of mechanics to truly encapsulate what it means to exist in a place as unforgiving as Arrakis, and that you’ll need to keep your friends close and enemies closer.
