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Dune
Dune blended adventure
with economics and military strategy, and is considered by many the most immersive Dune computer game. Loosely following the
story of the novel, the game casts the player as Paul Atreides, with the ultimate goal of driving the Harkonnen from Dune,
while managing spice extraction, military, and later, ecology through the native Fremen tribes. As the player progresses,
his troops are equipped with weapons from "krys knives" to atomics, tap into Paul's latent psychic powers, and get acquainted
with such characters from the book as Chani and Liet Kynes. Available for the Amiga and IBM compatibles, it was one of the
first floppy games to be converted to CD format, which included footage of the David Lynch movie, and highly improved, 3D-rendered
travelling and location screens. This version (a mix of the Amiga graphics and the extras of the PC-CD version) was also released
on Sega's Mega CD format. Also worthy of mention is the audio track created by Stéphane Picq and Philip Ulrich, released by
Cryo (formerly Exxos) on the now extremely rare album Dune: Spice Opera.
Dune
II
While not the first
real-time strategy game, per se (the first being Stonkers), Dune II established a genre that would be followed for years to
come. As such, Dune II is considered the originator (or simply "the daddy") of the RTS genre. Striking a balance between complexity
and innovation, it was a huge success and laid the foundation for Command and Conquer (which was nicknamed "Dune III" by fans
and detractors alike), Warcraft, and other RTS strategy games that followed. The
player takes the role of a commander of one of three interplanetary houses, the Atreides, the Harkonnen or the Ordos, with the goal of gaining control
of Arrakis from the two other houses. The basic strategy in the game is to collect spice with harvesters from sand dunes,
have it brought back and refined for credits, and to build and purchase military combat units with credits in order to fend
off and ultimately destroy the enemy. In addition to enemy incursions, the player must also deal with periodic appearances
of the sandworm, capable of swallowing vehicles and infantry whole, as well as harsh weather conditions that can deteriorate
the structures of the player's base. Although difficult to kill, if successful the worm will explode into a cloud of valuable
spice.
Dune
2000
Using a game engine
which resembles Westwood's Red Alert, Dune 2000 is a remake of Dune II. The story, told with animations and subtitles in the
original Dune II, is now told with full motion video starring actors such as John Rhys-Davies. The game was criticised by
some for not adding enough fresh content, and for an inferior interface compared to its competitors — most notably Total
Annihilation. The storyline, though, has improved markedly as did the triggers in-game with excellent twists to the gameplay.
The game also tidied its graphics to incorporate 16-bit graphics as well as incorporating a later patch with new units for
multiplay. Despite all these enhancements, the game suffered from poor AI behaviour as well as poor waypointing which has
quickly become crucial in fast online multiplayer games.
Emperor:
Battle for Dune
While having an
interface similar to the Command and Conquer series, it added enough features — such as a 3D engine and in-battle reinforcements
— to provide an interesting change of pace. Features of note are the fairly non-linear campaign, featuring randomized
events, and the fast pace relative to the earlier Dune games. The three Houses also featured new units in their ranks, with
new abilities. Criticisms of the game are not as much as that of its
predecessor, Dune 2000 but it still suffered from poor AI with the computer controlled player attacking the human player with
a similar strategy that can be predicted and thereafter countered effectively. Further, the game's bad AI includes a lack
of combining units of different abilities as the missions cannot be won by building only a particular type of combat unit. Like Dune 2000, the game featured all new full-motion video cutscenes, somewhat based more
on the original movie. The most notable inclusions were those of the roles of the Duke Achillus of House Atreides being played
by Star Trek's Michael Dorn.
Frank
Herbert's Dune
Based on the Sci-Fi
Channel TV miniseries, Frank Herbert's Dune was an effort to create a 3D action game in the Dune universe. The game was not
a commercial or critical success, and was the last product by Cryo Interactive. The studio went bankrupt shortly after the
game flopped. As Paul, the son of the Duke Atreides's concubine and heir to the
throne, you must earn the trust and respect from the natives of the planet Dune, the Fremen, to ultimately become their propehsied
Messiah, Muad'Dib. You will have to free them from the desolate conditions their home planet is in. Done that, there still
is the evil Lord Harkonnen, who, with covert backup from the Emperor, slaughtered your family.
The story behind each mission is accurate to the world of the novels although they took place during the Two Year span
in Dune where Paul gains the Fremen's trust. Some concepts of the gameplay were
innovative. Such as the use of a Life Gauge and a Water Gauge, when the Life Gauge is empty you die but health can be restored
at any point before that by drinking Water. This meant that the player had to time his drinks carefully to coincide with when
he could next gain another drink. Another interesting concept was that if the player was able to stealthily sneak up on an
enemy and attack him unawares, not only would he be dispatched without using any ammunition or taking any damage, but the
player would also steal some of his water. Unfortunately this led to an incredibly steep learning curve which made an already
awkward to play game almost impossible in some sections.
Dune
Generations
Cryonetworks in
2001 disclosed information about Dune Generations, an upcoming online real-time strategy game based on Frank Herbert's classic
sci-fi novel series. The company launched an official Web site for the upcoming game that features some concept images, a
brief background story and description of the persistent gameworld, and a list of frequently asked questions. Dune Generations
was scheduled for release at the end of 2001. Cryo would be the publisher behind
the game; Canada-based DreamCatcher Interactive would be the distributor for North America as part
of a partnertship which published a number of other Cryo games. Dune Generations
would let players assume control of a dynasty in the Dune universe. The goal of the game would be to build the dynasty into
the most powerful family in the universe, by gaining control of the planet Arrakis, the source of the most precious substance
in the universe: spice. Players would choose to control one of three types of dynasties — traders, soldiers, or mercenaries
— and each dynasty type would provide a different playing experience. With
the closure of Cryo at the beginning of 2002, the game was canceled due to a failure to negotiate a deal with the company's
creditors.
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