World of Warcraft of SF? After Dune 2, the cult saga expands its universe with the ambitious MMO Dune Awakening.

Game news World of Warcraft of SF? After Dune 2, the cult saga expands its universe with the ambitious MMO Dune Awakening.

The Dune Chronicles

“From book to film to game”, this is Funcom’s approach to bringing the Dune universe to life on PC and the latest generation of home consoles (PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S). Dune Awakening is an integral part of the lore conceived by Frank Herbert in 1965, then reimagined in 2021 by Denis Villeneuve. Funcom’s MMO begins exactly eight years after the events of Dune Part II (2024) as a holy war (or jihad) engulfs the entire universe.

Dune Awakening begins in orbit around the planet Arrakis. Held by the Bene Gesserit (a prominent female and matriarchal body of political, spiritual and religious power) Your avatar is doomed to mine the spice as a slave before the prison ship crashes in the desert. As the sole survivor on board, you wander the desert with the sole objective of surviving before becoming an essential cog in the history of Arrakis. Funcom’s MMO seeks to expand the Dune universe and relies on the novels as well as the two films to do so. A few key characters are expected to appear although no names have been mentioned yet.

Dune Survival

This is how Funcom defines Dune Awakening An open-world survival MMO (massively multiplayer online video game), which can intrigue and intimidate fans of the franchise as well as players. It’s rare to combine these three elements in the same experience, but this video game adaptation dares to think outside the box in a genre that struggles to free itself from its own codes. The mere fact of attempting this kind of off-piste in 2024 is to be welcomed because the risks taken are great.

Dune Awakening stands out from the competition with its unique universe, but not only that. Survival is at the heart of the experience that takes you literally into hostile environments and the only glimmer of hope is your resourcefulness and your natural curiosity. This sci-fi title promises to merge the best of two worlds – survival games and MMOs – with a primary focus on exploration, creation and (social) interaction. Funcom lays out its ambitions here. It remains to be seen if this recipe, tempting on paper, will live up to the Arakis legend.

Water is an essential element for the survival of living beings, and this could not be more true than on the surface of the planet that spares nothing and no one. Against Freeman and other players, Thirst will be one of the most formidable enemies faced on Arrakis. Achieving the status quo waters your ability to explore the star and create your legend. Sandstorms and sandworms are also formidable adversaries that must be respected and, above all, avoided or at risk of being destroyed.

World of Dune

Arrakis is considered the most dangerous planet in the universe written by Frank Herbert. Hostile… This desert world certainly is, but it’s also full of mysteries and wonders to discover. Visually speaking, Dune Awakening adopts the aesthetic of Denis Villeneuve’s films. Cinematographer Greg Fraser served as a consultant on Funcom’s MMO. So it’s no surprise to find on The Awakening the striking visuals of Dune (2021) winning an Oscar in 2022.

This video game adaptation stands every chance of appealing to fans of sagas, science fiction, and/or massively multiplayer online games. The Dune Awakening experience is based on Unreal Engine 5’s performance with nothing left to prove. The developers focused mainly on depth of field, lighting both outdoors and indoors, and environmental achievements to create an unforgettable journey on the dune. This also helps break the visual fatigue you may experience after spending many hours in the desert.

However, “dune” stars are not limited to areas of fine sand. On the contrary, the environments promise to be “diverse” with valleys, underground networks, laboratories where nature has reclaimed its rights and of course the SiH (the dwellings of the Fremen people). The planet Arrakis is an invitation to exploration and intends to reward the curiosity of the most determined Hopefully said secrets and other rewards are numerous and conducive to surprise.

The Messiah of Dune

As an MMO, Dune Awakening can’t rightly miss the core mechanics underlying the genre it fits into. Character creation, their rise to power, and their partial control over the persistent world around them are all fundamental principles that serve as the pillars of the Funcom-imagined experience. Whether it’s looks, character traits or even unlocked skills… your avatar evolves naturally according to missions completed and its weapon prowess.

Actions taken on Arrakis or forged alliances should have a direct (or indirect) effect on your avatar’s fate. The latter may participate in the spice wars that agitate Arrakis, rise to the top of a faction (the Harkonnen or “Atreides”) through political games, or simply live their lives on the sidelines of historical events that occur under their control. the eyes Your character’s fate is in your hands And it’s nobody else’s.

It is possible to become a soldier and an explorer (this is obvious on Arrakis), but also a spice harvester, an architect and so on. Dune Awakening is a “survival” MMO and therefore gives players the tools they need to survive. Later they are encouraged to build their tools, their weapons, their vehicles, but also their bases and other fortifications to protect themselves from the dangers that await them (sandstorms, sandworms, freemen, etc.). However, if living conditions are “acceptable” in the North, they are different in the Southern Hemisphere

The Dune Cycles

on Arrakis, The factions wage a merciless war to control the production of the spice that the empire needs. If clashes are “sporadic” and small-scale in the north, the deep desert in the south is the scene of violent battles. This PvP zone (players versus players) presents the richest deposits on the entire planet, which therefore arouses everyone’s desire. The Harkonnen and “Atreides” must take over Arrakis or risk losing their hold.

The Southern Hemisphere is a unique place to suffer the wrath of the elements. every week, The desert has been reshaped by relentless sandstorms that destroy everything. Points of interest and environments change radically, which has the effect of encouraging players to keep coming back to find hidden locations, harvest natural resources, or increase spice production to dominate the market. Extremely competitive.

To guarantee the security of installations, it is advisable to form alliances and group together in guilds. This allows, among other things, to collect resources more quickly, build larger structures and resist attacks organized by enemy groups. During the collision, Dune Awakening features a third-person action game featuring dozens, even hundreds of combatants. On land and in the air, on foot or in vehicles. Arrakis then turns into an open-air battlefield where fate collides.

• Dune Awakening will release on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S at an as yet unknown date.