Dune Awakening Seeks To Put A New Spin on Survival Games

Dune: Awakening is an upcoming survival MMO. It’s an ambitious project to give players an open world, sandbox experience while letting them interact with others. There are many villages and caves to explore despite Arrakis being a desert world. It looks like an exciting opportunity for fans to feel like they’re in locations they love. While still offering something to those who haven’t gotten to the books. Yet.

The combat promises variety with a wide array of firearms. Large- and small-scale battles where infantry, ground forces, and flying vehicles will clash. Players will be able to gather spice alone or in large groups to brave the deserts. The armies, bandits, and environments aren’t the only danger. Players can use spice to increase their personal power at the risk of addiction. However, controlling the spice can put a guild on top for a time. 

The base building elements of Dune: Awakening don’t just give players shelter from sandworms. It will be the home of your harvesting operation that will bring both wealth and enemies as it grows. Hopefully this opens the door for intrigue in the narrative since players can align themselves with either the Harkonnen or the Atreides. Or at least strong role playing opportunities for players to immerse themselves in their characters. 

Awakening has a few interesting twists to survival. On top of making sure they have enough food and water, players will also need to keep track of shade to reduce water consumption. The dreaded sand worms can only be avoided. There’s no mention of riding one either. Players will need to keep track of  “shifting sands” events. These weekly storms will wipe out their outposts, but reveal new resources in the process. 

There’s more news promised as the year continues. Anyone excited for a chance to play early can sign up for the next closed beta. A release window hasn’t been announced though. We can only wait and hope the release date isn’t too far away.