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on April 20, 2026
Dune Awakening’s biggest change to the world is its story, and unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see much of it. Staying away from the world of Denis Villeneuve’s films, you play as a generic prisoner who’s sent to the desert. Of course, political intrigue quickly rears its head, but I’m told it becomes the focus later in the game as more characters and narrative arcs are introduced. I can’t comment on how the story will play out, but I wish the player character had a voice. One-sided conversations are always awkward in games like this and Awakening could have bucked discover this info here tr
However, staying on the ground gives you the chance to fight NPCs and other players. Dune Awakening’s third-person shooting feels surprisingly good - there’s a satisfying level of weight and control to eac action, so I was actively seeking out encounters instead of avoiding them which is so common in other survival titles. Fights aren’t simple either, so you need to be prepared for each
"How do we take something that's 40,000, 50,000, 100,000, years into the future, a feudalistic system, and make it feel ancient and modern at the same time? I think it's a great challenge, a great opportunity to do that. Thinking about what spaceship design looked like for these people. It can't be Star Wars, it can't be cliched sci-fi. It has to be unique. It has to be different. And there are no aliens. They're all humans, but they've just been separated by time and space, and they develop very separate approaches to thin
Combat in Dune: Awakening is similarly focused on recapturing all of Dune 's defining elements, from knife fights to break through defensive shields to vehicular showdowns. PvP is optional, while PvE is a defining part of gaining control over any corner of Arrakis. Players can ally with either the Atreides or Harkonnen and gain benefits as they rise in the esteem of their House, but the game also offers personal guilds to worry ab
Traversing across the sands can attract sandworms that will devour the player, taking all their gear, items, and - if nearby - their vehicles. Dune: Awakening 's sandworms devour and destroy everything, while standard deaths in conventional combat lead to minor losses. It not only helps realize the dangers of Arrakis, but ensures players are mindful of what they are carrying where. The demoist showed us a couple of vehicles players could use, all derived from the Dune franchise obviously, and losing them in such a vast world is no doubt a serious loss, alongside any high-level gear. Players could craft that gear again, but it requires finding the schematic, necessary materials, and so forth. Gaining anything in Dune: Awakening is an investment, and the sandworm can just wipe that all cl
Some quests will see players enter PvP and PvE zones to acquire items, complete objectives, and otherwise fight for these factions. The demo showed a player fighting through the remnants of a ship to acquire profitable salvageable, engaging enemies with weapons and abilities based on their character build. It was pretty straightforward and a lot of fun, with our demoist nearly dying in the process a couple of times. Fitting to the franchise is the ability to drain defeated enemies of water or blood. These conflicts go a long way in helping the MMO gameplay stand out, but there's a lot more to
That existing lore, and the attention to detail of die-hard fans, was something the developers at Funcom constantly had at the front of their minds while developing Dune: Awakening . I spoke to Gavin Whelan, the studio's Senior Art Director, about working with an existing IP and what the future holds for the upcoming g
Paul, and thus the Kwisatz Haderach, has not come into the world in Dune: Awakening and that simple change drastically changes events on Arrakis. Leto Atreides' lives, for example, and a "War of Assassins" has broken out on Arrakis between the Atreides and the Harkonnen. The conflict creates the backdrop for Dune: Awakening, which Game Rant saw a brief presentation of during Summer Game Fest. The game's presentation focused more on the gameplay than the story, but what's clear is how much this world looks like Dune - but isn't. Thankfully, Dune: Awakening takes from both the books and movies to create a more involved game world that isn't just endless s
The feeling of spiritual powers permeates the playstyle, letting you become a telepathic terror with some truly satisfying combat mechanics. If you're looking for the assassin playstyle , this is your pick. Bene Gesserit is focused on high mobility, mastery of daggers, invisibility, and manipulating your targ
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