Dune - Awakening Preview | GamersGlobal.de

Teasers

At the Tokyo Game Show you were able to get your hands on the Funcom MMO for the first time. Stephan Freundorfer walked through the sand of Arrakis and chatted with creative producer Nils Ryborg.

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The medium-sized exhibition stand of the Chinese Internet giant Tencent at the Tokyo Game Show 2024 was actually all about the South Korean sci-fi action RPG Goddess of Victory – Nikkebut at least one side wall was adorned with a sandworm artwork and the lettering of the one announced for spring 2025 Dune – Awakening. And with that – this in advance – an MMO from the Norwegian Funcom that feels very classic despite the extreme setting (Conan Exiles), which has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Tencent for a few years. After attending this year's Gamescom had presented the first real game scenes as part of the Opening Night Live, the developers now invited people to a cubby behind the TGSstage, where for the first time you could get hands-on with an exclusive trade fair demo on half a dozen computers.

After a Dune session on the TGS24 we met creative producer Nils Ryborg.

Foregoing introductory elements such as character creation and story background, the demo released my German colleague and I, who were present, directly into the barren sandy landscape of the legendary planet. I take on the role of an adventurer who crashed on Arrakis. From the first moment it becomes clear that this game is primarily about the fight against the elements, that it is about survival in a world that at first glance is nothing more than a dry, dry furnace. The developers and creative producers call their work “open-world survival MMO”. Nils Ryborgfrom which we got a few more insights into Dune – Awakening, always brings up the issue of the fight for survival.

Just like the avatar's body, the means of transportation like this sand bike can also overheat if they are exposed to the blazing sun for too long.

Sand and sun in abundance

Anyone who knows the books, films or other games knows about the major problems of staying on Arrakis. The desert planet consists – at least on the surface – only of sand and rocks, the sun burns mercilessly, water is such a rare resource that the corpses of friends and foes are even used to extract it. Therefore, in addition to the life and stamina bar, the water bar is also an element of the user interface that you should always keep an eye on. “It's easy to exhaust all your water, you really have to respect Arrakis,” says Nils Ryborg. In the demo, however, we are well hydrated and, if necessary, can resort to our inventory, which is full of water rations, to replenish a low water level. Nevertheless, it quickly becomes clear what Ryborg means. During the day, the sun slowly moving across the sky burns mercilessly, the barren surroundings shimmer as if it would catch fire at any moment. It is therefore preferable to move in the shade in order not to consume too much water and also to avoid fatal heat stroke – another screen bar is dedicated to the solar radiation affecting the body.

How the topic of water will really affect the game mechanics cannot yet be estimated from the demo, and Ryborg also has to admit that “making water rare was one of the trickiest elements” in the development of the game; that you have spent and are still spending a lot of time looking for the right balance. In any case, the shade will be of great importance, as will the equipment – for example, a powerful still suit or craftable wind traps. Last but not least, the development of techniques to remove body fluid from corpses is also relevant. There is an entire category dedicated to “Water Discipline” when it comes to the character’s abilities.

Lots of Zspend some time Arrakis-Adventurers are apparently busy killing and looting bandits who have set up camp on the countless rocky islands in the Sand Sea.

No spice, no price

The second raw material that everything revolves around on the desert planet is of course spice – the psychoactive substance that can only be found on Arrakis and is coveted by the entire universe because of its performance-enhancing and life-extending effects. In the demo, spice could be obtained in small quantities from sand and rocks, which are analyzed and processed with devices, but we didn't use it yet because we spent most of the time killing bandits with knives, swords and all kinds of firearms. They had set up camp on the rocky islands in the sand sea and pounced on us as soon as we approached them too carelessly. When encountering such run-of-the-mill mobs, Dune – Awakening shows its standard MMO face: They are classically destroyed in value and skill-based battles and then looted. Thanks to five paths that you can follow with your character (Swordmaster, Trooper, Mentat, Planetologist and Bene Gesserit), there are a variety of skills, but in our version we were only able to use a climbing hook with a cooldown and a kind of hover jump.

IThe legendary motor dragonfly of the Dune universe was also present in the demo: the ornithopter. However, the controls were a bit tricky.

But back to the spice, because it will undoubtedly play a major role in the finished game – in several ways. For the character personally, because the spice can be consumed, which leads to an improvement in skills (we also see a “spice level” in skills that must be reached in order to be able to use them at all). But also for the progression of the background story and the development of the game world. Despite all the bandits and feuds between Harkonnen and Atreides, there is still a certain order on Arrakis – the Emperor wants taxes in the form of spice, and if they are not paid, he will at some point send his troops to clean up. According to Nils Ryborg, Spice taxes are paid both individually and by the community of players, and in order to be able to pay ever higher taxes, there are fierce disputes between groups of players over rich spice, especially in the late game in the deep desert. occurrences come.

Dune – Awakening begins with a crash on Arrakis and the first escape from a sandworm. Nils Ryborg teases a ride on the massive creature at some point in the game's future.

The worm swallows everything

Before you go at each other's throats over spice, the focus is more on cooperation: players will be able to work together to harvest spice fields by deploying a harvester to a promising location in the desert, protecting it and – should one If the worm is attracted by the noise – quickly bring it to safety. The sandworms are of course the all-powerful sword of Damocles that hovers over all of the player's activities. They announce themselves with a booming tremor (in fact, the atmospheric soundscape, which constantly adapts to what is happening, is one of the highlights of the three-quarter-hour demo) and erupt violently from the sea of sand .

According to Nils Ryborg, you should be able to ride them at some point in the game's future, but right now they are just all-consuming monsters – and everything means everything. In contrast to the “normal” death (due to thirst, cuts, firearms), which results in a fully equipped respawn at the last buoy set up, the worm gives up nothing more than the player's bare life – which we regretfully lose towards the end of ours had to experience playing time. But the loss of a resource-guzzling mega-harvester is likely to hurt a lot more. We'll definitely see it sometime next spring.

Author: Stephan Freundorfer, Editor: Hagen Gehritz (GamersGlobal)

Opinion: Stephan Freundorfer

There are moments in which Dune: Awakening creates a massive desert planet atmosphere – when the air shimmers, the ground shakes, the soundscape swells. But these moments are still rare, because I spent most of the playing time with the trade fair demo running from one rocky island to the next, collecting random resources and killing colorless opponents. Later there was a little sand snowmobile ride and even a flight with the ornithopter, but all of that didn't feel very well rounded or exciting.

Of course, such a limited, cheated trade fair demo, especially from an MMO, has a hard time immediately captivating you and exploiting the great strengths that the legendary setting and the intriguing story, the huge sandworms and the outstanding importance of water have for you represent survival. The developers are definitely aware of these strengths. The hope is that they won't just give a generic MMO with outdated mechanics, uninspired skills and run-of-the-mill loot a thin coat of paint that will fade all too quickly in the scorching sun.

DUNE – AWAKENING

Preliminary pros & cons

Water, spice and sun are the basis of promising mechanics
Phenomenal soundscape that adapts to the action
Sandworms as the ultimate threat

Still feels like typical, generic MMO grind
Graphically still mixed
The big challenge: Creating an exciting, varied gaming world out of sand and rocks

Current assessment

Thanks to the template, Dune – Awakening has great potential for unusual, surprising and motivating mechanics, and the game also explores these in some places. But at the moment it doesn't do it boldly enough to stand out from the MMO crowd – or the short trade fair demo is simply not able to convey the developers' vision.

SATISFACTORY

Current status