One of the trickiest things with exploring a pre-established IP is nailing down the look and feel of its universe. Fans go into these titles expecting a certain aesthetic, and if the studio cannot deliver that, then many may just turn their back on it. WithDune: Awakening, Funcom hopes to avoid that by whisking players away to Arrakis for an entirely new type of adventure withinDune,and luckily, it seems to be hitting almost all the right notes.
From the second players jump intoDune: Awakening, the game delivers a very faithful experience. The open-world of Arrakis feels like it was ripped straight from Frank Herbert’s work and Denis Villeneuve’s films, which is great to see. That being said, this adventure may not be for everyone as the planet also lacks much variety. Despite its faith to the material, it may not quite deliver on what other survival games have in the past, which puts it in a bit of a tough spot.
Dune: Awakening’s Version of Arrakis May Not Be For Everyone
Arrakis Feels Ripped Straight From the Pages of Dune
In theDuneuniverse, Arrakis is not known for its variety or a hospitable nature. The planet is a barren wasteland with long stretches of desert and no natural precipitation. The Fremen live within caves, people hide from the sunlight, protect themselves from massive sandworms, and often have to combat extremely harsh conditions. On top of that, there are hardly any animals or vegetation that call it home. While it may be one of the most important planets in the universe as it is home to spice, it is hardly the most welcoming of places.Dune: Awakeningseems to understand that very well.
Funcom has done a great job ofrecreating Arrakis forDune: Awakening. Just like inDune, the open-world is largely just massive stretches of desert with rock outcroppings dotting the landscape. Players must also hide from the harsh sunlight, protect themselves from the giant sandworms that roam its landscape, run from sandstorms, and combat all sorts of NPCs that live within the shaded areas. The game has a few settlements, and players can construct their very own bases, but for the most part, there is mostly harsh desert for them to traverse.
Arrakis Also Lacks Much Biome Variety
Dune: Awakening’s open-worldwill likely be a treat for those that were looking for an extremely faithful experience, but it does come at the expense of variety. Most survival games try to keep their open-worlds varied to give players much to discover and work with when making a home for themselves within these harsh worlds. There are often forested areas, desert areas, lakes and waterfront, mountainous areas, and sometimes even snow. Genre kingpins likeMinecrafthave different biomes wherever players turn, making it exciting to explore.
Dune: Awakening’s Arrakis does not offer thatat all. Because of its faithfulness, none of those other biomes exist. Instead, players will spend much of their time just traversing desert landscapes and discovering new rock outcroppings dotting the map. Of course, Funcom should not have added things that do not exist on the planet; lush forests or snowy peaks would go entirely against the spirit ofDune. But, this lack of variety may push some players away or burn others out after a little while.
There is seemingly no easy way to fix this unless Funcom takes players off of Arrakis and lets themexplore other parts of theDuneuniverse. But, since much ofDuneis focused on Arrakis, that direction would not really make much sense. So instead, the studio may just have to come up with new ways to keep players engaged, as the open-world as it is might not do it in the long run.
