Funcom is preparing two big additions to survival MMO Dune: Awakening. The free Chapter 2 update will launch on September 10 alongside the paid Lost Harvest DLC, collectively introducing a shot of new story content, items, vehicles, activities, and hotly requested features.
The Lost Harvest will cost $12.99, assuming you haven't already purchased the $24.99 season pass (or the deluxe or ultimate editions of the game, which include the pass).
The whole MMO is free to try on Steam through August 24, allowing for up to 10 hours of playtime. You won't be able to play with people who own the game, but you will run into fellow trial samplers. Any trial progress will carry into the full game if you decide to jump in.
The Chapter 2 update picks up after the cliffhanger ending of the base game story and thrusts players into a murder-mystery investigation on Arrakis. During and after the new main story, Funcom says you'll find "exciting new world content, including contracts, dynamic encounters, items, activities, and more character creation options such as new hairstyles, which can be accessed by existing characters by using the brand-new character re-customization feature." There are also some new character tattoos.
Contracts are billed as new mission types available in Harko Village and Arrakeen. The dynamic encounters are said to spice up life in the desert with "new surprises." There's also mention of new archetype armors, with five new armor sets "to represent each skill tree."
The Lost Harvest, meanwhile, focuses more on cosmetics and base decorations but does have some standalone story content of its own. Here's the synopsis: "Following the crash of a Miner’s Guild spice harvester, you find out it holds a secret cargo that could change everything. Your job is to find it."
Funcom has made a big show of "the first new cosmetic vehicle with unique animations," the Treadwheel, which sees players cruise around a giant two-wheeler with a center-mount cockpit. Some players responded by pummeling the Treadwheel with memes, likening it to similar designs seen in the likes of Star Wars and South Park. (Some people also seem to like it.)
Funcom was quick to say that "the vehicle and other cosmetics" included with The Lost Harvest "provide no significant advantage compared to their base-game counterparts, and must be crafted like all other items."
The goofiness of the wheel is debatable, and power creep and pay-to-win worries might be assuaged, but concerns about the game's visual identity have cropped up elsewhere.
A breakdown of the DLC cosmetics features a speeder sporting a big ol' flaming dragon head, and the response to this style of skin echoes the goofy skin syndrome seen in communities like Call of Duty. This has been in the spotlight on the heels of the Battlefield 6 beta, with developer DICE committing to grounded skins, while close competitor Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 carries over all the goofy skins in Black Ops 6 (including a big ol' flaming dragon head).
"Please don't inundate us with this goofy stuff," pleads a post to the Dune: Awakening Reddit community sharing the news.
"Add more weapon skins and swatches by all means, but please don't go excessively goofy with it. And, this is very much an example of what excessively goofy looks like," a top reply from EvilRobotSteve reads.
"Oh please no, Dune doesn't need stupid skins like this," worries M4K4SURO.
"Please tell me that is fake," adds Malwulf.
We still need to see this skin, and others, in-game, but the fact that a preview graphic like this has stoked this kind of aesthetic concern seems like a less than optimal start. Increasingly, players across multiple games and genres seem tired of art styles being sacrificed at the altar of microtransactions.
