Dune: Awakening is less than two weeks from release. And from the extensive looks developer Funcom has provided in recent weeks, this fusion of MMO and survival RPG will be a smart and inventive spin on a game set in the world of Frank Herbert’s seminal sci-fi classic.
Like many other MMOs, Dune: Awakening’s end game will be centered on gathering the most valuable resource in the galaxy: spice. True to the books and film adaptations, spice is paramount to funding your fiefdom and fueling the most complex of gear and tech available. The place most abundant with spice, however, will be a hostile player versus player (PvP) territory known as the Deep Desert. While this zone will be where the most powerful players on a server risk it all for big rewards, the developers promise there will be alternative ways to gather endgame riches without being grieved by others surviving Arrakis.
The game’s creative director Joel Bylos said during a livestream this week that the Deep Desert will have a dedicated player versus environment (PvE) zone where players can set up shop and engage in less confrontational adventures. Bylos said there are points of interest like shipwrecks and ecolabs worth exploring for these players.
“I know people are really worried about doing PvP,” Bylos explained. “There’s a whole section here, it’s 24 kilometers long, where you can actually go and do the PvE part.”
After getting acquainted with how to survive on this harsh desert planet, high-level players will get directly involved with the various factions on Arrakis. That means growing your spice industry with the help of well-defended home bases, machinery for refining the planet’s natural resources, and a willingness to explore the world for more goods.
In the harshness of the Deep Desert, players compete to extract spice from deposits and make it back to their home base safely. This zone is regularly hit with Coriolis storms, reshaping this area every week, making these runs as unpredictable as they are risky. Dying, be it by sandworm, other players, or the harshness of the Arrakis heat and climate, means losing everything you’ve collected.
What seems so appealing about Dune Awakening is its fusion of survival mechanics found in games like Minecraft and Subnautica, and a big open MMO like Destiny and The Division. But the fact that the main draw of this endgame runs counter to the cozier aspects of carefully crafting your own corner of Arrakis to your liking with friends, making exceptions for these players is a pretty smart way to keep those players interested dozens of hours into the game.
“It was important for us [to have PvE] so that people that are scared of PvP, or reluctant to get engaged with it have a place in the deep desert that they can go to without instantly getting killed as soon as you’re coming through,” the game’s executive producer Scott Junior said during a stream Wednesday.
Dune: Awakening has had several betas, including one from earlier this month. The game takes place in an alternate timeline of the Dune universe where Lady Jessica births a girl instead of Paul Atreidies, following the plans of the Bene Gesserit. The game also retains the sleek art direction of Denis Villeneuve’s film adaptation.
