Fear is the player killer

Dune: Awakening Brings together survival and MMO elements with the beloved IP as a framework, and takes players to Arrakis where they will fight against sandworms, hot sun, other players and a host of other threats to become a successful desert dweller. The title comes from Funcom, which previously produced another massive online experience with Conan exile. While the game doesn’t yet have a finalized release date outside of a 2025 window, it has already entered a playable beta for players lucky enough to snag a spot.

Funcom offered a new hands-on with the title at this year’s Gamescom, giving me about an hour of hands-on time with the game just outside the giant sandworm that graced the show floor. The demo started right after the game’s tutorial, where I started out stranded in the hot desert sun after my ornithopter crash landing. Although the preview did not offer much information about Dune: AwakeningIt’s more MMO and PvP-centric elements, It gave a nice window into the title’s core survival and building aspectsWith only a small amount of technical hiccups.

Surviving the desert of Arrakis

Everything in the desert wants you dead

in Dune: AwakeningHealth isn’t the only thing players will need to manage – in fact, It’s arguably the easier stat to keep in check compared to the other main survival component: thirst. When the game begins, players will only be able to extract water from desert plants, and there is only so much of them that can be consumed until a temporary fullness cap is reached. In my hands-on time with the game, my character initially died almost immediately of dehydration, getting into the hot sun and succumbing to the desert.

As time goes on, players can unlock new technology in the water discipline category, which will allow better tools like a mechanism to extract water from enemies’ blood and a flask to carry a drinking supply. However, even with these improvements, finding a consistent supply of water is not easy. This is especially true during the day when the sun is at its strongest, and even when properly hydrated, the sun can still cause heat exhaustion that damages health and stamina.

If the sun doesn’t take you down on Arrakis, there are still plenty of other things that can. The two other main threats I faced during my time with the title were enemies that inhabit bases scattered across the desert – which can be raided for supplies and blood water harvesting – and sandworms. There is no way to move gracefully across the sand like the Fremen do, and If players make too much noise on the ground, especially when driving a vehicle, they will quickly attract worm attention.

A meter will show how loud players are, and although I never passed the point of no return with my noise, there were several cases of the sound waves going into the red when driving, running or jumping which quickly caused me to reassess my activity . Some areas of the main desert are too vast to even consider walking or driving across due to the worm threat, and require an ornithopter to pass safely. Even when not directly posing a direct danger, worms will sometimes rise up and can be seen ominously from a distance as a frequent reminder.

Building and progressing in Dune: Awakening

Stay safe through constantly-evolving tech

Base building is another big part of Dune: Awakenings overall gameplay, with a distinct building mode reminiscent of other base building games like No man’s heaven. Players can scroll through sections such as basic components such as walls and roofs, crafting machinery and various furniture and see an outline of how it would look like before placement. These also come in styled sets for houses that fans will be familiar with, offering different aesthetics, from the sleek House Harkonnen to a more traditional style Atreides.

A nice co-op feature mentioned during the demo is that Players can either half or full build objectsEither placing a hologram of what they will look like somewhere or completely crafting them, to help in collaborative building. As players build their bases, they will also have to work to maintain them. Things like lighting and machinery require power systems to run, and generally, the bases built will require taxes to be paid on the land they sit on.

Aside from base building, players will largely make progress through skill and technology tree purchases using the associated points earned through day-to-day activities. For skills, players will choose an origin at the start that determines which of five trees they can start unlocking things from – Bene Gesserit, Mentat, Trooper, Planetologist and Sword Master – though others can become options by finding characters to be an apprentice to. There are also a lot of technology categories: Essentials, water discipline, combat, construction, exploration, vehicles and unique, which includes everything from water harvesters to fighting moves like powerful, special kicks.

The large, shared world of Dune: Awakening

Fear is less of a mind killer with friends to support you

While the demo focused on the survival aspects of the title, it was a glimpse into what the future of its MMO aspects will look like. The Starting map of Hagga Basin can contain up to 40 players concurrentlyAlthough more can be part of the server as a whole – just not online at the same time. One of the biggest features will be the guild system – players can create their own guild after spending earned money in the game, which can be used to more easily plan things like space raids.

There’s also a weekly Landgrad Tasks grid, which is basically a bingo-style chart of different quests for different NPC leaders. Completing a full row as a guild will earn points and higher standing, and in turn allow them to enforce special laws for the next week. The example was decrees that will cause certain rare vendors to appear and sell their goods in the next week, although there will probably be some other options available in the final release.

The world itself really captures the desolate, dangerous feeling of being out in the desert, with small touches that add to the immersion. As I died of dehydration, for example, my character’s vision slowly changed – dunes in the distance that were once clear are hazy, almost revealed more like a mirage. Although players start in the Hagga Basin, They will eventually be able to travel elsewhere with an ornithopterLike the Harko Village, which serves as a sort of social hub.

Final thoughts on Dune: Awakening

Survival above all on the world of Arrakis

It’s understandable, though unfortunate, that the newest preview didn’t give away much of the more MMO elements of the title simply due to the location of the demo. However, what was clear from my time with the game was that Funcom leaned deeply into the harder aspects of Arrakis, with An emphasis on players building their character from nothing. Even basic traversal is difficult at first, and it really captures the feeling of being lost and struggling in the wilderness after a crash. Although it is difficult, this harshness contributes to future feelings of accomplishment as well.

Even small steps forward, like the ability to build a basic water extraction gun, carry more weight when it took so much effort to get there. The aforementioned ornithopter that can take players to new regions requires a huge amount of work to build, with one of the demo workers mentioning that it can take around 40 hours to achieve. The area players start in can sometimes feel repetitive – it’s hard for a desert that’s big swathes of brown in every direction to feel very diverse – so I have a few reservations about this hurdle.

However, there is yet another aspect that emphasizes just how difficult it is on Arrakis. This definitely encourages players to be as resourceful as they can, and makes it clear that while the game contains PvP elements and other enemies, survival is perhaps the biggest core pillar of the game above combat or crafting. It’s hard to say how my time with the game compares to the full experience playing with other players, but it’s clear that Dune: Awakening has done an excellent job of capturing the core feeling of Arrakis and the many dangers that come with it.