Dune: Awakening puts you on the desert world of Arrakis with a quest that sounds simple, at least initially. Your task is to find the Fremen, but when you make a crash landing and attract unwanted attention, you realize that this isn’t going to be an easy mission. It’s not just hostile NPCs you need to worry about in order to survive, either. Instead, you also have to consider the regular sandstorms, water, sandworms, and even the sun, which can cause sunstroke if you stand in its light for too long. This leads to crafting being a necessity, and it takes longer to complete your quests, since you have to make sure that you keep yourself alive in order to do the required tasks.
Even if you aren’t a fan of Dune, you can still jump into Dune: Awakening. There are some terms and features of the Dune universe that will likely be unfamiliar if you have no knowledge of the franchise, but I don’t believe that it’s to the point that you’ll feel lost stepping into the game. Plus, if you run across a term that you don’t remember, there’s usually enough context to tell you what it might be, and the internet is filled with Dune information to help you out in the event you want to know exactly what something is in the universe of Dune: Awakening.
Atmospherically, Dune: Awakening nails the setting of Arrakis. The music, which I love, greatly aids in this. It feels almost eerie at times, but that’s not out of place when you’re constantly watching for danger. The opening scenes are dramatic, followed by a tutorial that gives you enough information to get started, especially if you’ve played other survival crafting games, like Conan Exiles or 7 Days to Die.
That being said, starting Dune: Awakening can feel very slow. You need to spend a lot of time gathering materials and resources between completing quests. Part of that is from the main missions requiring you to prepare the items and equipment that you’ll need for your trials and exploration in various areas. The trials are called Trials of Aql, and they contain the big story plot points for Dune: Awakening, but you have to do a fair amount of work between each one.
While I don’t mind the slower pace, I can definitely see how it won’t suit some players’ preferences. That tends to be the way that survival-crafting games end up being designed, so I was prepared for that slower feeling when going into the game. If you aren’t familiar with this style of game or how grindy MMOs often are, then the pace might feel too slow.
Some functions of gameplay can feel a bit clunky, but I’m hoping that Dune: Awakening’s daily update plan will address and polish these aspects in the near future. The base-building portion of the game is crucial since you’ll need to use the base for crafting specific items, storing items, collecting and storing water, and even just as shelter from the sun and sandstorms. However, it did take me some time to get used to the construction tool and the way that you control it to place or destroy items. It’s not a system with bad controls, but it can feel like a lot to take in when you first open it up. I’d love to see a way to have the terrain around you not clip into your foundations or walls, though.
As for combat and death, I’m less of a fan. The enemies with blades are annoying to deal with, but the actual fighting mechanics are standard enough that they feel familiar. You have a chance to revive yourself if you’re downed, but if you die, you don’t have the option to respawn at your base unless you have a beacon or vehicle there, which seems like an odd omission. You lose some items when you die to an enemy or the weather, and there’s an icon on your map you can use to return to that location and pick up your lost gear.
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The big downside is that if you’re eaten by a sandworm, you lose everything. I understand the idea behind the mechanic being designed that way, but I can see how it could discourage players from continuing Awakening, feeling like they have to start over. The servers already have a barren feel to them, or I simply picked a deserted server. So, being discouraged from something like the pacing or having to essentially start over at times can make the in-game world even lonelier.
As somebody who loves survival-crafting games and the world of Dune, I am still getting hours of entertainment out of Dune: Awakening. With the updates that it’s currently receiving and maybe some bigger content patches in the future, I think that it can turn into a polished homage to the world of Dune, perfect not only for fans of the franchise but also for fans who simply want to try a new survival-crafting title. It’s especially fun to play with friends, but it can feel lonely if you pick a random server without others. Like any game, your experience will vary, but I’m glad that I was able to play around in Arrakis, and I’ll be returning to be eaten by sandworms again.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Dune: Awakening is available now for PC, with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions to release in the future. A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for this review.
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