Learn about Dune: Awakening Story elements, Gameplay mechanics, all platforms, and when to expect the release date.
Dune: Awakening is an open-world survival MMO and a new game by Norwegian game developer Funcom. This article discusses all we know about Dune Awakening: Release Date, Platforms, Story, Gameplay, Trailers, and More.
Story
We don’t know how much of the original story of Dune will be part of the Dune: Awakening. However, the game will definitely keep its core elements. Players start on planet Arrakis’s desert, a harsh, arid world with vast sand dunes and extreme climate conditions.
One of the most notable enemies is the gigantic sandworms who roam the deserts and are drawn to rhythmic vibrations.
On the other hand, many factions fight for control of Arrakis. All entangled in political intrigue and power struggles, with noble houses, the Spacing Guild, and the mysterious Bene Gesserit playing the leading roles.
And all this because of Spice. Spice Melange is a valuable substance mined on Arrakis, grants extended life, and enhances mental abilities, but its extraction comes at a perilous cost.
What part of this narrative will your character play? We must wait and see what else awaits in the Dune Awakening Story.
Gameplay
Dune: Awakening is created on Unreal Engine 5. The engine enables many games to craft aesthetically photorealistic graphics with their own gameplay elements. Developers created the Survival game with core MMO elements, including crafting, abilities, weapons, and base building.
Survival
In Dune Awakening, survival is a journey, and one of the main game focuses. To survive, you must adapt to the harsh conditions in the deserts of Arrakis. The Gameplay trailer showed some of those conditions and gameplay mechanics in Dune.
Sandstorms: In the vast deserts, sandstorms are your constant threat. Players can team up in co-op and navigate these challenges. However, in PVP, sandstorms can be twice as dangerous. Players can create traps covered by sandstorms, so prepare for unexpected encounters in PVP areas. It looks like in Dune Awakening, allies or foes can reshape your survival journey.
Night Travel and the Black Shade: The “black shade” from the Dune universe shows up when the sun sets. Joel Bylos explained that you should find safety and cover in night travel. When you venture out during these hours, darkness will become your ally, reducing risks in the unforgiving desert landscape.
Water: Water is life, and it’s scarce. Players must keep an eye on their water levels. Consume fiber-rich plants and gather resources to replenish your water supply. In PVP zones, the challenge is more significant, adding a strategic layer to the survival experience.
However, there are other sources of water in Dune, developers suggested that defeating enemies and harvesting their blood, can also provide with liquid to drink. This precious resource is essential for your sustenance.
Base Building
Dune Awakening offers a collaborative base building with friends by creating holograms they can modify or construct. Players can team up to design intricate structures, sharing the creative process. We saw only a a glimpse of base building but it seems like there are good possibilities to customise your base and build an epic structures.
Blueprints: It’s possible to save your meticulously crafted bases as blueprints. Next, you can trade, sell, or gift these blueprints to others. It’s also a way to create an in-game economy around your architectural skills.
Possibilities: We don’t know how exactly building process will look like. However, the recent Dune Awakening gameplay preview showcased that bases will be built from pieces like in many survival games. Prepared different-shaped structural elements, such as walls and platforms, can be assembled like Lego. Seems like holographic blueprints will play a big role in designing those structures.
In bases, you can place various crafting stations, but you will also have to protect your home from various dangers. For that, developers have prepared shields and other defensive mechanics.
Leveling system
Versatile Leveling System: Joel Bylos described the leveling system as a sandbox that offers boundless possibilities. You can create your playstyle with a combined arms approach. Dune offers melee, ranged abilities, and vehicles. You can combine all those weapons to choose the perfect way to triumph in battles.
Craft Your Arsenal: Players can craft various weapons to suit their combat preferences. From close-quarters blades to long-range weapons, the crafting system lets you create more powerful weapons as you progress. In Dune Awakening, players can craft:
- Vehicles
- Weapons
- Armor and Clothing
- Tools
- Machines
Mentorship and Character Creation: One of the first decisions you must take is choosing your mentor during character creation. This decision defines your initial abilities and weapons. As you progress, you can explore the world to find trainers who will expand your skill set. Those trainers will offer missions and tutorials to unlock new abilities. This will serve a s starting point and you can expand on those paths further as you level up.
Sandbox Combat: Developers described their combat gameplay as sandbox and versatile. Players can master the art of the sword for close-quarter combat or become a sharpshooting expert, using a grappling hook to attack from above. Alternatively, you can learn abilities from the prestigious Great School of the Universe. Utilize these abilities strategically to manipulate and outmaneuver enemies.
The diverse options allow you to forge a unique path and experiment with different playstyles.
Enemies and Combat
When we think of Dune, we see never-ending deserts and sandworms lurking underneath the ground. Surviving the colossal enemies requires strategic thinking. Players can craft and deploy special devices to distract or redirect their attention. However, luring these massive creatures toward other players might save your skin.
While you can’t kill sandworms and can only avoid them, other players, creatures, and factions will also try to kill you. This feeling of the constant tension and looming danger in the vast desert might be an essential gameplay and survival mechanic in Dune Awakening. Unpredictable events and the ever-present risk of sandworm encounters will keep you on your toes, ensuring that every step is cautious.
Group System
As in every MMO, players can forge alliances through a dynamic group system. You can join forces with other players, assuming roles based on their chosen abilities and combinations. Whether healing comrades or reviving fallen allies, teamwork is crucial.
Journey Exploration: The described by developerrs journeys seem like a classic questing system that you can complete with your friends in cooperative mode. It’s a big plus, and many players will enjoy competing missions together and exploring what looks like a rich and exciting world of Arrakis’s desert.
Contract Pursuits: Another described activity is contracts. You can take them alone or with other players. They seem to be more straightforward missions but we must wait to see for sure.
Small Group Dynamics and Guild Play: Engage in small group play or join guilds to enhance your Dune Awakening gameplay experience. Whether tackling quests with a handful of trusted allies or participating in larger guild endeavors, cooperative play adds depth to your journey on Arrakis.
Single Player
Joel Bylos reassured that players who only want to engage in crafting and economy or building are entirely free to do so. Dune will not force players to participate in PVP or group activities. For many especially Dune books and movies fans will be a great opportunity to live in this fantastic sci-fi world and play as they prefere.
Factions – Politics
In Dune Awakening, your journey begins as a lost soul in the unforgiving desert and then shifts to gradually align with various factions. You will be able to complete missions for these factions to climb their ranks and aspire even to become a leader. Immerse yourself in the intricate politics of Dune, joining the political stage and engaging in high-stakes intrigues.
Sandbox Politics System: The political landscape is intertwined into the sandbox system, encouraging players to actively participate. From Dune Awekening Direct we learned that leaders can issue demands, setting the stage with varius task for players and entire factions to collaborate or compete. It’s a dynamic environment where guilds race against each other by any means necessary, including sabotage, to achieve objectives and claim victory. PvP and PvE elements seem seamlessly integrated, providing a multifaceted gaming experience.
Crafting
Funcom is known for its crafting systems. In Dune, you can mine materials such as stone, copper, iron, and metals to forge various items. Craft weapons, armor, clothing, machines, and even vehicles to enhance your survival and progression.
As you progress, you can craft machines to craft even more advanced machines and then more powerful and upgraded gear with superior weapons and armor. All those crafting stations can be placed in bases that serve as your stronghold in the challenging desert terrain.
PvP
In Dune Awakening, many PvP mechanics remain a secret for now, but during a recent trailer, one of Dune’s developers shared some interesting news for PvP. Once a week, a sandstorm will completely change and transform the landscape of one (or more) of the PvP areas. This altering the terrain will add an unpredictable element to players’ battles. That’s all we know, but we hope to hear more about it in the future.
Release Date
The release date for Dune Awakening is still unknown.
However, players can already wishlist the game on Steam. This way, you will receive notifications when the game will be officially released. Also, developers reassured us that they plan to do another Dune: Awakening Direct event soon, where they will share more about the development process and gameplay mechanics.
Beta
Another form of learning more about Dune: Awakening for players is to join a closed Beta. Developers plan to do many more server stress tests and invite more players to their closed testing in the future. If you would like to try to receive a Beta invitation, you need to head to the Dune Awakening official website and, from the top menu, pick the “beta signup” option. The small window will pop up and all you must do is to type your email and confirm.
The game is in beta, which means it is not yet fully completed and may have bugs. Also, some planned game features may not be there yet. However, Beta tests allow developers to test the game and servers and receive feedback from the community on official social channels. As gaming history shows, it dramatically helps developers improve and create a game worth spending many hours on. It’s also an opportunity to chosen few to try the game before it is released.
Platforms and Cross-Platform
Dune Awakening will be released on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S platforms.
Dune: Awakening’s crossplay/cross-platform functionality is still unconfirmed. Developers, Funcom, haven’t officially revealed details about this aspect of the game.
Trailers
All Dune Trailers and Gameplays show extreme game emphasis on two quickly recognizable ideas: play as you want and survive in an open world with many different mechanics and gameplay elements. You can find many updates from the dev team on the official Dune website. Still, the most significant trailers are the “Creating Worlds, from Book to Film to Game” and “Announcement Trailer” posted below. From them, you can also recognize developers’ well-known experience with crafting and building mechanics similar to their previous games.
Related Video: Survive Arrakis Trailer
Related Video: Creating Worlds, from Book to Film to Game
Related Video: Announcement Trailer
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