Dune: Awakening
Summary
A recent gameplay reveal forDune : Awakeningshowed off severalelements of exploring Arrakisthat have me upset I ’ll be playing as a scoundrel . This is n’t necessarily off - brand for theDuneseries . After all , protagonist Paul Atreides becomes a villainby the end of the first book . Still , it ’s one matter to read about a blemished protagonist and his tragic fall from grace , it ’s another to build a game around doing the same villainous military action .
Now , being a villain in ecumenical is n’t necessarily a bad matter in video games . It can be fun to do an evil run ofan RPG likeBaldur ’s Gate 3and make cartoonishly risky determination . However , Dunetackles some serious real - life issues that experience very relevant to today ’s political landscape . Elements from the gameplay reveal seem to suggest that players will be working both with and as colonizer on Arrakis . I ’m a bit worried thatDune : Awakeningisn’t just going to have me be the villain but that it does n’t acknowledge that ’s what it ’s doing .
sand dune : Awakening flummox its official cinematic story trailer during Summer Game Fest 2024 , offering a new feeling at the upcoming MMO .
Dune: Awakening Trailers Show Players Working With The Harkonnens
Players Appear To Bow To A Harkonnen Officer
One of the clear indications we will be consider on the role of the baddie inDune : Awakeningcomes from cartridge clip demonstrate the playerworking with , and even bowing to Harkonnens . While the world ofDuneis rarely so simple as saying one faction is the clear good guy , theHarkonnens are very clearly one of the worst radical . They are power - hungry and violent , and they are n’t afraid to belt down their allies or own syndicate members to get ahead .
SinceDune : Awakeningtakes place after the fall of House Atreides , it make sense that the Harkonnens would have a large presence on Arrakis . Still , there are other manner that characters get by inDunebesides working with them . Gurney Halleck , for instance , crop with runner . Paul and Jessica ally themselves with the Fremen , an choice that seems wanting from the gameplay reveal .
If I ’m able-bodied to work with the Harkonnens as a double agent , or if there are less morally dubious option , I wo n’t mind there being optional missions for them . However , working with the Harkonnens seemingly being a more readily uncommitted choice than the Fremen is just one indication thatDune : Awakeningmight not stage many selection for doing the veracious affair . After all , a major part of the gameplay seems like it would put players in lineal conflict with Arrakis ’ natives .
Custom Image by Katarina Cimbaljevic
Dune: Awakening Involves Building Bases On Fremen Land
Building On Fremen Land Seems Counterintuitive To Dune’s Anti-Colonial Message
While it is n’t clear if working with the Harkonnens inDune : Awakeningis want , it does seem like building base in the desert is a major part of the game . While I ’m willing to suspend my incredulity for the sake of gameplay and ignore how improbable that safely build such body structure would be on Arrakis , I ’m still not so enthusiastic about actually doing it . Being an foreigner building base on Arrakis feels verycounter - intuitive to the major anti - compound message theDuneseries communicates .
Arrakis should belong to to the Fremen . The only rationality other junto are even interested in the satellite is to work it for its Spice . InDune , this is a clear disapprobation of how colonial great power exploit aboriginal population for their own interests in a part ’s natural resources . unluckily , it seems likeDune : Awakeningwill be forcing actor to become one of these colonial force by establishing their own cornerstone on Fremen state . Worse still , one magazine from the drone and a major slip in the biz ’s tale suggest that players may take this even further .
The Gom Jabbar Test Might Make Players Into The New Paul Atreides
The Gom Jabbar Could Indicate That Players Will Become The Lisan Al Gaib
When I first heard thatDune : Awakeningwouldn’t include Paul Atreides , that made signified to me . By removing Paul , the main knife thrust ofDune ’s narrative is admit away . This allows for an Arrakis that likely wo n’t see any major political upheaval for an indefinite amount of time , keep the setting of the plot more coherent . However , I ’m now a bit concerned that this is n’t whyDune : Awakeningtook out Paul .
In the gameplay reveal forDune : Awakening , a player can be seen take on the Gom Jabbar Humanity Test . This isthe tryout that both Paul Atreides and Feyd - Rautha Harkonnen undertook to tax if they were subject of becoming the Kwisatz Haderach , asort of Messiah figure for the Bene Gesserit . This could indicate that player will be fill up in for Paul as the fresh Kwisatz Haderach , something I am not look forward to .
Paul practice his ability as the Kwisatz Haderach to win over the Fremen he is the Lisan al Gaib , a Messianic figure of their own . This estimation was planted in Fremen culture by the Bene Gesserit specifically so that they could contain the Fremen with their own operative . Though Paul does n’t end up doing this as a tool of the Bene Gesserit , he does stillmanipulate the Fremen ’s beliefs to employ them as his own personal United States Army .
Paul Atreides is not an aspirational figure or great power fantasy , but he is a admonitory story . Dune ’s generator , Frank Herbert , made this pretty denotative inDune Messiahwhen Paul openly liken himself to Adolf Hitler . The musical theme of potentially satisfy in for Paul as someone who exploits the Fremen ’s faith to make headway their dedication does n’t excite me ; it makes me feel dirty . I go for the Gom Jabbar is included in some other capacitance , butI’m pertain it is mean as a way to empower the participant in a like mode to Paul .
The MMO Setup Makes A Good Ending For Dune: Awakening Unlikely
MMOs Typically Don’t Allow Players To Shape The World In Major Ways
WereDune : Awakeninga story - drive game , I would be more confident that some of my business organisation would be meaningfully come up to . Traditional RPGs can represent players with a sort of alternative , which would perhaps have allow for a itinerary where I would n’t have to work with Harkonnens or colonise Arrakis . Even if it was more action - oriented , Dune : Awakeningcould have done whatSpec Ops : The Linedid and challenged player by having them analyse their virtuously doubtful action at law . However , I worry that an MMO is ill - suited to properly address these subject .
Players ca n’t really work toward make Arrakis a better place , because it would have too liberal of an impact on the status quo of the world . Dune : Awakeningwill likely keep Arrakis in a unremitting land of undefendable conflict with no Leslie Townes Hope for lasting solutions . While this is n’t a trouble on its own , it does make me interest that there is no way to be endow in the secret plan while also actively participating in the kind of harmful actions Herbert ’s novels were meant to admonish against .
I really enjoyDune , but it has never been the eccentric of fantasy world I like I could be a part of . It is n’t like the lively and funStar Warsgalaxy or the beautiful Middle - earth where good always triumphs in the remnant . It ’s much more similar to Westeros . It ’s a fascinating place to read about , and the setting can be used to in effect intercommunicate political themes .
WereDune : Awakeningsimply a survival secret plan , I would likely have few reservations about it . The melodic theme of trying to come through the harsh environments on Arrakis sounds like a fun challenge for a television game . However , if the way of life I ’m forced to do that is by work up settlements on Fremen body politic and act upon with colonizing military group like the Harkonnens or else of Arrakis ’ native people , the game will experience like a betrayal of the warnings Herbert ’s novels seek to instill in me .
