In our Dune: Spice Wars first look article, we take a closer look at the Dune universe. The stones are distributed, the table is ready. The battle begins for Spice Melangé.
Since the 1990s, the planet Arrakis has hosted bloody wars between the evil Harkonnens and the honored Atreides. With the new Dune in 2022, the war is heating up again. Dune: Spice Wars first look In our content, we look at the course of the war together.
Introducing Dune: Spice Wars first look
Our early access game is distributed by Funcom. Dune: Spice Wars, available on Steam, was developed by Shiro Games, which previously produced Northgard.
Northgard was a beautiful strategy set in the Settlers style, set in Norse mythology. After this little information to highlight the experience of the development team, let’s move on to our first look at Spice Wars.
Story
Dune is a 1965 novel by Frank Herbert. In the depths of space, on a planet called Arrakis, which is only a desert and on which it is almost impossible to live, there is the most precious resource of the universe.
Spice Melangé, which we can translate into Turkish as a spice, is a resource created by the gigantic sandworm larvae of the planet Arrakis, after going through a chemical process. The most important feature of spice is that it expands the mind of the person who consumes it.
Thus, spaceship helmsmen can safely travel in the depths of space. In addition, due to its properties such as prolonging life and eliminating diseases, great wars are waged for the production of this substance.
Since the extraction of spice is a difficult and prestigious operation on the planet Arrakis, the prestige of the families who hold this mission is also very high.
There is only one rule in this world… “The spice must keep flowing”
We will be one of the parties in this war in Dune: Spice Wars. After a nice demo that briefly tells the story, we come to the main menu.
fractions
When we start the new game, the side selection screen welcomes us. We start by choosing one of the four sides we know from the Dune Universe.
- Atreides: Honorable Atreides can peacefully take over the villages you control. They also have a high level of confidence in council meetings, which we will talk about later.
- Harkonnen: The evil Harkonnens are the current rulers of Arrakis as well as mortal enemies of the Atreides. Unlike their rivals, they have bonuses to military forces in their own villages with their suppression abilities.
- Smuggler: Self-interested smugglers have trade features that other races do not have.
- Fremen: Natives of Arrakis. Their armies have lower consumption costs and are able to establish relationships with the planet’s creatures and natives.
Details of the features unique to each of these parties can be seen when hovering over their icons.
After choosing our side, we choose two of our council members. Each council member has a characteristic. We start by choosing two councilors that match your playing style.
Beginning
When we first started, we have a city of our own and an Ornithopter. Ornithopters, similar to helicopters, are used for reconnaissance. Of course, our first task is to extract spices… You know, “Spice must keep flowing”.
There are sides we have to fight to get the spice out. We need resources to continue this war. There are five types of resources in total, mainly water, solar (currency), plascrate (construction material), manpower and authority. We use it for structures that we will buy or build.
The “upkeep” logic we are used to, namely the maintenance costs of the army, is present in the new Dune construction, as in other examples. Especially the amount of water and solari that we will use to grow your army is cringe at the beginning of the game.
mechanics
If we look at the mechanics in general, we can think of it more like a real-time Total War map. By taking over the villages in the regions, we take over the management of the resources there. We lead troops in groups rather than controlling individual units.
By developing the villages we have captured, we take control of strategic points. Even the map I opened in medium size was too large. Therefore, it is useful to pay attention to the width. In terms of the abundance of resources you will acquire, you should master as much of the map as possible.
You should bribe the Spacing Guild when the time comes, vote in the Landsraad, the community of all parties, and play a role in determining future modifications accordingly.
In the production, espionage takes up a lot of space. At certain stages, you are asked where you want to place your spies. You should make sure that their placements are in line with your strategies.
Especially if you have vulnerabilities in resource production, it will save you a lot of time sending agents to the points needed to eliminate them or reduce their effects.
Of course, R&D, which is indispensable for such strategies, becomes active after a certain impact score. We can make R&D investments under four main headings. These open up new opportunities in the fields of espionage, military, social and construction.
The real big enemy is SandWorms
If we’re talking about Dune, it’s okay not to mention SandWorms. Sandworms, the giant dune worms you see in the movie or trailer. These dune worms are gigantic creatures that can destroy whatever is in front of them.
A warning is given as they approach. When you hear this, you must immediately drive your armies away from where they are. As of the time this review was written, I had received two Sandworm warnings. However, it passed without any problems.
Sometimes time-limited assignments are given. Doing these quests makes it easier for you to access valuable resources in the game. Especially when your resources are low, a task you complete can earn you 2 – 3 times more resources than you need.
Conclusion
We encountered no game-breaking bugs during the three hour trial period. It’s really hard to believe that the game is in early access in its current state. If you like strategy and territory management games, it is definitely worth a try even as it is.
On the other hand, the multiplayer option is not active as it is still in early access. When he comes to the game, the pleasure we will get will increase exponentially.
Dune: Spice Wars on Steam The sale price above is currently 139 TL. A figure that can be given for such a detailed and entertaining game. Moreover, in these days when the game prices are at the ceiling, it gives more than the price you will pay.