Dune: Spice Wars, the proven return of real-time strategy to Arrakis

Frank Herbert’s Dune cycle, especially his first novel, has inspired many video game writers both indirectly and directly. It’s probably not the most beaten job ever, but there are a few games players remember with pleasure, starting with Cryo Interactive’s Dune, which mixes strategy and narrative, going through Westwood’s Dune 2, which glorifies strategists in real-time.

In any case, it’s the rarity of the games in Dune and the real value of the scenario that brings us closer. Tried from Dune: Spice Wars with high expectations, luckily it did not disappoint.

game structure

Dune: Spice Wars from Shiro Games is basically a strategic 4X in real time, therefore with a complex and articulated game system, it did not focus solely on the accumulation of resources and the creation of troops. Therefore, by choice we are talking about a product aimed at a specific user. Anyway, let’s start playing. After choosing one of the four available factions (Atreides, Harkonnen, Smugglers, and Fremen) and choosing two advisors who give different bonuses based on their role and vary from faction to faction, you make the capital semi-functional (it can’t). can be expanded until a certain level of expansion is reached), with few resources and Spice taxes to pay the emperor who is not interested in our difficulties. There are only a few giant worms on the doorstep and … oh no, they are there too.

The first thing we are asked to do is use an ornithopter to explore the surrounding areas and find an ornithopter from which we can harvest. spice (building a refinery with a reaper attached), then creating at least a few troops to conquer it and start our expansion.

The early moments of the game make it clear how the game is structured: Arrakis is divided into many regions, each governed by an independent village. to get Control it is necessary to attack villages, destroy their defenses, and then invest in colonization (they can also be destroyed or looted if desired). Once the territory is part of our property, it is possible to start building on both military defense and economic, military or governmental structures.

The first clocks are mainly used to exploit the resources of the area, if any, such as La Spezia, rare materials or the wind, the second is useful for obtaining water. The second is self-explanatory and deals with the expansion of the army and defense in general (it is also possible to build missile towers, so to speak). Third, it contains all buildings related to government functions and all game mechanicsresearch buildings, information gathering buildings etc.

Buildings

Every building and every unit naturally costs resources, both for construction and maintenance. Since Arrakis isn’t really a flourishing planet, you should be careful, at least initially, if you don’t want the Solari (currency) or any other currency to run out. productive resource. After all, the game also advises not to rush: each village has two slots for the production of buildings, which can be increased by spending materials. Once we are large enough, we can also begin to improve capital through interventions in various sectors of government. In that sense, Dune: Spice Wars seems to be well-balanced with the gameplay of the first hours of the game, which consists of exploring and conquering the region and managing the resources obtained.

Having a key role as they are the only unit able to explore Arrakis, ornithopterans can also make some discoveries from time to time without risking being eaten by sandworms. Activity, to attract other resources, such as other downed planes and water traders. Make it clear that you can’t live with the occasional rations, but the presence of these little incidents definitely makes exploration more enjoyable and varied.

Army, spies and politicians

As we said, when you want to capture a region, you have to send it. troops Over time, technologies were developed that made it possible to relate to local peoples in different ways (there is a research tree dedicated to the Arrakis culture), but in the beginning the only solution is to fight. Recruiting units are few at first and never too many. We start with a few elements that differ depending on the factions chosen, and have small armies in the middle game. The focus on the military side largely depends on the chosen playstyle and the research done.

What ultimately matters is the so-called Hegemony, which determines our degree of influence on the planet and is determined not only by conquest but also by espionage, politics and diplomacy. The first lets you assign agents to control other groups or domains. In the espionage screen, it is also possible to start missions that, if successful, give various bonuses. Politics, on the other hand, confuses economic and power relations.

Sometimes factions they are asked to vote on certain issues such as who should use special defense units or the price of water or things like that. Depending on the accumulated power, we will have more or less influence on the vote and will be able to steer political elections to our advantage or to the disadvantage of our competitors. For this, it is important to make deals with other factions, to increase our overall influence and to have the opportunity to achieve more.

This battle systeminstead, it is very simple and almost completely automatic. After the troops are sent to the selected target, clashes will automatically return with the player who can withdraw as many of his men (if possible) to avoid defeat or being eaten by sandworms. The latter are particularly dangerous because they cannot be stopped in any way. Simply put, it’s best to leave when they’re reported, because they can eat an entire army in one bite. After all, they are the lords of Dune.

technical note

From technical point of viewDune: Spice Wars is a clever but rather modest game. The most curated part is definitely the map, because that’s where you spend the most time. On the other hand, units such as capitals and villages are always shown from afar. This is because they are not very rich in detail. Frankly, after the first curiosity, you immerse yourself in the flow of the game and you get very little close to units that are fine even in microscopic format, depending on the type of game. It should be noted that the Shiro Games title is quite stable and clean, although it is still in Early Access. Great possibility for final release.