At the gamescom 2024 presentation, the developers of the multiplayer survival simulator Dune: Awakening showed full gameplay. Journalists who attended the event, including the editor of the foreign portal wccftech.com, were allowed to play a demo version of the game. He shared his impressions and even interviewed Chief Product Officer Scott Junior. Below you will find a brief summary from the article in Russian.
First look at gameplay:
- Players were thrown onto Arrakis without training, requiring them to quickly master survival mechanics. The main resource is water, which is first extracted from plants, but later more complex methods will need to be used, such as creating Disticombe. You also need to avoid overheating in the sun, otherwise the character will receive the “sunstroke” debuff, which accelerates water loss.
- The game features a metal mining mini-game where you need to guide the cutter correctly to optimize the process.
- Players could explore NPC bases, and a Shigawire grappling hook and sling were added to provide variety in attack approaches. These tools, coupled with free climbing, allow you to attack from different angles.
- The combat felt good, but still needs some work. The game’s graphics looked promising thanks to Lumen’s lighting technologies, but image sharpness suffered due to the low resolution, likely due to performance optimizations.
Interview with Scott Junior:
- Funcom decided to release the PC version first, as this platform is more familiar to developers. Versions for consoles will be released later, when optimization has been carried out.
- The demo used a keyboard and mouse, but the game already supports controllers and the entire interface was designed with them in mind.
- At the start of the game, the character chooses one archetype, such as the Bene Gesserit Swordmaster, and unlocks others over time, creating unique combinations of abilities.
- At first, players focus on obtaining water, but as the game progresses, new tasks will appear, such as managing spice resources, which will affect the character’s abilities and require guild fees.
- Various types of PvE and PvP activities are available in the game. Players can form groups of up to 16 people to complete raids or large spice-hunting operations. For small guilds, the developers have provided mechanics that allow them to participate in events without being dominated by large groups.
- For dying in the desert, the player loses some credits and spices.
- The game will feature areas such as Eco Labs and Shipwrecks where players can obtain unique items and engage in boss battles.
- Although there is no clear division into roles like in classic MMORPGs, players will be able to create more supportive or offensive builds using different abilities.
- The game will feature a Landsraad system in which guilds will fight for control of the server as part of the struggle between the Atreides and Harkonnens, with battle phases and rewards periodically updated.
- Once the game is released, new storylines, areas to explore, and mechanics will be added to expand the game world and content.
Dune: Awakening is currently in closed beta testing for a small group, but in the next couple of months the developers plan to expand this stage to include more people. There are no dates for open beta testing for everyone yet.
