Strategy Gaming Online - Reviews : Dune 2000

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REVIEWS

box.jpg (5157 bytes) Dune 2000

DEVELOPER : Westwood
PUBLISHER : Electronic Arts

Requirements:
Pen. 90MHz, 16 MB of RAM, 1 MB Video Card
Recommend:
Pen. 133MHz, 32 MB of RAM, 2 MB Video Card

Dune 2000 is Westwood's answer to all those strategy fans clamoring for a classic title, in this case Dune II, to be remade for the modern day computer machines. The problem? No one was asking for Dune II (Trivia: What are the two most wanted remakes? See bottom for answer). So, what we have is essentially a game that plays like a step backward from Command & Conquer. But it is not all that bad.

Dune 2000 places you in the role of a military commander for either of three factions warring for the right to rule the planet Arrakis, a.k.a. Dune. In the world of Dune (based on Frank Herbert's excellently classic novels), interstellar travel is made possible by the ingesting of Spice. Spice, unfortunately, is found on only one planet, that of Arrakis. He who controls the Spice controls the universe. At whatever cost, the Spice must flow.

The Emperor of the known universe has decided that there are but three houses whom would be best suited to control the production of Spice. They are the noble House Atreides, gallant and courageous; House Harkonnen, diabolical and destructive; and finally, House Ordos, sneaky and conniving. They are all placed on the world of Dune to battle it out.

The three houses share many common vehicles. You have your basic infantry units, quad units and combat tanks. Westwood has attempted to add a bit of strategy here by making certain units susceptible to certain types of attacks and immune to others. For instance, the infantry unit is resistant to missiles and large caliber guns, but vulnerable to high explosives, fire and bullet weapons (not to mention large vehicles such as tanks can be instructed to just run over them). This step is an enhancement to the original Dune II, one that I found interesting.

The houses are also given some unique vehicles. House Atreides are given Fremen units (advanced infantry), Sonic Tanks, and Ornithopters (the sole flying combat unit in the game). House Harkonnen has the Devastator (advanced battle tank) and the Death Hand Missile (an atomic warhead). House Ordos is granted the Saboteur (which destroys enemy buildings when brought into contact with them), the Raider (a high powered Trike unit) and the Deviator (which releases a cloud of gas that causes enemy units to fire upon themselves).

They also share some common buildings. The Construction Yard is your main base. Wind Traps are required for power; the Refinery (to convert Spice into cash); Outposts (radar station) and a host of other buildings.

The gameplay is simple. Lay down Concrete (needed to protect your buildings from the elements); build a Construction Yard; build Wind Traps for power; build a Refinery (which includes the Harvester vehicle, which collects Spice); collect a sufficient amount of Spice to build a Light Factory for small vehicular units, etc. Your units can be grouped together, set to guard a point on the map (like your base), and commanded to scatter (useful when a group of units are being hit by an enemy that they can not destroy, they can be made to split up in random directions to avoid destruction). As your Harvester collects Spice, keep an eye out for Sandworms. This native species of Dune rolls under the sand with small lightening bolts surrounding it (you can not miss it). It moves around your base area and will swallow any vehicles it rolls under. You need to manually move your Harvester around to avoid it (it can be easily outrun, but requires your assistance, tough when you are in the middle of battle). After you beat the map, you are presented with a short FMV that carries the plot along.

The gameplay is simple, but fun. Easy to get into and requires next to no thought process. Now before you run away screaming, understand that it is a great introduction for newbie RTS players. And for you old timers looking for something to bring you back to a simpler time, here it is. But, if you are looking for the next step in evolution for the RTS genre, it is not here.

Reviewed by A. Sage

TRIVIA ANSWER: 1. Masters Of Magic (Microprose)
2. X-Com: Enemy Unknown (Microprose)

Summary
Pros: Simple and engaging. Cons: Maybe too simple for the die-hard RTS crowd.
Interface : 8	Gameplay : 8	Graphics : 6
Audio : 7	Multiplayer : 8	Overall : 7.5