If nothing else,Dune: Spice Wars- out in early access tomorrow - definitely feels like reading Dune.
What’s going on?
Who’s this guy?
What’s that mean?
Did my ebook download some kind of bugged version that’s missing the first hundred pages?
Dune: Spice Wars
Puncture that layer of surface cloud though and there is something good here.
Not of the swelling gravity of Villeneuve’s film or the oddness of Lynch’s.
And not of mythically all-spanning, political, religious, philosophical-and-everything-else nature of the books either, of course.
But it’s good!
And for early access, good is generally enough.
After that, you’re away.
The most interesting thing here is how Dune: Spice Wars actually plays.
It’s a kind of 4X-RTS hybrid.
It’s a lovely mix, capturing above all the weirdly oppressive, claustrophobic tension of a galaxy-sweeping drama.
Arrakis' most identifiable features are also nicely done.
Those other layers are good, if not great, additions as well.
It’s similar for diplomacy - there’s a fairly typical trading screen, and then the Landsraad Council.
All of these things intertwine in that lovely 4X fashion, of course.
That’s probably the main sticking point at this very early moment with Dune: Spice Wars.
It’s also still a little bit foggy.
It’s a challenge at first, but I suspect few Dune fans would have it any other way.
