As Early Access progresses, the possibility space narrows; the outline solidifies.
The full release maintains the compulsive gameplay and polish, but proves those grander hopes largely unrealised.
The impact of Paul’s and his predecessors' terraforming programme on Fremen culture and way of life.
To its credit, Spice Wars attempts to reflect many of these ideas.
Each game starts with a base and an ornithopter, Dune’s primary air unit.
Randomly occurring events, sandstorms, raids, and renegades provide additional threats and opportunities.
Additional wrinkles come from the six available factions.
This dizzying array of variables ensures there is always something to keep track of, but rarely feels overwhelming.
Research benefits can be equally difficult to reconcile with the lore.
Councillors are disappointingly underutilised.
Instead, once selected for their bonuses, councillors sit passively in the UI.
That isn’t to say there is no interesting or meaningful asymmetry.
Nonetheless, factional differences often reduce to what can feel like abstract spreadsheet balancing.
Indeed, abstraction is Spice Wars' overarching weakness.
This can be mitigated slightly by the jot down of game you play.
Spice Wars offers three game modes.
Dune: Spice Wars accessibility options
Adjustable colourblind correction mode.
Magnifier with adjustable magnification.
Enemy/ally overlay with adjustable overlay amount.
Chat opacity and text size.
Option to enable directional alerts.
Adjustable minimum font size.
But the distraction is fleeting.
