izigame.me

For an Early Access title, Dune SW comes out the gate already quite developed. Being a big fan of the Dune world, including the first two books and the new movie, I was excited to see this game drop several months ago. I'm definitely not a fan of the RTS genre, though, so I was initially bummed that it looked real-time. Personally, no matter how hard I want to enjoy well-crafted games like StarCraft, I can't deal with the time-sensitive approach to strategy gaming. There's just too much going on for just one old man to manage. Thankfully, this isn't the case with Dune, which allows you to Pause anytime to issue orders and scan for happenings.
Although I'm hesitate to share a review for an early access game, I enjoyed my first playthrough so much that I felt compelled to write my first-ever review, briefly covering the following areas:
VISUALS
+ Great art style overall. I wondered if it would feel too cartoony, but it never goes too far in that direction (like Civ6). Villages look cool, and the buildings add a nice touch. Having come straight from Stellaris, I was relieved that this game didn't feel like I was simply managing a massive spreadsheet covered by a thin graphical veneer.
+ I experienced mild but frequent split-second stuttering, maybe every minute or so.
+ Graphically, I'd like to see more special effects to emphasize the Dune world - maybe like the Spacing Guild's heighliners and other ships blotting out the sun, or at least their shadows, upon arrival to Arrakis to pick up the Spice. Other ideas: lasguns, Holtzman shields, MIRV rockets (like the ones expertly depicted in the new movie), etc.
SOUND DESIGN
+ Some great sound effects (ex. sandworm, ornithopters, din of battle, etc.)
+ Music was not so memorable. I mentioned Stellaris earlier, which had sound effects and music that blew me away. Despite playing 6 straight hours of Dune, the music did not stand out (nor did it detract)
INTERACTION & UI
+ UI is relatively sleek and simple to use. When watching videos before purchasing, I was initially a bit intimidated at the complexity of the game. Like Frostpunk, I jumped in and everything simply felt intuitive. It's possible that my understanding of the Dune theme and setting supported my understanding of the UI and mechanics, but overall compared to above-mentioned Stellaris this was a cake-walk to learn (again, like Civ6).
MECHANICS
+ The learning curve might be steeper for people completely unfamiliar with Dune. The regular CHOAM taxes, the Spacing Guild (whom you only ever see in the Espionage window), the sietches, etc. - all concepts and vocabulary that are most likely puzzling for newbies. This is NOT a complaint, because Dune is a fantastic world (one of the best in sci-fi), and to not have that thick layer of lore and depth would be a missed opportunity. In fact, I would have liked to see even more, including the Bene Gesserit, the Bene Tleilax, "kanly" assassination operations between families, the Padishah Emperor's heavy-handed Sardaukar,
+ Trading was not particularly useful in my playthrough, and might need some more work. In my short experience admittedly, opponents were unwilling to make fair trades; I was neither able to sign a non-aggression treaty despite the overwhelming price I tried to pay, and other factions proposed ridiculous trades to me (like half my inventory spread for a pittance of Spice, which I was absolutely swimming in).
+ Despite having my Harvesters on auto-recall (something I highly recommend doing, despite the tiny loss in spice accumulation), I was losing them left-and-right by the end. Around 30% of my Harvesters were getting gobbled up by worms the moment wormsign was announced. Is this an intended mechanic, or a bug?
+ Combat is simple, with very few types of combat units. Personally, I don't much care for micromanaging combat unit in strategy games, so I was not turned off at all - even thankful. But I can see some room for improvement here by either adding a more expansive menu of combat units, or tweaking how combat plays out a bit. Some ideas: siege units for cities/villages, some faster "horse" style units, lasgun units, artillery...? This might be a stupid idea, but when combat is initiated, it could seamlessly transition to a small grid-based approach to facilitate positioning and battle lines. Whatever, I still like it!
+ Graphically, the Harkonnen faction should have a more ominous look; polluted, industrial black, neon green lights...
CHARACTER & THEME
+ What can I say? It's a Dune game steeped in the book's setting, lore and the recent movie. I'm all in for this, take it and run with it as much as possible. MORE!
DEFINING MOMENT
+ When I sent an agent over to the Harkonnens for an assassination operation, and he was sadly captured, used as a bargaining chip unsuccessfully, then brainwashed. Total Harkonnen move!
+ I was really hoping to work out a way to assassinate an opposing faction, but sadly my attempts were stymied. I imagine it's quite difficult to do; I didn't get anywhere close, despite steamrolling on an Easy playthrough.
Overall, I really like this product and can't wait to see where it goes. As an amateur strategy game player with mediocre skills, I totally enjoyed my first game and look forward to trying out the other factions until the wee hours of the morning again.