What Funcom's Open World Survival MMO Dune: Awakening Needs To Do To Get Me Interested

Dune: Awakening is an upcoming open-world survival MMO developed by Funcom that throws players into the vast and treacherous world of the Dune Universe. While drawing inspiration from the iconic books written by Frank Herbert, the game takes place in an alternate universe. That being said, it is being worked on in collaboration with the Herbert family and Legendary Pictures (the media and film production company behind the movies).

Survival is paramount as players must navigate Arrakis, facing dangers such as sandstorms and sandworms. Crafting vehicles, seeking shelter, and managing water sources are necessary, while exploration beyond the shield wall offers opportunities for discovering hidden treasures. Social interaction and conflict are essential too; there are guilds, factions, politics, and PvP. 

From what we’ve seen of Dune: Awakening thus far, I’m cautiously optimistic. The game looks beautiful, but that’s to be expected with new titles coming out thanks to the power of Unreal Engine 5. I’m not a big fan of desert biomes in general when it comes to video games, yet I can’t deny that riding around on sand bikes and ornithopters looks awesome. Hopefully, there will be enough variety in the environment and atmosphere so we aren’t surrounded by sand only and always.

The same goes for the crafting and survival aspects of Dune: Awakening. How involved will both of those parts be in the gameplay loop? Like, I hate having to manage hunger and thirst in games…I play to escape reality, thank you very much. And crafting can be cool when it comes to vehicles, weapons, armor, and base building, but I don’t want to be a farmer in this world. Everything else seems solid though. I can’t say I love games based on existing franchises, especially in the MMO genre, yet I could totally see this game being worth $50 (give or take, if that’s the cost of entry).

You know what makes a game good though? The gameplay part. Dune: Awakening needs to be fun, whether or not I even read the books or watched the movies. In my opinion, the story is on the bottom of the totem pole with MMOs. If there’s too much dialogue, I will mash that skip button to kingdom come and never look back. The developers need to drip-feed me the lore and allow the worldbuilding to develop around me as I’m playing the game. Don’t get me wrong, I want there to be a narrative and feel like the main character of the tale. But this is a video game, I’m here for the gameplay.

On that note, it’s 2024 and action combat is all the rage. Dune: Awakening needs to deliver in the way many single-player action-adventure RPGs have been lately. We can’t excuse crappy combat anymore just because it’s an MMO. This genre is able to take things to the next level that others can’t reach simply due to how many players are around you. So if I’m able to go on my little desert adventures by myself and see dozens of people around me doing the same, then the game is doing its job as a multiplayer title. But if suddenly a giant monster pops out of the sand and solo play isn’t an option anymore because we all need to band together to take it down, then Dune: Awakening is going to be a good MMO…as long as the fight is fun.