Dune II: Battle for Arrakis

Game: Dune II: Battle for Arrakis
Developer: Westwood Studios
Platform: DOS
Release Year: 1992
Stephen's Rating: 7/10

Basic Plot

You play one of three factions vying for control of the planet Arrakis; House Atreides, House Ordos, and House Harkonnen. Your mission is to take control of the spice and drive the other houses away from the planet.

Gameplay

The game was a real time strategy which involved building bases on remote rock outcroppings, and harvesting the spice melange to gain funds.

Each faction had their own units. There were also additional hidden factions who took part in the story and in some of the missions.

The game panned out in missions which involved taking control of a part of the world. You had a choice of which mission to undertake, different missions had different benefits. Your mentat advised you on the best course of action.

The Harkonnen mentat.

Positives

This game was ground breaking and set a precedent for other real time strategy games to come. It had a fascinating mix of units, a good sense of politics and intrigue, and did well in most respects to stay true to Frank Herbert's universe.

I loved the inclusion of the extra factions such as the Freman and the Sardaukar. And sandworms.

A small base on rock outcropping, with a harvester on the top right collecting the spice.

Negatives

Selecting one unit at a time is pretty painful.

I am a huge fan of the Dune novels, and it irritates me that House Ordos was included in the game when it doesn't exist in any of the Dune novels (or even the prequels or sequels written by his son). It would have been better to include a Great House which slotted into the wider story such as House Richese.

A large Harkonnen army.

Memorable Moments

I loved the theme of the game despite playing this game well before reading the novels. I think Westwood did a commendable job in taking the intrigue and complexity of the novels and turning it into something interesting to play.