Dune

aka: Dune: He Who Controls the Spice Controls the Universe
Moby ID: 380
DOS Specs

Description official descriptions

Based on the legendary Frank Herbert novel of the same name and visually inspired by the 1984 David Lynch movie, Dune is a strategy-adventure hybrid where the player takes the role of young Paul Atreides, the son of Duke Leto. The Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV has given the Atreides House the rights to manage the extraction of the most precious substance in the entire universe - the Melange, commonly known as Spice in the desolate desert planet Arrakis (Dune), the only place in the universe capable of producing the substance. While everything indicates the offer is a trap orchestrated by their enemies the Harkonnen, the Atreides family agrees on moving, as he who controls the spice, controls the universe.

The player arrives in Arrakis with the mission of contacting and convincing the Fremen tribes residing in sietches (desert settlements) near the Atreides palace to harvest the spice. Harvesting is the most important part of the game, required to purchase equipment from the smugglers and appease the emperor. To speed up the process of harvesting, the player can equip the tribes with harvesters to increase production and ornis to protect them from the gigantic protectors of the planet: Shai-Hulud - the sandworms.

However, the spice doesn't last forever and new sietches must be prospected before having a mining crew assigned, but the player cannot run Southwards forever, as the Harkonnen enemy controls the North of the Planet, dangerously close to the Atreides Palace. Soon after the initial batches are sent to the Emperor, the player will have to actively deal with the Harkonnen, who will try to take control of player Sietches. For those, Fremen tribes can be assigned to military training with Gurney Halleck, but before doing such work Paul must have a certain reputation, gained by the control of Arrakis.

As the game advances, the player will untap Paul's latent powers, as well as meeting other characters from the Dune universe, such as Duke Leto, Jessica, Thufir Hawat, Duncan Idaho, Harah, Chani, Stilgar and Liet Kynes, the mastermind behind the ecological plans on Dune - the ultimate goal.

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Credits (DOS version)

43 People (38 developers, 5 thanks) · View all

Designed by
  • Cryo Interactive Entertainment
Directed by
Programming
Team Manager
Graphics
Adlib music uses HERAN system (c)
Music
Sound
Music available on CD edited by
  • Virgin Music
Producers
Original Design
Special Advisor
Cover Artwork
Sky Pallettes
Animations
Graphics Tools
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 78% (based on 39 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 152 ratings with 11 reviews)

A classical masterpiece

The Good
I guess when this game was just out I was a bit too young to fully understand and appreciate its charms, so I was more turned towards Dune II, a real-time strategy inside the dune universe. Years have passed since I first played this game on my Amiga, if only to enjoy a masterful soundtrack by Stephane Picq ("Ecolove" track is still my most favorite track of all times, the MOD format, that is). And, I switched to PC since, and was lucky enough to find a copy of this game in a local store, almost a decade after it came out. Budget version as is, but it was on CD-ROM and what I saw surprised me as I had no idea they added full voice-acting and 3D flying cinematics on later revision of a game. It sure would be cool to see a remake on this exact game, with same soundtrack and all, hm, longshot, I know, but still, it's a hope.

This game blends a strange mixture of strategy and adventure. At first, all you'll be doing is exploring corridors and finding secret rooms in your father's palace, and visiting fremen sietches to try and persuade them to work for you. As you progress further, your character will be gaining certain abilities due to constant exposure to the spice melange (it's in the air, it's in the food, ...), and you'll be able to issue commands from a far distance and get visions. Naturally, your eyes will turn blue and you'll rise in the eyes of the fremen leaders.

Aside from beautiful soundtrack, amazing 8-bit character motion graphic, and day-night cycles, you'll follow the story of a book and a later on movie, though slightly closer to the movie adaptation since your character Paul Atreides will look exact to Kyle MacLachlan (the actor playing Paul in a movie). Can't say how much does Gurney resemble Jean Luc... err, I mean Patrick Stewart, though. I am not much a of reading fan (except when it comes to comics, lol), but the original Dune book was really great and the game manages to equal it only by the same greatness it carries within. It's a classic alright, no matter movie and a book were already made.

There's that really beautiful woman in the game, in blue stillsuit, think Harrah's her name, but can't say for sure. Always seem to be forgetting it. I dunno why, but big part of nostalgic feelings for this game somehow connects me to picture of her. Guess the developers made her memorable enough, even if she doesn't play any key role in a game.

The Bad
This is somewhat a weird composure of genres so it may take some time until player actually realised what's his goal and how to achieve it. But it's really not something to take on a downside, guess this isn't some game that kids just unplugged from Quake can take on to follow.

The Bottom Line
It's a classic that follows both book and a movie quite neatly, so if you read the book or watched the movie, you'll be acquainted with part of it already. It is no loss if you have floppy over compact disc version, because those older non-3D cinematics have a charm of their own, and Amiga version for example, has the best version of a soundtrack, not only is it all in MOD format, but has different tracks at different times which seems more balanced than PC or Sega CD versions. Either way, it's a classic that deserves your time, even if you're not planning to play it through the end.

DOS · by MAT (240759) · 2012

If you can find it anywhere - go get it!

The Good
It was revolutionary! It had absolutely beautiful graphics and sound for the time. It had an awesome adventure part - quite easy, but beautifully done. And it has a rather challenging strategy part. Most of all - although the game isn't particularly hard to beat - once you've solved it you have the feeling of having accomplished something. And you've had fun!

Oh, and you can switch languages. I wish other games had that. The monkey islands, for example. How hard could it be to include every language they'd publish it in on the CD rather than publish x different versions?

The Bad
Well, it's pretty straight forward. And getting your harvester eaten by sand worms sucks.

The Bottom Line
Almost a decade old and still a joy. A fitting tribute to Frank Herbert - the feel of Dune, the desert planet, comes across perfectly.

DOS · by Gothicgene (66) · 2001

A masterpiece! A diamond in the rough!

The Good
“Dune” is one of the few “most own” games for the Sega CD (or “Mega CD” if you grew up outside of America) library.

While the early 1990s, CD-ROM peripheral device was hyped up as the “Next Level” in gaming, many loyal Sega customers, myself included, were bitterly disappointed with the results. Admist such gamer despair, came a handful of bright lights, such as “Dune”.

These bright lights, were a handful of Sega CD games that served as the proverbial “diamonds in the rough” to a Sega CD library filled with shovleware and B-minus, full motion video games on a system not really designed to do full motion video.

First, a little bit of background is in order. “Dune” is the first in a series of science-fiction novels written by Frank Herbert. In 1984, the novel was adapted, with mixed results, into a big budget, Hollywood film.

While Hollywood has largely avoided the franchise since 1984, several computer games set in the Dune film/novel universe were been released, with this particular “Dune” game being the first (and in this author's humble opinion the best) in a series of real time, strategy based computer games.

“Dune” clearly takes its visual cues from the 1984 film and while the Sega CD edition of the game cannot match the then standard 256-on screen colors PC capabilities, the game's animation and graphics are still some of the best seen on the Sega CD system.

The storyline is helped through periodic full motion video clips from the film, another benefit of the CD technology. While the Sega CD's hardware only allowed for a much more limited color capabilities, in comparison to the PC, it is worth noting that this is probably some of the best full motion video seen in a Sega CD game.

Credit has to be given to people at Cryo Interactive/Virgin Interactive for getting some great graphics and full motion visuals out of the Sega CD. Adapting a PC CD-ROM game for the Sega CD, couldn't have been an easy task, but this video game adaption has all the earmarkings of a true labor of love.

This game is not shovelwere. This game is not a rushed job. This is the sort of game that shows not just the potential of the Sega CD, but why video games should be respected as an art form. So, “bravo” to the folks at Cryo Interactive/Virgin Interactive.

Many of the “little” touches in the game also highlight just how much talent was behind this game. The real time elements are shown through night and day-inspired changes to the environment, cool texture maping of sane dunes is seen when you travel through the desert, and if you bring green vegetation to the desert planet, that will also change the in-game visuals.

The graphic capabilities of the Sega CD were weak, but it could pump out some great music and here, again, this game shines. While the voice talent is certainly great, it is the musical score in the game that really makes it stand out.

Words simply cannot do justice to how good the music in this game is at setting the mood and bringing the player into the Dune universe, including young love (a very well done desert, love scene) and the human rights and political struggle of the native inhabitants of the planet.

The music was given its own album release, but getting a hold of this game may be eaiser to do them locating the album. Sufficence to say, the music itself is well worth the price of the game. What about the game play mechanics? Well, I am pleased to say that the game play mechanics are smooth and responsive.

Even as you gain new abilities, vehicles and quests, it does not take long to figure out how to do what you want to do in the game, and it is simply amazing how the game is able to mix real-time military-diplomatic strategy with traditional graphic adventure gaming.

Many games have tried to offer a mixture of real-time strategy and graphic adventure gaming and, with few exceptions, they have failed miserably. However, this combination works superbly in “Dune” and this is another “Bravo!” moment for the folks at Cryo Interactive/Virgin Interactive.

Heck, even the loading time in this game is amazingly fast for the Sega CD. Lots of different things are happening in the game, especially as you develop your military, and I experienced very little in the way of slow down.

The Bad
My few serious complaints about the game fall into two categories; hardware and -- to be honest -- a bit of nitpicking.

Again, in terms of hardware, if you were familiar with the PC version, then it becomes impossible not to notice what happens when you go from having 256+ on-screen colors in a 16-bit game, to having to work with only 64.

The Sega CD's graphic capabilities were less then what was capable on the Super Nintendo, let alone standard PC computers or even the NEC Turbografx CD-ROM system.

This was a fatal design flaw in the Sega CD, which probably marked the beginning of the end for Sega's involvement in the hardware side of the industry.

So, while the Cryo Interactive/Virgin Interactive did the best that could be done -- given the hardware limitations -- it is still difficult not to look at a game as great as this one, and be reminded at just how "Next Level" the Sega CD really turned out to be.

In terms of petty nitpicking, the game can be a tad cruel (later in the story) when it comes to meeting the Emperor's spice demands and also trying to promote vegetation.

Yes, the cruelty is certainly realistic, especially if you are a fan of the franchise, but as the good spice mining territories dry up (often as the Emperor's spice demands increase) their were times when their was not much left for me to do, but quit and restore an earlier save point.

The Bottom Line
"Dune" for the Sega CD is a most-have for any Sega CD owner. It is a true diamond in the rough. Despite its hardware flaws and library of shovelwere, the Sega CD had potential for greatness. "Dune" is evidence of this.

SEGA CD · by ETJB (428) · 2014

[ View all 11 player reviews ]

Trivia

CD version

A CD version adds support for more sound cards, number of new rendered screens that can be seen in the introduction and some 3D animations available during ornithopter flight. There are also clips from the David Lynch's movie available in the Dune-O-Pedia book. All dialogues are fully spoken. There is also a new in-game option available from the main interface where the player can adjust sound, music and speech settings, make a selection of text language (English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Fremen), choose type of music (classic or from CD in order or shuffle mode) and choose type of text presentation (in the bubbles or as subtitles).

Cover

The guy you see on the original release box covers, is Paul Atreides as played by Kyle MacLachlan, right out of the movie.

Demo

In the early nineties, there was a non-interactive demo of Dune circulating on Bulletin Board Systems. It showed a very similar sequence to what was the introduction to the final game (a number of animated characters' portraits over variety of backdrops.)

In this demo, the character of Paul looks very different from what he looks like in the game. He does not resemble Kyle MacLaughlan, and is quite a bit skinnier. This version of Paul is even used on the US back cover of the DOS version (top row - 3rd image). It can be assumed that this demo was released before the final licensing terms were worked out with the movie's publisher.

Development

The game should not have existed: during the end of 1990, the project was officially abandoned by Virgin Games, who then hired Westwood to work on a Dune license-based strategy game... A few months later, Cryo, who had secretly continued working on it, succeeded in convincing Virgin to release it (although the game was then much simplified on Virgin's request). That's why Dune and Dune II have nothing in common.

The battle images were inspired by the worldly famous CNN pictures of the Gulf War (green skies with explosions...). Many Fremen pictures were inspired by real famous people like Kadhafi, Khomeyni, Salvador Dali, Salman Rushdie.

Very much more details about Dune's creation can be found in French journalist Daniel Ichbiah's book, La saga des jeux vidéos.

Limited edition

A limited edition box (UK only?) had a cover that opened down the middle to reveal a pop-up style sandworm head.

Localization

Spanish version by Polylang Ltd and Italian version by Graffiti.

Movie

First of all, there was a Dune novel written by Frank Herbert.

After the book, a movie showed up in 1984. Why is this so important!? Well, the game Dune mady by Cryo is based 100% upon the movie. The story, dialogues, weapons, terrain, friends and foes, characters, all are based upon the movie. If you ever saw a movie, you'll notice how most of characters resembles to the actors who played in a movie.

For example, you play Paul Atreides, and you character looks almost exactly like Kyle MacLachlan who played in Dune. As well as some other characters do.

Beside that, CD version of a game posses some movie cut-outs, only you can imagine a movie shown in 160x120 or 320x240 on a full screen, and covered with black net to speed the process.

However, Westwood's Dune II has nothing to do with either a novel or the movie, nor is it a sequel to this Dune. Instead, they took just a small resemblance as a battlefield and global story of rule and dominate across the sand barriers. They also added House of Ordos, and that is just one of the proves they crushed the balance over Dune.

Some, though hardly all, of the characters presented in the game are depicted (uncredited) as played by the actors who performed the same roles in David Lynch's 1984 film adaptation of the book. These include: Francesca Annis as Lady Jessica Atreides, Sting, Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides, and, in some versions, Virginia Madsen as Irulan Corrino (in footage taken straight from the movie!)

Soundtrack

This game's soundtrack, composed by Stephane Picq and Philippe Ulrich, was released on audio CD by Virgin Records (catalog no. CDVE 911), also including some extra tracks that didn't feature in the game. The CD is called Dune: Spice Opera and the artist is listed as Exxos. Unfortunately, the audio CD went out of production in 1994, and is now almost impossible to find. It is highly sought after by many people.

Awards

  • Amiga Joker
    • Issue 02/1993 – Best Genre Mix of 1992 (Readers' Vote)

Information also contributed by hydra9, Lev Epshteyn, MAT, Mickey Gabel, Pseudo_Intellectual and Yeba

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Tomer Gabel.

SEGA CD, Amiga added by MAT.

Additional contributors: MAT, B.L. Stryker, formercontrib, Patrick Bregger, mailmanppa, Victor Vance.

Game added November 4, 1999. Last modified January 19, 2024.