Dune

The Good
What is so special about Dune is the length the developers took to make it an authentic rendition of the novel (or movie), and not another commercial rip-off.
The plot details were changed, so to keep it in the scope of the game, and also to keep the player interested in the game. Although the gameplay is basically stategy and management, it is still very much plot driven. The plot unfolds as the game progresses, adding new variables to consider when making decisions, changing your priorities and timetables. This is quite rare, as usually the plot is often discarded or just doesn't affect gameplay.

The graphics are truly incredible, featuring realistic desert scenes. You will also be treaded to breathtaking sunrises and sunsets as the time of the day changes.
The music is a memorable Arab and Mediterranean mix, ranging from mysterious and eerie worms track ("Worm Sign") to rhythmic ecological track ("Ecolove"). Dune's music is memorable and original, and sounds great on Adlib, but it truly shines in the Amiga version. If there was a music CD with Dune's music on it on sale, I'd buy it today.
The CD version adds much - some nice animations and a movie clip, and very good voice acting for the dialogues.

The game also features some nice stuff such as the Fremen interface (its not Arabic, by the way), a game book called The Book of Dune on which you can read some background information and the plot so far, written as a book.

**The Bad**
Dune is played in real time, meaning that when you travel from place to place, time passes fast. And when your not - time passes slowly as you wait for people to carry out their orders. This tends to make the game boring at times, as you wait for something to happen. In other times, you take a long flight and when you land you discover that too many things have happened, and now you will work hard to restore order.
Also, the game mechanics are sometimes obscure, as you try to figure out exactly why you lost this battle, or why does the emperor demand so much spice after you sent him double the amount just last week...


**The Bottom Line**
A very interesting and engaging game to those who haven't seen the movie or read the book, with a solid story, real characters and challenging gameplay. Those who did read the book (or saw the movie) - Dune represents a fresh angle to the story, and a challenging game on its own.

The Good
The classic novels of Frank Herbert do not easily lend themselves to adaption. "Dune" is only the first in a series of novels, which reveal a fully developed, science fiction universe.

In the early 1980s, a movie based on the first Dune novel was released to, generally, mixed reviews. Fans, including Herbert, generally liked how close the film stayed to the original novel, but the film ended up being a rather expensive project that did not connect well with general audiences. What does any of this have to do with the video game?

Well, in 1992 Dune was adapted into an Amiga and DOS-based video game, with the Sega CD edition, released a year later. Visually, the game takes its cues from the 1984 film.

This means that the Sega CD game features nice Full Motion Video clips from the film, but also that the actual gameplay visuals are some of the best, most detailed and most varied, you will see on the Sega CD system.

Dune begins as a 'point and click' adventure game, with real-time strategy elements smoothly added into the mix. You take control of young Paul Atreides as he must befriend and organize the local inhabitations of the planet, Dune.

You must successfully ship the precious spice, found only on the planet, to the Emperor. Doing so means building alliances with the locals, gathering equipment, interacting with several Nonplayable Characters, including a love interest, and dealing with the Harkonnen.

The Harkonnens are a rival family who also has designs on mining the precious space on Dune. Competition is fierce and the Harkonnens are not above resorting to sabotage, even outright murder to foil Paul and his adventures.

As the storyline progresses, Paul begins to gain new psychic abilities, trains the locals in military conflict and, become something of a folk hero to the superstitious inhabitants.

To mine the spice, your primary goal, you must gain the trust of local inhabitants, provide them with the necessary equipment and expand your families territory.

All of this is accomplished with smooth gameplay mechanics, impressive visuals and a totally awesome soundtrack.

The Sega CD edition includes the DOS CD-ROM full motion video clips, impressive travel sequences, and extensive voice acting.

The Bad
Sadly, the Sega CD could only display 64 on-screen colors, compared to the basic 256 colors for the Amiga and DOS.

The limited hardware hurts the equality of the Full Motion Video and if you can notice the color limitations if you compare the Sega CD edition with its computer counterparts.

I also question the idea that this video game is suitable for all audiences, which was essentially the rating given to it by Sega's short-lived rating classification system.

I think that its probably better to classify this game as being suitable for players 13+, as opposed to a General Audience classification.

The military fighting can get pretty intense, and certain aspects of the story are a bit closer to PG/PG-13 content.

While it is not sexually explicit, Paul spends a rather romantic evening with a lady and sex is certainly implied to have taken place.

The Bottom Line
Dune is an amazing Sega CD game, which everyone should play before they die. If you like adventure gaming with real-time strategy, then this game is certainly up your alley.

The Good
There are two things that come right to mind when talking about the game. First, the gorgeous graphics, which turn the otherwise sterile looks of Arrakis into a beautiful, dry planet, with a day-night cycle, populated by well designed characters and some impressive locations. The CD version earns, along clips directly from the 1984 movie and voice overs, new FMV travel screens which change seamlessly according to the terrain - rocks or sand - which is much better than the sprites in the floppy version. The second part, the music by the honorable Stéphane Picq is perhaps the best music ever put together for a videogame. Honestly. As mentioned before, the CD version includes voice-overs, and lip-synching is incredibly accurate. and it was one of the first games to feature them. Compare with some 3D titles released not so long ago, and it makes the whole process even more impressive.

Finally, a mention goes to the game mechanics. Balancing spice production (extraction and prospection), military advance (training and conquering territories from the Harkonnen) and ecology quickly becomes the main aspect of the game, with some adventuring section that lead to plot advancements.

The Bad
It isn't an adventure game, but it resembles one. It isn't a RTS, although you command troops. It isn't one RPG, but your character actually influences the game world and gains abilities. However, while trying to do all these things, it gets too light on all of them - which ends up being quite ironic, as most newcomers find the game to be too overwhelming. The game also lacks a bit of replay value, unless you've played first the floppy version and then the CD version to check the movie clips or voiceovers, or just to mess around with the effects of ecologics.

The variation between the book and movie plots, combined with some changes by the developing team can also be a let down for purists, but let's face it: no other game has come closer than this one.

The Bottom Line
For those who have not read it, Dune is a massive space-opera, and any attempt to capture the socio-political environment of the original novel usually falls short by limitations of the medium. However, the game presents some interesting twists: larger Fremen groups will only work after Paul's charisma (which changes according to successful attacks on the Harkonnen and ecology progression) and there's some animosity between Northern and Southern Fremen, and they cannot work side by side for long.

In brief, Dune is a fantastic experience for the book/movie fan, and a lot more faithful than the RTS series which other than the visual stuff have nothing to do with the original work. The mentioned shortcomings don't damage the value of the game at all, which results in a great gaming experience, including visuals, sound and gameplay. A must see, like the book or not.