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

Best Dune to date, and very impressive as a game

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.

DOS · by Luis Silva (13444) · 2006

A triumph! Everyone should play this game before they die!

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.

SEGA CD · by Edward TJ Brown (118) · 2019

[ 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.

Amiga, SEGA CD 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.