Dune: Awakening Reviews
Dune: Awakening thrives in atmosphere, worldbuilding, and survival depth, even if its combat and grind somewhat drag behind its setting and systems.
Dune: Awakening has impressed me at every turn. Stunning cinematics showcase an immersive story inspired by Dune's award-winning lore and set the scene for a thrilling adventure, focused on exploration, survival, base-building, and politics. In a time full of unfinished, bug-ridden game launches, Dune: Awakening is setting the bar higher for what the release of video games should be.
The mystery of the disappearance of the Fremen is also a solid enough hook to keep me going through the main quest instead of getting sidetracked, and every excursion I make to collect resources doesn’t feel like a chore. Arrakis was made for a game like this, and small creative liberties aside, I think Funcom might have nailed what it needed to nail here.
Years of Funcom’s expertise managing Conan: Exiles have paved the way for Dune: Awakening to be one of the most impressive online survival games ever made.
Dune: Awakening is an ambitious experience set in the harsh and unforgiving universe of Arrakis. With an alternate timeline, the game blends MMO and survival elements in a dynamic world filled with moral decisions, unpredictable dangers, and strategic choices.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Overall, Dune: Awakening offers a unique experience within the Dune universe. It is a true awakening of this saga with a novel approach that moves away from the RTS (real-time strategy games) we are used to.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Dune: Awakening isn’t perfect, but it’s exactly the game Dune fans have been waiting for. It captures the brutal, mesmerizing essence of Arrakis while offering enough mechanical depth to keep players engaged for months. If you can get past the initial learning curve and forgive some balancing issues, you’ll discover one of the most atmospheric and memorable survival experiences available today.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Quote not yet available
Review in German | Read full review
There’s a lot of potential in here, and if you were a fan of Conan: Exiles‘ grindy loop, you’ll have a blast with Dune: Awakening, considering it’s a tad bit more forgiving than its predecessor. Oddly enough, however, the more you’re a fan of the Dune books, the more off-putting Awakening will become, considering its bizarre fanfic-y premise and ideas that just go against everything the books (and even the most recent movies) have been saying for the past half-decade. As a result, Dune: Awakening, whilst easily the best Dune game since the strategy titles from the early 90s, is more appealing to those just seeking for a new survival MMO, and not exactly die-hard fans of the seminal sci-fi franchise.
Dune: Awakening will surely keep players preoccupied with its myriad of survival game content and gameplay encased in its vast open-world, allowing for freedom to explore the dangerous but charming world of Arrakis at your own pace. However, its marred by its clunky and stiff melee combat, performance and server issues, as well as a few bugs and glitches that can sour the experience.