An absolute yes for anyone into survival science fiction games. Lots of exploration, open dungeons, and many ways to get killed. I’ve even fallen into a deep abyss that took me hours to find a way out.

I assume if you don’t already know about this game you have been living under a rock to hide from the sandworms. That is a good call. I’ve been eaten by one so far when crossing a giant stretch of desert and it was both heart pounding and breaking after losing all the gear and items I was carrying at the time.

Outside of some minor bugs and some ping issues that Funcom has been working on resolving. They knocked this one out of the park. It’s like Funcom took what they learned from Conan Exiles and put it into the world of Dune.

This game has everything you want. Base building. Getting chased by giant sandworms where you lose everything on you if you get eaten. Crating. Getting chased by giant sandworms. Amazing dungeons to explore and loot. Getting chased by giant sandworms. Resource gathering. Finally, did I mention getting chased by giant sandworms?

Yes, this game is a PvE with some PvP in it. So far, the only chance at PvP I had was in some of the sites I went to pillage for loot and I was lucky to not find anyone in them. I ended up picking a medium-population server. I suspect this will change later once I get into far more rewarding and risky areas of the game.

So far, I've been rather happy with being able to have a base in a non-PVP area. There however does not mean you can't get looted. You must keep your base power for the shields and taxes paid.

I have even gone around looting some bases that were not being maintained. Nothing major in loot. It was clear I was not the first person to peek inside. However, getting some free resources for very little of your time is always great.

As far as the base building itself goes. It is a major resource drainer in the game. While base building blocks like walls, doors, and ceilings are rather cheap. It’s the technology inside of that base that is what ends up costing you a lot of resources as you slowly progress into higher tiers of the game.

Not only can you have multiple bases. You can easily add people to your base to grant them access. I’ve been lucky enough to be given access to some bases in areas I have not even set up yet. Giving me some much-needed shelter and access to crafting technology helping me speed things up a little bit.

The amount of space you get for a claim to build within is quite decent. There are also not that many restrictions that I'm aware of on where you can build. The game mostly just tells you to not build on the open sand or NPC buildings.

This means that players get a bit creative. Some choose to build on top of massive cliffs or rock sides. Then you get those who want to be close to trading posts and build right in the middle of a major path everyone takes to get to them. Thankfully some players consider leaving a tunnel under their house or other building styles to make it easier to get around them if needed.

A massive resource you find yourself needing to not only survive but to refine ores and build is water. While you can collect small amounts of water from some flowers. The best way to get it at least at the stage I'm at is collecting blood from NPCs you have murdered.

To say it feels a l little strange to be extracting more blood from my victims than a vampire is enough said. I then bring back blood bags that I've filled and have a machine exact out the water for me. As I advance through the technology tree you get access to better tools for collecting blood and extracting water.

When you're not crossing the desert sands hoping to avoid the giant sand worms. Having NPCs shoot and stab you. Trying not to die from hydration. Some sandstorms will kill you if you don’t find or make shelter in time.

In the above screenshot. I happened to take shelter in a cave moments before a stand storm struck. I also made sure to pick up my Sandbike as the elements have some devastating effects on vehicles.

As far as vehicles go there are a couple of options. Everything from the Sandbike where you unlock higher tiers of it as you progress along. Along with Buggy and even an Ornithopter (helicopter type.)

I have skipped over getting the buggy and chose to keep crating higher tiers of the sandbike for a faster ride. I’m also crafting the Ornithopter which requires a lot of ores, water, and other mats. It’s quite an undertaking but not that bad for what you are getting out of it. Thankfully there are limited fast travel options that you pay a low fee to move around a little bit when needed.

While all items in Dune Awakening decay. They can be repaired a few times before they break for good. I feel they have been rather generous with the repair system in both it being cheap in materials to repair items and the durability of stuff.

I have yet in terms of leveling up fully broken gear or vehicles. Anytime I even get close and most time I'm not. I have already made better gear anyway. Even my first ever sandbike that I abused the daylights out of and left outside for far too long. Is still useable but it’s surely getting down there.

As far as gear progression and resource gathering goes it is mostly a liner line. After the first couple of resources, you start needing to craft a higher tier cutteray to gather better resources with. You also need to have high enough gear to go into certain areas to collect other needed resources for armor and weapons.

That is unless you have help from friends or can buy items from the player exchange. I found the player exchange to be rather limited at least on the server I'm on. Having a friend give you some higher-tier stuff can cut down a lot of grinding on your end.

You however can’t repair items you don’t have the blueprint research for unlocked. The main roadblock to unlocking higher-tier research is spending enough intel to have that level unlocked. Intel is gained from leveling up and running certain outposts.

There is also a storyline that can block your progress on which research you can acquire. I was given an option at the start to have it set up that way. I felt it was the natural way to progress in the game so I took that option limiting sightly how fast I could progress through item tiers.

The map in the game is decently massive. This is just one of many sections that show many of the different sites. You can use a survey prob to gain great detail about an area such as where sites are. You still need to go around exploring to find where resources like ores are.

Part of the fun when venturing into a new area is finding the biggest cliff you can find to climb up so you are at a high enough elevation to launch a scanning prob. In Dune Awakening if you see some massive cliff the question is not if you can climb it but if you are willing to spend the time doing so. So far everything I've seen I can go to no matter how far off in the distance it is.

The biggest fun for me in Dune Awakening is running the open dungeons and sites. They come in many different styles from outposts, wrecks, caves, and testing stations. From above-ground buildings that can expand many floors to massive underground complexes that I've been lost in for over an hour in some cases.

I’ve even gone off on adventures and questioned if I'd find a way back home. What I thought would be a twenty-minute looting trip turned into a four-hour detour of what in the daylights did I get myself into.

The biggest lacking thing I feel in this game is the combat system. It is true most talent tree options I'm currently locked out of until I find trainers and run missions for them. With some of them, I want to train higher tier skills with that I simply can’t progress along so far.

It’s not a very deep system. While the higher the area I venture into the more advanced combat gets. It feels like my options to deal with situations can sometimes be a bit lacking. It’s however also not an area of the game I've tried to push. I've been having too much fun doing other things in the game to care about this part.

I've spent so many hours just having fun exploring with no real goal in mind. Great if I find some resources I need. Even better if I get some experience out of the deal. Even when not I had a blast exploring.

Final thoughts

Screenshots and words cannot express the wide range of emotions some of my adventures have left me with. From pure dread to bountiful excitement. Having moments where my heart sank leaving behind treasure I lacked the bag space for. Along with moments I just hoped I'd make it out alive and safely back into my base.

I’ve been looking for a game like this for quite some time. So far, it’s been mostly anything I could have hoped for. Anyone that I know who is currently playing it can’t get enough of it. I can’t wait to see what the future of this game holds.

Information

Screenshots were taken and content was written by @Enjar about Dune: Awakening.