Read correctly: In the survival MMO Dune: Awakening, you do not start as a Fremen on Arrakis. What your first steps in the game will look like and who you can truly be is described here.
Dune: Awakening showed first gameplay at the cinema release of Dune Part 2 and provided insights into the development of the game. At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in the USA, there was now more information, including about the character editor and your start in the game.
We took a closer look at this for you. Here once again is the gameplay trailer for you:
A Character Editor with Hogwarts Legacy Flair
Before you can start your journey in Dune: Awakening, you need to create your character. Contrary to rumors, you do not simply play a Fremen, that is, someone from the native people on Arrakis. As of now, the Fremen are not selectable.
Instead, you choose from a number of peoples native to the broader Dune Empire. For example, you can start as a bald Harkonnen. Among them in the films and books are Baron Vladimir and his nephew Feyd-Rautha – both important figures in the recently released sci-fi epic Dune 2.
All peoples are available with male and female body types. Depending on how you decide, you can then adjust the pre-set characters with sliders. The system is reminiscent of that from Hogwarts Legacy: While the editor is more detailed, it only allows you to choose from already pre-set options on the slider. Thus, Dune: Awakening does not quite reach the possible level of detail from Dragon’s Dogma 2.
With settings for height, arm thickness, neck length, or even vitiligo, there is already quite a bit to customize.
When you are satisfied with your appearance, a stern older lady – presumably a woman from the Bene Gesserit – asks you three questions:
- Where were you born?
- What is your place in the empire?
- Who was your mentor?
With these choices, you give your character a personality and can learn some things about the Dune universe. All of this influences your possible dialogue options. The last question also determines what kind of skills you start with in the tutorial:
You can be a Mentat, that is, a person who functions as a human super-computer and consumes spice for it. Alternatively, you could have trained as a trooper, swords master, or acolyte of the Bene Gesserit.
Mentats can use the drone-like Hunter-Seeker to take down opponents with just a single hit. Acolytes of the Bene Gesserit presumably master abilities like the Voice
, which you see Paul and his mother using in the films to compel people to actions.
A Start Like in Breath of the Wild?
Once you have answered all questions and seen a cutscene, you finally go to Arrakis. However, your spaceship crashes there first. The starting point is reminiscent of the tutorial from Breath of the Wild: In torn clothing, you have to pass through a cave.
Here you will find your first equipment and learn to craft. You will also be taught the most important elements of survival on Arrakis: Avoid the sun and seek water.
A tutorial mentor will take you with his ornithopter after leaving the cave and show you more functionalities. Ultimately, however, you will set off alone into the vast desert, where you hopefully will not struggle for survival solo for too long: Dune: Awakening can be completed alone but is heavily focused on co-op.
Further signs of life from Dune: Awakening are good. However, there is still neither a release date nor a targeted time frame for it. MeinMMO has inquired with the developer team itself about the status.
