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(Image credit: Funcom)
Dune: Awakeningfeels familiar, yet overwhelmingly specific. It’s a real treat for Dune fans, I think to myself as I sit down to the 45-minute demo at Gamescom, even if its survival crafting-meets-MMO formula gives me flashes ofMinecraft, The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, and evenLego Fortnite.
Off to never never land
(Image credit: Funcom)
Dune waiting(Image credit: Funcom)After 5 years worth of teases, Dune Awakening finally drops the veil with proper gameplay footage ahead of the survival MMO’s early 2025 launch
Dune waiting
(Image credit: Funcom)After 5 years worth of teases, Dune Awakening finally drops the veil with proper gameplay footage ahead of the survival MMO’s early 2025 launch
(Image credit: Funcom)
After 5 years worth of teases, Dune Awakening finally drops the veil with proper gameplay footage ahead of the survival MMO’s early 2025 launch
As I step out of my wrecked ship, I’m warned to quickly find shelter and water. This proves a lot easier said than done: a sprawling desert wasteland spreads out before me in all directions, a gaping maw of sandy wilderness ready to swallow me whole. I mean that figuratively as well as literally, because no sooner do I start sprinting across the dunes (geddit) the ground beneath me starts to quake. Enter the sandworm.
(Image credit: Funcom)
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Grappling with each system would take far too long, especially given how closely each one ties into the lore and worldbuilding of the Dune franchise. Still, the taste I’ve had so far is a promising one for Dune superfans everywhere. These clever system integrations are part of what makes Dune: Awakening another survival feather in developer Funcom’s hat, and if there’s anyone that can do justice to a Dune MMO, I think it’s safe in the Conan Exiles studio’s hands.
GamesRadar+ is in Cologne playing the most anticipatednew games of 2024, and speaking to the developers bringing them to life. For more of our hands-on previews and exclusive interviews, visit theGamescom 2024coverage hub.
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
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Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”