It sucks to be on Arrakis. It’s sweltering and unforgiving sun stifles surface life. Its apex predator makes the simple act of moving across its barren landscapes oppressive. Its sand is coarse and rough and irritating and gets everywhere. This is the primary detail Frank Herbert drives home in the first book of his sci-fi epic, and it permeates and influences nearly every hero and villain that sets foot on the planet.
TV and film adaptations do a decent job of explaining this to audiences through action and dialogue. But in Funcom’s new MMORPG, Dune Awakening, this fact translates better than any of the adaptations to come before it. I’m only about 10 hours into the game, and dealing with the desert is my absolute favorite part of what’s on offer here. I’m not alone in that; the developer has announced that Awakening reached over a million players in just two weeks.
