Life is hard on Arrakis. It's a world where every drop of water comes at the cost of blood, sometimes literally, and where victory is hard-fought. This is the case, at least in Dune: Awakening, the new survival MMO from Funcom, developers of Conan Exiles, The Secret World, and Anarchy Online. You see, Arrakis might look like a rough place to be in the Dune movies, or as described in the books, but it's got nothing on the state of the planet in this game, which takes place in a divergent timeline where Paul Atriedes was never born and the Fremen have disappeared. Aside from players, the surface of the world is home only to scavengers, Sardaukar, and sandworms.
It's impossible to overstate how much of a love letter to the Dune series this game is. Iconic moments, from painful encounters with Bene Gesserit truthsayers to cruising above the desert in wildly flapping ornithopters – it's all here and waiting for you to take the stage. Your created character must venture ever-deeper into the planet, using spice, completing missions, undergoing spiritual trials, and, eventually, taking part in the Landsraad. At least, that's the case if you're willing to play through a fairly plodding tutorial.
