Published on: 16/02/2022
Dune: Spice Wars gameplay trailer shows combat, conquest, and more
Developer Shiro Games is giving players a detailed look at Dune: Spice Wars with a gameplay trailer released on Tuesday and expected to launch in early access in 2022.
Dune: Spice Wars is a sandbox, real-time strategy (RTS) title with strong emphasis for players in building an empire or featuring 4X elements (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate) to add rooms for more gameplay variety.
The gameplay trailer confirmed that Dune: Spice Wars is set in the video game version of Frank Herbert’s Dune universe’s famous inhabited sand world of Arrakis, where players must harvest spice, Arrakis’ most valuable resource.
Gameplay trailer, details
To thrive in Arrakis, players must lead their faction, battle for control and dominance over the harsh desert. In doing so, players need to develop infrastructures, build communities, control resources, and battle others on one big map instead of multiple smaller areas unlike in other titles.
The gameplay video has confirmed that Dune: Spice Wars is not using a turn-based mechanic as the video demonstrates dynamic combat units and time flow.
Players will be able to rally up local villages and force them to submission, establish outposts and set up spice harvesting plants. Dune: Spice Wars is taking the genre into a whole different stage.
Furthermore, the developer also provided a glimpse of the game’s combat preview and a few different paths or game mechanics players can take. From the trailer so far, players are allowed to conduct politics, spying, open warfare, diplomacy, and more.
Additional details
Dune: Spice Wars is set to have four factions, two of which have been revealed so far are the Harkonnens and Atreides. While the rest will be revealed at some point by developer Shiro Game. An additional fifth faction will be added in the game in early access and more.
In addition to factions, multiplayer will be released as a major update and single-player campaigns are expected to launch later during the early access. In an FAQ released in January, the developer added that they are more than happy to look into the possibility for mod support since the game is set to launch without player-made mods.
Dune: Spice Wars involves building an empire and heavy emphasis on both economic and technological development. For people new to the genre, it might take some time to get around with the mechanics of these types of games. Other classic series with similar styles are Age of Empires and Stronghold Crusader.
Dune: Spice Wars was first announced with a cinematic trailer at The Game Awards back in December 2021 and published by Funcom. Fast forward to 2022, the game is announced for a PC early access release on Steam with more updates on the way.
Hype for Dune fans will have to continue after Dune: Spice Wars as publisher Funcom is developing another game set in the Dune universe. Funcom’s next entry is set to be an open-world survival multiplayer game. However, there are no details provided about this yet.
