Dune: Spice Wars Preview - Solid, Engaging, And Lovingly-Crafted

thegamer.com:

I’ll be the first to admit that my exposure to Dune as a series begins and ends with the trailer of the 2021 movie adaptation. I haven’t read the books, I don’t know who Duncan Idaho is, and I use spice to make food taste nice. Dune: Spice Wars intrigued me, however, as it looked like a compelling strategy game from the off.

It’s a 4X strategy game, which means you have a world that you need to eXplore, borders to eXpand, resources to eXploit, and rival factions to eXterminate. This is a classic sub-genre that most will know from the likes of Civilization, and Dune doesn’t do much to deviate from the formula. The action takes place on the planet Arrakis, with four competing factions vying for success, whether that be financially, militarily, or diplomatically. The standard features apply - you explore through the use of ornithopters, take over neutral settlements through force, and construct buildings that further enable your expansion and survival.

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The game starts you off with meagre beginnings, with just your capital and a single ornithopter to your name. Your first goal will be to find some spice and a nearby village to take over, as you can’t make money without spice, and you can’t build anything without villages. From there, you’re tasked with building spice extractors and balancing your various resources to keep settlements happy. You need to harvest water, build plascrete factories to satisfy your population's needs, and recruit forces of trained soldiers and village militias. It won’t be long until Fremen sietches or rival factions send raiding parties for you, and you’ll need to defend yourself or suffer heavy losses. From there, it’s