Dune: Awakening, Funcom’s upcoming open-world survival MMO, takes players to the unforgiving desert planet of Arrakis. The game has enjoyed a surge of popularity thanks to the release of Dune: Part 2, which has resonated fantastically with audiences.
Awakening allows you to carve out your own existence in the world of Dune, building a home amidst its harsh environments. Combat will be a key element, with a mix of ranged and melee options. However, unlike many shooters, there’s a crucial twist that’s required to not turn the game into a nuke fest.
Dune: Awakening Faces An Explosive Limitation
Translating this directly to a multiplayer game would be disastrous. Imagine dozens of players firing lasers, triggering constant nuclear blasts – it’d be relentless chaos. As fun as that may sound to griefers, it’ll swiftly destroy any fun most players could potentially have in the game.
How Funcom Worked Around The Nuke Problem
Thanks to this, the developers at Funcom faced a dilemma. Staying true to the lore meant sacrificing a core gameplay mechanic, but simply ignoring the lore wouldn’t do the franchise justice. Ultimately, they had to do what’s right for the game and go with the latter.
Funcom rang up the Herbert estate, the holders of the Dune IP, and proposed an in-universe explanation for the limitation. They created a scenario where a past incident involving a lasgun and shield prompted the trading guild, CHOAM, to implement a safety feature on all imported lasguns. This feature automatically disables the weapon when aimed at an active shield.
This change not only solves the gameplay issue but also makes it sensible from a lore standpoint. It embellishes a bit of realism in the Dune universe, where even powerful technology, like lasguns, has limitations due to the inherent dangers associated with it.
Dune: Awakening also takes place in an alternate timeline, separate from Frank Herbert’s original novels. This allows the developers some creative freedom, as seen with Paul Atreides’ father, Duke Leto Atreides, still being alive. The CHOAM safety feature is another example of this, demonstrating how even in this alternate timeline, the dangers of unchecked warfare are recognized.
Funcom is undoubtedly committed to staying true to the spirit of Dune, but they’re also realistic about the need for a balanced and enjoyable gameplay experience, and the shield-lasgun interaction is a prime example of how they’re achieving this – making it a part of Awakening‘s history while adapting it for a multiplayer game.
Dune: Awakening promises a unique blend of survival, exploration, and combat, all set within Frank Herbert’s riveting universe. By carefully balancing gameplay mechanics with established lore, Funcom is crafting an experience that’s both faithful to the source material and engaging for fans.
