FAN REVIEWS

We are looking forward to receive your own personal review of Dune 2000. Just write what you think of the game. Do you like the improved game engine? Are the units cool? Has the multiplayer feature increased the quality of the game?

You can submit your review by sending an e-mail to the following e-mail address:

Jack9

When I was younger Real Time Strategy was not even a concept because people didn't believe you could create a game that could mimic and accurately simulate real-time combat. As dice-chucking miniature wargamers had previously determined in the mid-19th century, no simulation could be both fun and accurate. Nevertheless they attempted many many many times to create an acceptable in-between that could become standardized.

That was about the time came around to noticing computer games. There had been a number of games that were 'almost' RTS (M.U.L.E. comes to mind) but computer graphics were still pitifully bad, so bad you could barely tell what game you were playing most of the time because a racecar looked an awful lot like an asteroid which looked like a face. Luckily graphics and video game quality in general advanced rather quickly, due in-part to Moore's-Theory (it's not a law yet). Then I saw it. Dune2. Did I know what Dune was? Vaguely. Did I want to look for Dune (1)? Not a chance. I was mesmerized by the concept. What A GREAT IDEA I thought. But then I had thought that a zillion times, always ending up disappointed by the limited technology. But boy do I remember those 15 hour games for days at a time.....and I remember thinking...if only this were 2 player....or 3 (I laughed to myself).

I admit it. I bought the game because I missed the old days. I wanted to recapture my youth and fulfill a fantasy of playing a multiplayer game of Dune. It was a personal mission, not hype, not packaging, not theme, not feature-driven. I only checked the back of the box when I picked it up to insure that it was just like the Dune2 I remembered (with minor differences). But how was the game you ask?!?!?! Lemme start with...It is multiplayer Dune2. That can both be percieved as good and bad. Unfortuntely for Westwood, I'm gonna bet it means badnews.

Upon boot up I had no problems, but the video and audio in the intro seemed a little weak....but I dont pay much attention to an intro that you usually only watch once anyway... I then noticed (I always go straight to options) that you could run it at 8/16 bit. WHY would you want to run it on 8 bit? (But Jack9, you're all wishy-washy about 'the old days', whats wrong with the 8-bit graphix from 'the old days'?). The problem is is that this is not a "Best of" Collection, it's supposed to be a standalone Multiplayer RTS hit Year 2000 Style! and even I cannot stand 8-bit...

I happily reclicked to insure I was on 16 bit (which is still pretty bad, but I like it just fine). I moved to begin the game as Harkonnen and was delighted to see the theme and feel of Dune transferred into live cut scenes! Yay. Good actors, good sets and true character likenesses. All in all I would have bought the CD just to get the cut scenes (if you are a Dune fan, get this game).

So my first mission began. It felt a little C&C'ish (I don't own or even like C&C, it reminds me of a bad Herzog Zwei clone) but I forgave them because I had heard that from Bnet. Upon my first taste of combat I noted that the units would happily walk by enemy units when I indicated to move (that 'feature' of moving defaulting to ignoring enemy units has killed more RTS Games than any other factor), then what's the friggin Retreat Button for??? I paused the game and started flipping through the manual which I dont like to do unless I want to know what a button does or I want to figure out if my fears about buying a crappy game were substantiated. I unhappily noted that the guard button didnt guard a specific place or unit, just the area around where a unit happened to be??? By comparison that means that the Sega Genesis Version of Dune2 had more better features (yeah you heard me, 'more better') than this game??? and the Sega Genesis was a 16-bit graphix machine too.....

I also remember the spice hurt infantry if they stood on it, but that would probably make it look TOO much like C&C, heheh. Oh well I thought, at least I'll be able to play online :) (which I have not tried yet, but I will after finishing this). The fact that there is no patrolling, that there is not much difference in unit selection/building types for each house, etc. miscellaneous complaints...are all irrelevant. To play Dune2 as one of the (if not the) premier RTS game, took a certain kind of person with the concentration and tenacity to treat (what we would call today, the conspicuous lack of features) as part of the game and part of being skillful at playing it.

All in all Westwood shot itself in the foot on this one financially, but I am glad they did. The graphics are superb for being 16 bit. The control is not as good as the Sega Genesis port, so it sucks. The game can be played multiplayer (and will be for sure for years to come, probably more than GrandTheftAuto because of all the Dune fans like me) and even if Westwood stops supporting it, they picked a good genre that will produce non-sanctioned patches if necessary. The AI is good and hard. You cannot play 'true' multiplayer against the computer in practice mode, it's you vs all...that is not so bad. The interface is intuitive and fast (scrolling) and has a minimap that you can actually use to set far away destinations (thank god). The sound. I never took much notice of it. It must be ok. The sound fx are decent enough, they are from Dune2 of course! Being able to set little things like crates and worm frequency is exactly the types of little touches that will prevent this game from drifting into the 10 dollar bin at software houses. Last of all I am suprised by some of the quantifiable differences: the Atraedes Orinthopters do a heckuva lot of damage! the fact that there is A LOT of Spice in the game...but that it probably due to my bad memory...I just remember the game being partly about being frugal, but not this version, heh! I dont remember thumper soldiers, I remember being able to engineer towers...etc.,etc. It's all good in this version tho. I find no unbalancing factors (other than infantry is not injuredby spice).

I give it a solid 8 of 10. It's definitely not up to par with modern RTS's and dont even get me started on why...they are blatenly advertised on the box itself! But I wouldnt return it. Obviously, I ended up visiting fan sites to look for more info and discussion on the game, so it's not all that bad. If Westwood can't get the multiplayer right or cant keep it up, I'll definitely offer it on my LAN where my friends and I play Multiplayer games. It's Dune2! I need not say more.