Dune, a Desert Adventure Masterpiece - Amiga

There is no better game to start off this blog than Dune. Quite well known amongst the older gamers, it is often overlooked in favour of its sequel, Dune II: The Battle for Arrakis. The latter being considered as the father of all modern RTS games. As it was often the case back then, you cannot really put a single genre label on this game. Dune offers a rich gaming experience mixing adventure, strategy and exploration.

The action is staged on the desert planet Arrakis, also known as Dune, the only place in the universe where the “Spice” can be found. Spice is a key resource, as it allows interstellar travel. Various Houses struggle to gain control of the planet and its natural riches. In the game, you are Paul Atreides, heir of the House Atreides, a noble family from Caladan, the Water Planet. You're sent to Arrakis to face the Harkonnens, another Great House with rather questionable ethics. To gain control of the planet and fight off the Harkonnens, you'll need to befriend the Fremen, the indigenous people of Dune.

Paul Atreides, Dune's main character

Throughout the game, you'll have to explore the planet to find new Fremen havens and network with the various leaders you'll meet, manage spice extraction, train your own army and manage it to fend off your enemies. Amongst other things. It could have been messy but it really isn't, everything falls in place beautifully, but don't take my word for it, just play the game!

Dune map, allows you to manage the troops

Last but certainly not least, the soundtrack. The only fitting word here is masterpiece. Composer Stéphan Picq has done a wonderful job there. I highly recommend you to check out his other pieces if you like this one.

Dune captured my imagination when I played it for the first time as a kid, and to this day, each time I go back to it I can feel this thrill that only truly great games create. I hope you'll like as much as I do!

If you need some pointers on how to play the game, especially at later stage when you need to build a strategy, here is a nice Dune walkthrough by Andrew Nixon.

Dune
Developed by: Cryo; released in 1992
Platform: Amiga (ECS, OCS)