I’ve got a bad feeling about this game. Dune: Awakening is getting more and more press hype the closer we get to early access release, but the game just doesn’t feel right for some reason.
I don’t really know what it is, but something just feels…off.
In spite of the Dune franchise’s INSANE and ASTRONOMICAL rise in popularity over the last three years, Dune: Awakening, the brand new MMO (or maybe it’s a mini MMO as it’s not really been announced just HOW the game will operate) from the franchise, has been given more and more press article and reviews as its early access release date draws near. Yet, even though the game has a great legacy beam behind it, I just feel something is off with this title.
Maybe I’m being too pessimistic, and everything could be alright with this game, but why does it feel like this game is going to be another Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League debacle? Is it just me or does anyone else feel that way?
Again, like I said earlier, I know the Dune franchise is red hot in popularity right now. I mean, not only have the books, which were already best-selling staples of the Sci-Fi genre, crossed the astonishing 20 million copies sold this past year, but the films Denis Villeneuve helmed in 2021 (Dune: Part One) and this year’s Dune: Part Two have seen numerous awards and high-end nominations (including multiple Academy Awards in 2021) and already grossed $1B!
Oh, and did I forget to mention that Dune: Part Two has only been in theaters for a little under a month and has not been through the award cycle yet? Yeah, the Dune franchise is most likely going to pick up a couple hundred million and a few more awards and nominations over the coming months.
So, this is the kind of success Dune: Awakening has in its corner in leu of its early access release. Yet, if Dune: Awakening’s developers, Funcom, wished to capitalize on this incredible wave of success for their game, then they’re doing a poor job of marketing the title in my opinion.
Despite only being a few weeks away from the early access beta’s release, Dune: Awakening has not had a SINGLE gameplay or semi-gameplay trailer release yet. All we have been given is cinematic trailers with highly contained and scripted “gameplay” shots that really just are low-tier cinematic angles.
Moreover, the trailers have not given a single hint of what the story is going to be about, how the MMO world will operate, why it’s based on Arakis (aside from the planet being the most popular and featured in the adaptations and novels), etc. I’ll grant there has been small showcases of some of the new technologies on display, such as the Lumen light features in one of the behind-the-scenes trailers, but the lack of gameplay has me very concerned for the title.
On the positive side, the developers showcased and featured really do seem to love and appreciate the world they are working within, and such sentiment must be commended in times when too many developers and publishers lack this care and passion.
So, I don’t THINK the game will be anywhere near as poor as Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League or any other horrific title in the recent years, but I would definitely recommend to wait and see how the reviews play out before buying this game.
Images Source: Featured Image: (Funcom) (Dune: Awakening – Survive Arrakis Trailer (youtube.com))
