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"Dad, where did the real-time strategy game come from?"
"Well son, we'll have to go back a long time, to the days of a little game called Dune 2. Sure, there were some rudimentary RTS type games on the C64, and even games like Sim City have contributed to the genre. However, those innovative boys at Westwood started a whole new genre in gaming with this little number".
Dune 2 is a history lesson, as well as a great game. Based loosely on the events of the Dune novels, Dune 2 is a pure action strategy game which puts story aside and concentrates on the action. Dune 2 is largely credited as being the first true "RTS" game on any platform.
In Dune 2, the player takes the role of army general, viewing the game through "God-game" top down view. He has control over troops, vehicles, mining activities and building and construction. He has the "simple" task of coordinating construction and managing resources in order to become militarily powerful enough to defend his base, and eventually conquer the bases of the enemy. There are three sides to choose from, being the three houses competing for control of Dune. The player chooses a side and then begins the task of conquest over the whole planet, establishing in each area, building a base, developing an army, dominating mining, then destroying any competing houses nearby.
As the game progresses the competing houses eventually team up against the player and finally the emperor also joins the competition. So the player has the ultimate chance to rule Dune by defeating the emperor himself. This will particularly appeal to the power-hungry control-freaks amongst us, this reviewer being one.
Dune 2 is fast-paced, with players making all decisions on their feet, while they coordinate attacks and dispatch mining missions. The graphics are clear and pleasant, but never spectacular, sound is good, composed of subtle music, battle spot effects and the radio voices of subordinates responding "Yes sir" to each order given. When a large battle breaks out, sound effects become suitably chaotic.
AI is good for it's time, but the enemy does have certain weaknesses, the largest being a tendancy to establish and then solely rely on a minimal number of transport routes, especially when rolling tanks in to attack the player's base. The player needs only to learn this attack route and then fortify it. The save game feature is constantly available, and so the player can save at will, before each sortie, so that failures can be erased by re-loading. The same is true when the Harkonnens launch a missile - the player can save on receiving warning of this, then reload several times until the missile lands somewhere harmless. The game would have benefited enormously by a link-up two-player mode.
Weaknesses aside, Dune 2 passes the crucial "stands the test of time" test. It is fun, feeds our need for power, and makes an extremely valuable contribution to computer gaming. Fantastic.
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Everything that is happening is clearly presented, however the graphics are never spectacular or push the Amiga's abilities in any way. A few nice intro screens help set the scene.
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Amiga games were always more fun when they contained speech. All conditions and events are reported to the player through speech and this adds to the feeling of power that the player has.
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The player has perfect control over the units in his command. The fact that multiple units cannot be selected is the only detracting factor.
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| Very solid gameplay and extremely addictive. More fun in some ways than C&C, the only small downsides being predictable enemy AI, and lack of two-player mode. Overall, this game is superb. |
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