Dune

Title           Dune
Developer       Cryo (1992)
Game Type       Adventure
Players         1
HD Installable  Yes
Compatibility   All Amigas with atleast 1 MB
Submission      Emmanuel Henne 

Review
In 1992, finally somebody found the courage to transform one of
the most famous SF-myths into a computer game.
CRYO, a french development team formerly known as EXXOS, purchased
the rights to develop a game based upon Frank Herbert`s megalo-
maniac SF-epic DUNE.

The rich story offered so many facets that it definitly was
very difficult to find one genre it would fit in, that`s why
CRYO decided to combine three genres: adventure, business simulation,
and conflict simulation.

The story is set somewhere in the 3rd millenium.
An empereror reigns over the thousands of worlds that
have been discovered.
The player incorporates the role of "Paul Atreides", who is the
offspring of an aristocratic family.
By the emperor, Paul and his family have been sent to the planet Arrakis,
a planet which is better known as "DUNE", due do its desert surface.
But under its surface exists the most precious drug in the whole
universe: the "SPICE". The "SPICE" is able to extend the lifespan
and to help pilots to navigate the large space freighters.

Together with the family Atreides, another family has been sent
to Arrakis: the evil "Harkonnen".
Both families are to harvest as much spice as possible for the
emperor, and the family who brought the most at the end of
a given period will reign over DUNE.

The player`s task now is to manage the spice-harvesting business
to satisfy the emperor, to defend the Atreides against the Harkonnen-troops
and to find out more about the population of DUNE, people known as
"Fremen".
To make things more difficult, Paul finds out very soon that the
"Fremen" see him as some kind of "Messiah", who came to free them
from the Harkonnens` terror and to change Arrakis` surface
into something completely different...

The user interface is completely mouse-driven and very intuitive.
The gameplay is divided into the three parts of trade,adventure and
combat, and every part is as deep as the others.
In the trade part,You have to send out the spice harvesters, the
ornithopters and the Fremen, to harvest enough spice for
the emperor.
In the adventure part, You have to gather information and do a lot of
talking to Fremen, traders and Your own aristocratic staff.
In the combat part, You have to find and train Fremen-tribes all
over Arrakis, You have to find secret fremen bases and weapons,
and You have to fight the harkonnen, either by defending Your
own troops or by attacking Harkonnen outposts.

The sounds and graphics of DUNE are based on the movie "DUNE"
which was directed by David Lynch ("Wild at Heart").
Paul Atreides looks like Kyle Maclachlan, who played this role
in the movie and other characters look similiar to their
counterparts in the movie.
The graphics are simply excellent,especially when considering
the limitations of a 32-colours-palette.
Voyages on the planet Arrakis are presented in a 3-D-view
with the landscape scrolling by.
This is playable on any Amiga, even on a slow A1200.
The game itself is fast-paced and monotony is found very
rarely, because new characters and events are introduced all the time.
The identification with Paul happens almost instantly, and soon You
really start HATING the Harkonnen, and, like a modern Robin Hood, You
start gathering the Fremen around You, to train them to become fighters.

I have never played a "movie-game" as dense and as atmospheric as
this one. If You have seen the movie and/or read the book(s),
You will find Yourself transported to Arrakis within the blink of
an eye !

Alphabetical list.