Back in 1992, Westwood put the finishing touches on a title that would change the face of PC gaming for years to come. The title, Dune II, was based on Frank Herbert's classic Dune novel series and brought the feel of the novels together with the look of David Lynch's epic film of the same name in a brand-new genre now called real-time strategy. The end result is an unforgettable piece of gaming history.

Even now, real-time strategy games still religiously follow the formula created all those years ago - protect your harvesters while they gather spice so that you have the resources to build more units. The sad thing is, even though the gameplay in Dune II has never really been surpassed, advances in interface design, graphics, and sound technology, and of course the addition of multiplayer options in games, have made this classic unapproachable to gamers accustomed to the effects and playability of today's titles.

Now, after several years of receiving letters from fans begging for a remake, Westwood has prepared to relaunch this classic title with improved graphics and sound effects, an improved play interface, and of course, multiplayer. Although all of this is very welcome, it's still important for gamers to know all of the things that Dune 2000 is not going to be. Westwood is making it very clear that Dune 2000 is an update of an old title, not a full-fledged sequel. The technology in the game is borrowed from past hits like Red Alert and Command and Conquer rather than being a prelude to Tiberian Sun, which is still in development (keep an eye on GameSpot's Previews section and Computer Gaming World magazine for the full scoop on this upcoming sequel).

Even though there's a lot of different sources spreading a lot of hype about Dune 2000, Westwood has never made any claim that the game is to be anything but a better-looking multiplayer-enabled remake of the original. We recently had a chance to actually play the game and have put together a quick guide to let gamers know what to really expect. First, let's bring those of you who missed the original up to date.