I recently downloaded the latest iteration of DOSBox and began sorting through my oldest and most treasured games that I remember from my Childhood. For those of you who aren't quite sure what DOSBox is, it's about the only emulator on the internet that won't get you into serious trouble with lawsuit happy lawyers employed by gaming companies who own old game IPs. The reason for this is that DOSBox simulates old versions of DOS and artificially slows your computer down to roughly the speed of a 486, and thus allowing you to run old software without violating copyright laws... I think... Anyway, for those of you under the age of 23, that means it simulates life before Windows 95 - back when running and troubleshooting your computer meant memorizing an insane list of archaic commands manually typed into a text interface. Back when what sound card you had dictated what sound your computer made - trust me, there was a HUGE difference from the Creative Soundblaster series and the Roland lineup. SVGA graphics cards cost as much if not more (accounting for inflation) than ATI's new HD 2600 series does today. The game itself is fairly simple. It really feels like a mix of old point-and-click adventure series and early an early RPG in the way it is interfaced. At the time though, the pre-rendered graphics that the game loops while you are flying between the various locals in the game were so amazingly ahead of the times it was almost hypnotic to sit and watch the same sand dunes and rock walls fly by time after time. Showing up in person to a battle was a treat like none other in terms of eye candy for the early 90's gamer. In my latest replay, I realized the dialog of the game does actually leave a lot of confusing gaps, especially since the idea of an in game journal was years away from being standardized. I recognized then why I had such trouble when I first started playing this game those many years ago - my 11 year old brain had no idea where to go next. Older players, though should have no trouble with it. Confusing gaps aside though, the game had astonishingly good sound quality. There is an audible hiss when the voice acting plays, but overall clarity of the spoken words was unbelievable at the time. The vocal talent itself did tremendous job giving character to their very limited and often cheesy lines. The great quality of the vocal recordings is also reflected in the actual music. Soundblaster MIDI had rarely produced such a good soundtrack. Though it was somewhat repetitive, it never got old and changed according to the context of the moment. It set the mood as good as or better than nearly any of its contemporary games. Despite the Adventure/RPG interface, though, the real appeal of this game is that it had a number of elements to it that the modern gamer would recognize as belonging to an RTS. For one thing, the in game clock is always moving, there's a lot of resource harvesting (though only one resource - spice). You have to marshal the troops of Fremen, choose what you want them to do - fight, harvest spice, or later in the game, they can cultivate water (which was a dangerous thing to do since any area with plants became devoid of spice, and no spice being presented to the emperor meant game over). It was by no means what we today would recognize as an RTS, but it was a game that tried to break the mold. It really was ahead of its time in many ways. I can't believe that I feel old at 25 years of age, but I couldn't help feeling that way when I came across a little orange disk with 4 little letters on it: D - U - N - E. Good God, that disk did so much for me... It came with a surprise my dad had for me and my brother. He came home one day with a spectacularly expensive and complicated piece of super high technology to add to our relatively new computer - a blazing fast , cutting edge, brand-spanking new 2x CD-ROM. It was the first time I had anything other than a 2.5" or 5.25" floppy drive in my computer. With the technology, which took an agonizing 5 hours to install and get working properly, there was a treasure trove of the latest and greatest games (which I had no idea at the time had come out anywhere from 2 to 3 years before). Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. King's Quest VI. Jurassic Park (OK, so I think they were trying to get rid of their overstock on that one without resorting to the Atari ET method, but still...) More than anything else, though, that orange labeled copy of Dune changed my life. It sparked an interest in the 1984 classic flick on which the game was based. I thoroughly enjoyed that movie, though it left me confused beyond belief, and because of that movie, I bought the book and picked up a love for reading which has turned into a $6.50 weekly habit at Borders. In retrospect, it may be that my own fond memories of the game are clouding my judgment on the game. But then again, a game doesn't have to be inducted into any hall of fame to have fond remembrances in the minds of those it touched.
Dune is one of the, in my opinion, best games of all time. It was the first game I ever played and it really showed me just how good games could be. In the game, you are Paul Atriedies, the heir and son to the duke of th... Read Full Review
Dune is a game based on the Frank Herbert novel of the same name. It's sequel, Dune II was a incredible success as heralded the arrival of the RTS. This game shares little in common with its successor besides its name. Y... Read Full Review
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