Dune Reborn as an Emperor
Emperor: Battle for DUNE is a masterpiece that revived Dune Universe and introduced me and many gamers to the true Frank Herbert masterpiece.
About the story, I think many of the characters give the feeling of "copy and paste" from the original Dune book and movie (1984). Not because of the wardrobe similarity from the movie but because of the characters, the primal example is the Harkonnen House and the Emperor Corrino.
Well about this first strategic 3D game of Westwood ("Where are you dear gaming company?" EA eat her to the bones I guess xD)
In terms of gameplay,
- Atreides, the good ones focus in low armor units but with a immense weapon power;
- House Harkonnen, the bad and cruel guys (my favorites), specialized in high armor and with decent damage;
- House Ordos, the balanced faction in almost everything, specialized in shielding, sabotage with medium armor and damage to keep the other two houses at bay and balancing the game.
Good Spice:
- Map Mode that gives you a free territory conquest between primary missions;
- The Game is passed 90% in Arrakis, still maps full of sand are different and you are fully capable of distinguish between battlefields;
- The custcenes, story and gameplay gives to every faction a individual feeling;
- Side quests in the battlefield keep the game interesting and every battle unique;
- Secondary faction units are unique and offer powerful units;
- The Orchestra score of the factions, specially House Harkonnen by David Arkenstone is well achieved and remind us the ambiance of Lynch's movie, specially the "Legacy" Track very similar to the movie theme.
Bad Spice:
- You only need to defeat one faction to go to the final mission, conclusion, the game is to short if you open your way to the enemy capital too quick and actually you can end the game with one faction in approximately 4-5 hours or if you want to conquer all territories (what is actually a bit boring I guess) you will spend 12-14 hours, maybe more.
- The game is too easy, and the final mission is easier if you know where to place the carriers in the battlefield to avoid turrets.
- A forgotten game nowadays that some gamers call a C&C Clone (well is not C&C Dune Mode soo I wish you die ;P Joking);
This is my first review I hope you enjoy and that help you to choose the game you'll play next :)