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In the iconoclastic Westwood Studios releasedDune 2 It had an instant and profound effect on the game-playing public. Almost overnight, healthy, young men became edgy, nervous hermits surviving on nothing but a torrid diet of harvesting, refining and constructing. Another less impressive ottering from the same developer was Dune This piss-poor remake of Done 2 made no new friends, indeed some old friends claimed it was identical to Dune 2 but with updated graphics.
Well, the truth must have hurt because with Emperor: Battle For Dune, Westwood has tried yet again to bring the game that started it all bang up to date. We emphasise the word 'tried' because sadly it appears that Westwood Studios has again missed its mark. Well, to put it kindly, the much-vaunted 3D engine needs some work. No, let's rephrase that - it needs to be stripped down and totally rebuilt.
If this engine was inside a brand new Formula One racing car, the Ferrari, McLaren and Williams mechanics would be leaning over the pit wall pointing and pissing themselves with laughter. For a more relevant comparison, let's just say that there isn't a single leading RTS game on the market that need worry about the graphical capabilities of Emperor.
In fact the last time we saw colours clash this bad was on Pyjamarama for the Spectrum 48K. And it's not just the textures that are dire.
Most units and buildings are made up from extremely basic polygons giving the game a pronounced blocky look. With this in mind it actually makes sense that you can't zoom in too close, because if you did you'd recoil in horror at the mess before you. Aesthetically, the only part of the game that's remarkable is the musical score and sound effects. In fact, if this review was based on those two elements alone Emperor woM receive in the region of per cent.
Pity then that this magazine is not the NME and our reviews are based upon a game's ability to entertain. Traditionally this is where Westwood has always excelled. But again, on this occasion there appears to be little imagination on the developer's part. The game experience itself is virtually identical to every other RTS game Westwood has released over the last decade or so, though notably it lacks the satirical humour so prevalent in Red Alert 2.
Firstly we get to choose from three different sides. OK, so it's always nice to have a choice and we're very grateful for it, but after extensive play you realise that apart from the poorly acted FMV sequences and the way the story unfolds, there's really no significant difference between the protagonists. It doesn't matter whether you play as House Atreides, Harkonnen or Ordos -it's the same three-point plan to success.
The same old strategies are present in so far as you get your main base up and running, start collecting your resources, and then you produce units. It's like listening to a CD on repeat for eight years Exactly how long can this go on for? Precisely how many more times will Westwood remix the same game and callously flog it for 30 quid? Come on guys You've done it before and you can do it again, and as the saying goes: "Nothing is more dangerous than an idea, when you have only one idea.
But the really disappointing part of all of this is that no matter how uninspiring this game is, people will still go out and buy it.
Brand loyalty counts for a lot, and we have absolutely no doubt that Emperor go straight to number one. A lot of gamers simply don't have the time or patience to try anything else -they just stick to what they know. It's like when every single Metallica fan in the country pre-orders a new single and suddenly there's a guy on Top Of The Pops growling about nuclear holocausts and anthrax. There really is no accounting for taste. You may have gathered that we're not too happy, and you'd be right.
We've come to expect more from Westwood and the sad truth is that this game is not a classic. There are, however, certain areas that are worthy of praise.
The tactical overview map of Arrakis is an excellent idea and gives the player the chance to shift troops around the surface of the planet before selecting which sector to attack next. Players are also given data such as the intelligence of enemy AI as well as the amount of enemy and allied reinforcements available in each sector.
It's a minor gimmick, but it's surprising how much this information affects your all-conquering plan. Those with an adventurous disposition will also be pleased to learn that the action is not just confined to the vast deserts of Arrakis. There are numerous missions based on other planets in the universe that thankfully add much-needed graphical and strategic variety to the game. Due to the lack of spice or Melange to the cultists on these other planets, a whole new approach is needed.
In order to manufacture units you must ensure that there is a healthy economy back on Arrakis to meet the demands of your military spending. Providing the economic infrastructure is in place you are given regular shipments of cash to use as you wish.
Alternatively you can create units and buildings in giant spaceports and have them delivered to the planet's surface. The only catch here is that you have to build the spaceport first. There are also other subtler missions along the lines of Tiberian Sun and Red Alert where there are only one or two units to control. One example is where you have to take a small group of snipers into a space station and rescue some hijacked frigates.
These missions come across as welcome respite where it's stealth and dirty tactics all the way. All of a sudden the gameplay is transformed into something much more joyous. Oh, and lest we forget, back on Arrakis there are also bloody huge worms to avoid. Now when we say huge we mean massive. In fact these worms are probably one of Emperor's most atmospheric and faithful features. In the film you always get the impression that these creatures are the true masters of Arrakis and here it's no different.
If you don't keep your eye on the desert and watch out for the telltale signs, you could find entire armies being swallowed whole. Worms aren't the only nuisances either; lethal sandstorms appear out of nowhere and suck your men into oblivion.
In fact, there's more sucking and swallowing in this game than in a Thai massage parlour. But there is one particular gameplay aspect in all of this that stands proud and drags the game way above the average, and that is your ability to form treaties and alliances with lesser-known subhouses of Arrakis.
By allying with someone such as the Fremen or the lx to name two of the five in total , the player gets to build a camp for that house within their base. This allows access to more troops and more military units with new special abilities, as well as occasional reinforcements from that house. In the single-player campaign this wider variety of units doesn't necessarily change the overall battle strategy that much, but what it does do is offer the player a few more RPG-type choices along the way.
In multiplayer skirmish matches however, this option really comes into its own. Imagine, if you will, four players each playing as House Harkonnen. Traditionally you would be safe in the knowledge that all your opponents have the same weapons and the same abilities as you.
In Emperor you now get the choice to select the sub-house you are allied with before the start of the game, thus adding a new variable to the equation. Theoretically each person on that map could have a different sub-house ally, with nobody knowing who that ally is until the first attack. Ultimately it add mystery to the skirmish and thus makes the tactics and the game's outcome far less predictable than usual.
Despite its many shortcomings in other areas, there's no denying the multiplayer side of Emperror is a technical step forward from anything they've done before, and there's no question that it advances the gamepiay significantly.
If you want a long-lasting multiplayer game with great options and a plethora of units and tactics, you could do a lot worse. In fact, we recommend it - providing you can forgive the graphical dog's dinner, of course Earlier we mentioned how other real-time strategy games had nothing to worry about when it came to the graphics engine in Emperor.
Unfortunately, pretty much the same can be said for the gameplay. On the one hand, it's too simplistic to attract fans of games like Earth and The Moon Project. Conversely, the tiresome harvesting and refining concept is too fiddly and old-skool for those who've defected over to the more straightforward approach of Ground Control anti Steel Soldiers.
There truly is only one type of games player who will appreciate the limited appeal of Emperor and that is the devout Westwood groupie.
For them Emperor contains all the right ingredients: the instantly recognisable resource management interface, the cheesy FMV acting, the ability to play as one of three sides, and the 3D engine fans have been screaming for.
Oh yes, if you've survived on the Westwood diet for the last few years, you'll quickly forgive the prototype engine and appreciate Emperor lor what it really is - more new levels for Tiberian Sun and a few more units to boot. For the rest of us though, it's simply impossible to get overly excited about. We had high hopes for the game, as everyone did, but we can't help feeling a little let down. We know there will be heated disagreement from many quarters, but if those responsible for Emperor are honest with themselves, they must know in their hearts that there is much, much better to come.
This installment follows the struggle of the three "Great Houses" of Atreides, Harkonnen and Ordos to control the planet Arrakis, also known as Dune. The storyline borrows from both the literary and feature film versions of the Dune story for the world setting and general feel of the plot. The story begins following the assassination of the reigning Emperor. It is the third real-time strategy game set in the Dune universe, following its predecessors, Dune II and Dune In particular, it is a sequel to Dune , carrying on from where it left off, with several of the characters and actors returning.
Like Dune and many of the other Westwood games that came before it, Emperor features cut scenes filmed with live actors. There are no reviews yet.
Be the first one to write a review. This conflict takes place on Arrakis, the only known home of the Spice Melange, the most powerful substance in the universe. The leader of the victorious party not only will take charge of Arrakis and the spice, but he will also become Emperor of the Known Universe.
So the stakes are extremely high. All three races feature lengthy playable campaigns. These of course differ in terms of plot, although there aren't as many differences between the races themselves.
While the Atreides are noble warriors, the Harkonnens violent and cruel, and the Ordos rapacious aliens who use hideous biological technology, there is little to separate them tactically. Basic units have counterparts that are nearly identical in the ranks of their opponents.
For example, where the Atreides boast Kindjai Infantry with pistols and rocket launchers, the Harkonnen have Troopers with missile launchers, and the Ordos field AA Troopers, also with missile launchers. This is reflected further up the ranks as well, though there are certain overall characteristics that can be taken advantage of, such as the strong Harkonnen armor and the Ordos' hit and run capabilities. About the only truly different units in the game are those used by the rather creepy Tleilaxu, a smaller house that uses flesh vats to grow Contaminators that infect opposing forces and turn them into copies of themselves, and Leeches, that fire larvae at foes.
All houses share the same buildings, with the exception of gun turrets that slightly differ the Ordos turret launches poisonous gas, the Harkonnen model shoots flame, and the Atreides version features machine guns. Where Emperor truly stands apart from Westwood's earlier efforts is in the design of the single-player campaigns. Instead of fighting a series of must-win battles until the final showdown, here you wage war on a dynamic map.
When the game begins, Arrakis is evenly divided into sectors controlled by the three houses. From there, you decide how to proceed, which sector to attack in order to best advance the war. At the same time, you'll be forced to defend your territory against enemy invasion. This adds a much-needed jolt to the standard RTS style, though it's not quite as freeform as you might believe. For starters, your choices are generally quite limited.
There are usually just two or three sectors controlled by each opposing house that can be attacked at a time and at least two are typically off-limits due to severe storms. These often feature fairly similar enemy forces, so it's not as if these selections represent vastly different tactical plans.
Also, there are certain elements of the story that seem to be set in stone, even the alliances with lesser houses and other independent groups. As an example of this, I was never able to form an alliance between the Atreides and the Tleilaxu, even though it was specifically noted in one of the cutscenes that the choice of ally would be left up to me.
Even when you are given varied mission objectives, the route taken to victory is almost always the same. Just like Red Alert , you always start off with a small group of forces and must immediately set up a base and start collecting resources in this case, the Spice Melange and constructing buildings and military units.
Repetition is the watchword here, as you'll spend much of your time building the same structures over and over again. There are some episodes that break this trend, though they're few and far between. After leaving the campaign map, the gameplay here is very traditional and without much in the way of surprises. There are a few worthy tactical elements, though.
Ally yourself with the Fremen tribesmen and you'll be able to summon mighty Sandworms to crush the opposition. The value of high ground is emphasized more here than in perhaps any other RTS in recent memory. As bases must be established on the rock that towers over the sandy seas below, you have to take advantage of this by building in the right areas and fortifying that position with long-range units such as mortars and snipers.
Unfortunately, this emphasizes the relatively poor AI granted to your computer opponents, who will often assault such solid encampments from the sand below rather than flanking you in an attempt to launch an attack from a level playing field.
If you work quickly and fortify your structures properly, you can expect little serious challenge from the opposition while you build a massive offensive force. About the only obstacle to victory is the sub-par pathfinding. Your units will bump into one another and stop, wander into the range of enemy gun turrets, and so on.
Large-scale battles should be micro-managed for the best result, which of course gets a little annoying at times. And infantry units are so dumb that they'll often allow themselves to be crushed by oncoming vehicles that could easily have been avoided. It's nice that they put direct firing orders ahead of self-preservation, but still.
Additional gaming options might provide players with further entertainment value, but again, there really isn't anything here that hasn't been seen before.
Skirmish mode features some interesting ideas involving alliances, Sandworm activity, prebuilt bases, and crates with goodies inside, though there isn't a map editor or a random map generator. That alone will limit the replay value.
Multiplayer is handled through the dedicated Westwood Online service. One helpful frill here is that you can go online to play a campaign cooperatively. It's good to see that, despite everything else, the designers realized the value of a cooperative mode. Good points aside, Emperor: Battle for Dune is a tired game based on a limited concept that was beaten to death in Google Fuchsia OS. Half of all US adults fully vaccinated.
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