Introduction
Almost one year on from our first look at Dune: Spice Wars that you can read here in the first part of this review, Shiro is bringing the game out of Early Access. After a lot of updates, balance changes, new features and a new faction addition, we take a look at what’s new and here to stay in version v1.0 of this 4X/RTS genre hybrid.
Balancing Act
To start with, the game now has a real tutorial that explains the basics quite well. It was needed for such a large game with so many moving parts. But carving a finished game out of such a complicated rough idea and creating a fun and coherent whole is quite the balancing act, especially since it bends both 4x and RTS genre presuppositions.
From tweaking unit stats to completely overhauling some game mechanics, the game has seen many changes over the past year, often trying to streamline the management aspect and simplify the economy, so as to allow players to concentrate on warfare and politics more than before.
Arguably, the complexity was never a problem in the singleplayer mode, as the chance to pause the game allowed the player to deal with any problems that might arise at any given moment.
But when faced with the same problems in real time, especially when playing against real opponents at 150% game speed, the generally agreed on setting in multiplayer games, the game often overwhelms players after some time.
Even returning players will find a lot of new things including unique faction buildings and giant flying units that can dominate the battle in the late game. While not exactly lore friendly, they do add a bit of variety to the game and change how the late game plays out.
No less important are the improvements to the AI and the computer players are now more aggressive and inventive in the way they use every faction’s strength against the player and each other.
The team at Shiro have been open and communicative with these and a lot of other changes during the development process. After a year, it is safe to say that the game is much more streamlined, and while some changes are suspect, like the way House Corino was simplified, the game still plays smoother and faster than before. That’s important, because the new game mode expects players to spend a lot of time beating it.
Conquest Mode
Dune: Spice Wars has three game modes: Battle for Arrakis, Kanly and the new Conquest mode.
While Battle for Arrakis is what 4X fans would recognize as a default game setup and Kanly as a map designed for a two player stand-off, the new mode is different in many ways, of which most importantly, it is an exclusively single player mode meant to serve as a campaign.
Players that have experience with other Dune games, both PC and board games, will find the campaign map of the northern hemisphere of Arrakis familiar. The northern ice caps are surrounded by irregularly drawn territories placed in a board game fashion, with three opponents vying for control of the planet, and ultimately control of the spice.
The Conquest overmap itself is randomly generated, but only to a certain extent with most of the maps designed around an overarching campaign structure. There are several special locations on the map, like Mount Idaho. To take that region as an example, while it might spawn in every Conquest, every time it is played the map will be generated anew, even during the same campaign if replayed with the general topography following a similar pattern, but never the same.
Every map has modifiers and different win conditions, again generated differently for every playthrough. In some cases, a game might be very similar to a typical short game of Battle of Arrakis, while in other cases special rules will be in place that shake up the player’s strategy, sometimes removing spice production completely, forcing a change of priorities.
The player is given a choice of special abilities for the chosen faction at the start and will continually acquire new ones after every mission, in effect customizing the faction over the course of the campaign to a specific playstyle.
Randomly generated maps, randomly generated mission objectives and modifiers as well as a customizable faction make the Conquest mode just that, the real battle for Arrakis, with potentially many playthroughs for the dedicated player to experiment with.
But there are certain problems as well. First, other than a difficulty setting and faction choice, nothing else can be changed in the Conquest mode, not even the opposing factions. This means that if you wanted to play with the Atreides, against the Harkonnen and Corrino, well, you’ll have to start a few times until you get the desired set-up.
Second, as I had mentioned in my first review, there isn’t much story there. The briefing between missions is rarely more than a shallow set up for the win conditions and none of the characters, neither the leaders nor the councilors, have any banter or dramatic roles. It has as much story as a board game: a lot of pictures and flavor text on offer, but the player will have to imagine the rest.
Third, while not a problem in itself, and a lore-friendly design choice, is that both Smugglers and Fremen cannot be chosen in Conquest mode. They will still appear during the custom missions as opponents, but only the great houses may be played and played against on the overmap, and they are the Atreides, Harkonnen, Corrino and the new house Ecaz.
House Ecaz
While the first three are household names for a Dune fan, the last faction to be released together with the official sortie from Early Access is the novel and relatively unknown house Ecaz.
Described as the artistic and refined house, Ecaz brings a medieval chic to the game, from ornamental mechanical flying units to anachronistic pike and shot soldiers wearing historical armor and headpieces from a “more civilized era.”
Extravagant stylistic choices aside, it is not a simple re-skin, but a fully-fledged faction with a unique game style and mechanics that shake up the way the player approaches the map. Their units are straightforward – at the beginning use the pikemen to protect the musketeers while they destroy the enemy from afar. Add knights later on and proclaim your champion for extra medieval flavor. But Sanctuaries and Monuments are what really set them apart from the other great houses.
Sanctuaries are neutral territories that become immune to attack from other players and give bonuses to surrounding Ecaz villages. They are created when a village is surrounded by the Ecaz, or explained in more detail, when all neighboring territories are owned by Ecaz, not counting mountain ranges, deserts and the map’s edge.
Monuments, on the other hand, are buildings that can be constructed in owned territories. They cost Loyalty and Influence to destroy by another faction, in effect slowing down their expansion if they do so. Additionally, Monuments persist in a village even if that village is no longer under Ecaz control.
Using both Sanctuaries and Monuments in tandem, the Ecaz player can effectively deny the map to his opponent and reap extra benefits in the process.
Final Thoughts
Dune: Spice Wars has seen a very active and involved development arc, with a lot of changes, updates, fresh as well as old ideas, and even some drama. New players will find a refined game that is easier to learn, and returning players are given something new to sink their teeth into.
As it is, the game is being released with a lot of features “out of the box,” including six quite different factions to choose from, and a new Conquest mode that adds replayability, allowing for many different ways to approach the game, with strategies according to the player’s preferences.
Based on Shiro’s treatment of their past games it is expected that there will be more updates that will add many balance and quality of life fixes even after the release, so that makes me feel like the game might have a long life in front of it.
That being said, it is still light on the story, and while that might turn some people off, it might also be a chance to make one’s own story on a planet many love, called Dune.
Filip is interested in games and how they are created. He’s particularly interested in the art, story, and how they’re integrated with the game systems. He considers that a great game is one where all the elements fit together seamlessly. When he’s not discovering new games and writing about them, he works as a freelance illustrator and likes to read and write fiction.