Establish dominance in Frank Herbert’s magnum opus

Dune: Spice Wars is a grand strategy set in the Dune universe, built upon Frank Herbert’s iconic sci-fi novel. In Shiro Games’ premium tactics game, you get to lead a faction as you crush others and take control of the desert world of Arrakis.

As it features different levels of strategic gameplay, Dune: Spice Wars matches Civilization 6 in complexity but without turn-based restrictions. Gameplay-wise, it’s closer to Starcraft II or Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, but with better graphics quality. All this, plus the fact that it’s built on a literary classic.

A hybrid strategy game

It is important to note that Dune: Spice Wars is not entirely real-time since it has slow pacing by default. However, players have the option to pause and fast-forward in-game events. This feature works since it allows you to appreciate and explore Arrakis — an incredibly detailed desert world with a variety of biomes still tied to the overall environment. Despite the scale, this keeps the game immersive.

This carefully crafted world also affects gameplay since it creates natural barriers and passageways that could help define your strategy. Although maps are procedurally generated, there are key features directly lifted from the book. There are six factions available, currently, although developers have announced the creation of more factions in the following releases. How each of them varies makes for the game’s replayability.

One curious feature of the game is its rather cartoonish design for units and buildings, which makes the game feel weird given the serious overall tone of Dune as a franchise. Its design choices are closer to Civilization games than those of, say, Starcraft. Additionally, its pacing makes the game last longer than it should, making you more likely to press that fast-forward button.

What’s cooking in the Version 1.0 update?

Following Dune: Spice War’s highly anticipated official, post-Early Access stage release is a series of additional content, reworks, and some quality-of-life upgrades that aim to produce an overall smoother, better game experience. At the helm is the introduction of House Ecaz, and this faction is now playable in conquest. Four new missions, five new common bonuses, and a handful of balancing and rework across existing missions have been integrated into the conquest mode.

The development tree has been altered, as well. Interestingly, a full rework has been done to it, so players from the Early Access stage will encounter a new look and content. Development cost has been scaled too, and now it is not dependent on the order in which each tier is researched. Changes to unit and manpower regeneration rate and cost were made too. 

The worthy flagbearer for the franchise

There has been a lot of Dune video games over the years but it’s safe to say that Dune: Spice Wars is the best thing to come in a while. It uses familiar elements while allowing players to create their own stories of bringing the entire Arrakis under one rule. The design choices and the pacing are but minor considerations some players might take issue with.