Originally submitted to GameFAQs in 2004. For some odd reason, the Genesis version on HG has the PC title (edit: which has been changed since I made this blog post).
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What's usually the first thing people think of when the words "RTS" and "Westwood Studios" are together? Most likely, they would think of Command & Conquer and it being their first foray into the RTS genre. But, when I think of those two titles, I think of this game, Dune: The Battle for Arrakis. Since this was my first RTS game, I didn't know what to expect. But after playing it for some time, I started to think how incredibly absorbing and challenging it is. There are a couple of problems, but only one of them is really annoying, and the others are tiny enough that it doesn't put a damper on the enjoyment factor. Hell, I'll go as far to say it's one of the Genesis' greatest titles.
Arrakis, it's a planet filled to the rim with spice. This spice can easily be converted into credits (currency), so it's no surprise people have taken interest in the planet. To be more specific, three Houses. They've had many negotiations with the Emperor of Arrakis, but all have failed. Grown impatient, they have decided to take the planet by force. It won't be easy, though, as each House have to fight against the others, and eventually, the Emperor, for dominance of the planet. Thus, the battle for Arrakis, commences. Right at the start, you get to choose one of the three Houses to wage war with. The "fair and just" Atreides (after hearing the main storyline, though, that's just BS), the sneaky and deceptive Ordos, and the ruthless and brute Harkonnen. Each House has a varying difficulty level to them. Harkonnen being the easiest, as they start out strong early on and have one of the deadliest weapons in the game. Atreides being medium, their forces are pretty average when it comes to fighting, and the Ordos are the hardest to play with, they start out pretty weak and don't exactly have the strongest weaponry in the game.
When you begin a mission, all you'll have is a construction yard, a couple of vehicles/troops, and just a right amount of credits. Obviously, the first thing you'll need to do is start making more buildings, since you won't last long with what little you've got. But you need lots of credits to do that, so one of the first things you need to build, is a refinery. With this, a harvester can go to and fro, collecting spice from the sand and converting it into credits. Thus, you'll be able to build more stuff. Sounds easy, right? It may, but you are at your most vulnerable at this moment. Almost everything you do at this point will determine how successful you'll be in completing the mission. There are all types of things you have to worry about, but one of the first obstacles you have to deal with, are the sandworms. Thankfully, they can only travel on sand, and not the rock formations where your base is on. But your harvesters (and everything else) are at a huge risk when they traverse onto the sandy terrain. If you're not watching over them or if you're too slow to guide them to safety, the sandworms will eat up your harvesters. And if you don't have enough credits to purchase another harvester, then, consider you and your base, royally screwed.
As you progress further into the game, the mission objectives will change from simply collecting a certain amount of credits, to going up against an opposing House and fighting to destroy their base. This is were the game starts to get really intense, and fun. There are so many things going on at once, that you'll eventually lose track of what's going on at times. From making more buildings/vehicles/rocket turrets, defending your base from the enemy, keeping an eye out for sandworms, etc. Then there's the occasional sneak attack from behind your base as the enemy drops off vehicles/troops. And sooner or later, you'll have to locate their base and take it out. Of course, you'll be searching for the construction yard first, to prevent them from rebuilding.
That's what's so great about this game. You have to think things through, what to build first, strategies for attacking the base, etc. It has this overall tension to it, making it really challenging to play. Most of the later missions will drag out for almost over two hours, but since you're so absorbed with what's going on with the game, you won't even notice. Unfortunately, with all this action happening on screen at once, slowdown rears it's ugly head. It gets a bit annoying at times to watch as a vehicle move to it's location in slow motion, or waiting for it to fire a shot. It also messes up the controls, too. Like when you try to select a tank, but it ends up picking the tank beside it. Or when you command a rocket launcher to shoot at a building, but due to the slowdown, it makes you accidentally select the wall beside it. With this problem, there will be quite a few times where you'll goof up, due to the slowness, and it'll screw you over in the process.
The graphics aren't the most impressive thing in the game, they're pretty simple in design. But that's not really a bad thing, it works for this type of game. The buildings are just a bunch of square boxes with simplistic designs representing that particular building. Most of the vehicles, like the tanks, rocket launchers, and harvester look exactly the same for each House. The only difference is a palette change, though, towards the end of the game, each House will get it's own personal vehicle. Like the Atreides electric razer-ish, Sonic Tank, and the Harkonnen's steroidal induced tank, the Devastator. Their's really not much variety when it comes to the terrain, it's just a bunch of sand and rock. This isn't really a problem, though, you won't even have time to notice how dull the backdrops are with all the fighting going on. A neat little effect I like, when you're in battle, is you'll leave a lot of big and tiny holes into the ground. That may not sound like much, but I think it's cool, giving off the effect of a war torn battlefield. The music does a great job of capturing the mood of the game. Whether it's building up your base and not knowing when the enemy's going to attack, engaged in intense combat, or just simply waiting as to what's gonna happen next, the music captures the moment with it's dramatic and tense vibe.
Well, despite how annoying the slowdown gets at times and the sandworm nuisance (they can get really annoying during the middle missions), Dune: The Battle for Arrakis is a solid RTS game for the Genesis. With 27 missions total (nine for each House), and battles spanning at least two hours long, you'll definitely get a lot of replay out of this title. It's also a good RTS game for beginners of the genre, it's pretty easy to get into right from the start. So, if you want an RTS game, or just a game that'll put your judgement and reflexes to the test in the heat of the moment, then I recommend checking out this game. It'll be a great addition to your Genesis collection.
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