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Cryo Announce Frank Huberts Dune News
Chris Leyton
00/12/0000
Screens, Game Information + Developer Q&A for all the Dune fans out there.
Cryo Interactive today announced the 23rd November 2001 release of it's epic action/adventure title - Frank Hubert's Dune - on PC and PS2.
In the year 10191, House Atreides and the Harkonnen fight a bloodthirsty battle for the control of the desert planet Arrakis (Dune). It's only resource is Spice, the only commodity that will ensure its people a long life and greater economic powers. Only two Atreides will survive the all out massacre masterminded by the sinister Harkonnen. These include Paul Atreides, the son of Duke Leto and heir to the Atreides throne, and his mother, Jessica. The pair narrowly escape and seek vengeance over Harkonnen. The game player takes on the role of Paul and joins the tribe of Fremen, a native tribe of Arrakis, with the sole aim of saving the day and restoring the planet Dune to its rightful state of independence.
During the two years with the Fremen, the storyline revolves around Paul and his integration into the very heart of the Fremen tribe. Spies, intrigue and assassination attempts are everyday occurrences for Paul. The atmosphere is clearly felt and meticulously reproduced throughout the game. You play one of two survivors from the apocalyptic aftermath of the Atreides massacre plotted by the diabolical Baron Harkonnen.
As Paul, you must undertake many missions and display your bravery and worth. You must destroy the Spice smugglers, harass the Harkonnen, sabotage factories, discover new hiding places to stock spices, and so forth. During your missions, you will be forced to explore all known places on Dune. By doing so, you will be able to perfect your fighting techniques. Prepare yourself for battle and knife combat, and practise the powers that will make you an exceptional being and an invincible force to be reckoned with.
The essence of the game is based on action fuelled with finesse and discretion. The art of infiltration, of going unnoticed and striking the enemy, stealing plans and information without the enemy noticing; are just some of the aims of the operations led by the Fremen in preparation for their final attack...and the ultimate fight for solidarity and independence.
Frank Hubert's Dune is being developed by WideScreen Games, headed by Olivier Masclef, best known for creating the wonderful Outcast.
Oliver sat down with us and answered a few of our questions based on the game.
Q: Why do a game based on the Dune franchise?
A: Everyone here at Widescreen Games loves the Dune Universe. We are real fans. Dominique our Art Director and Sylvain our Game Designer have read the books many times and were dreaming about making a game based on Dune, long before we started work on this title.
Q: What type of game is it? Explain the style of the game and what you believe are its innovative, exciting features.
A: It is a real-time 3D epic, action adventure game. You play the part of Paul Atredies, future leader of the Fremen people. Paul is fighting against the rest of the universe in an effort to win back his place on Arrakis, which is Dune. There is a good mix of action and adventure within the game, which is heightened by the well developed AI of the opponents.
Q: Explain the scenario.
A: The story opens as Paul and Jessica crash into the desert, they succeed in finding an old Fremen Sietch (shelter) and meet with the Fremen. As the story unfolds, Paul becomes the messiah of the Fremen people and leads them to victory against the Harkonnen. The characters, locations and the overall story, is much the same as the books, movie and the upcoming TV series, on which the game is more directly based.
Q: What characters do you control? How do you control them?
A: The only character you control is Paul, as that is the only character you can play. You control him in real-time with the keyboard/mouse (PC) or Paddle (PS2) controls, and the scene is viewed through a 3rd person perspective.
Q: What mix is there between action and adventure?
A: Two thirds action to one third adventure, although it is difficult to consider them as 'separated' elements.
Q: Explain the action. Is it hand to hand or range weapon based?
A: Both. You can use the Kriss (Fremen knife made out of the tooth of a worm) to neutralise your opponents, as well as a Maula gun.
Q: Is it a linear game? Do all levels/missions have to be completed to move on?
A: Yes and no! Some missions are to be completed before others, just because of the way the story needs to unfold, respecting the progression of the story Frank Herbert created.
Q: What attributes do your characters have? Do they change or increase/decrease in any way?
A: Paul gains new skills during the game, but this is handled very intuitively and you don't have to manage it in a complicated way. What you have to do is try to use these new possibilities wisely!
Q: How important do you think the background story is to the game? Are players only concerned with the playing aspect?
A: In a Universe such as Dune and for this kind of game, the story is very important. You need to see how you became the leader of the Fremen and how you defeat the Harkonnen. The story is the long term reward of your progression through the game.
Q: Are there cut scenes? If so, are these film or animation?
A: There are real-time cut scenes made with the engine of the game, so that there is no sharp visual discontinuity in the picture style. This makes it a lot more convenient to adapt to the real 'ingame' situation.
Q: How do you move around the environments? Is it on foot or do vehicles play a part?
A: Mainly by foot, expect in certain cut scenes where you use a vehicle.
Q: What interaction is there with any NPC's?
A: There are plenty of interactions and not only fights. You can use dialogue, exchange items and there are even characters that can help you in the missions.
Q: Tomb Raider, Galleon, Outcast and endless others are all action/adventure games. What makes Dune stand out from the rest?
A: Dune stands out from the rest simply because of the richness of the universe and the way your character evolves. Also, the actions you can make, and the way to do them, is a lot less difficult to handle, thanks to our user-friendly interface.
Q: Explain the interface and inventory system.
A: A good example of the interface and inventory system at work takes place if there is an opportunity where you can use an object. The action button will appear contextually, and if you action it, it automatically calls the inventory, so the player does not have to remember which key the inventory is. We've designed the game to be simple and very intuitive to use.
Q: What environments does the game cover and how big in terms of both size and playing time are they?
A: This is a difficult question to answer, especially with regards to playing time, which is almost impossible. The environments are numerous, varied in style and mix indoors and outdoors. They probably cover a large number of square kilometres in total.
Q: Do the specs of the console limit what you wanted to do with the game?
A: No not at all. The PS2 us a very powerful and efficient console, if you know how to handle it.
Q: What has the team written before and what is your expertise!?
A: We are ex-Appeal and ex-Infogrames people. Mission Impossible, Worms N64, V-Rally PSOne, Alone in the Dark 3 and Prisoner of Ice are just some of the titles that our team have worked on. Dune PS2 and PC will be the first release from WideScreen Games.
Our thanks to Olivier for the Q&A, we'll have a review soon.
Anonymous
Date Added:Mon 20th Nov 2006 01:44