Dune 2000

Dune 2000 is a partial remake of Westwood's earlier game Dune II. It incorporated a lot of features that were first introduced in Westwood's previous games (Command and Conquer and Red Alert, respectively) such as multiple unit selection, a Command and Conquer style sidebar and improved graphics. However, the game did introduce new features such as full motion video cutscenes, which were then used in other Westwood titles.

The gameplay of Dune 2000 stayed very similar to that of Dune II, but some notable differences. Firstly, the multiple unit selection method allowed easier control of the players armies that that of Dune II, which only allowed the player to select one unit at a time.

However, the game was criticized for not adding enough fresh content into the game, as the setting, houses and units were simply reused from Dune II. Another issue raised was that the game had poor AI, and the game was fairly easy to beat as a result.

Game play

The player takes control of one of the three Houses and must fight for control of the spice melange on the planet Arrakis, or Dune. The player harvests spice for "solaris," the in-game currency, and uses the solaris to make units to supply his forces. The game uses a similar engine as Command and Conquer: Red Alert; however, unlike Dune II, the player can control more than one unit at a time.

Like most real-time strategy games, the game map initially starts with a fog of war, better known as "shroud", covering the entire map, with an exception to units' line of sight. As the units explore the map, the darkness is removed for the duration of the game.

Like Dune II, the player may construct concrete before placing buildings. In Dune II, all buildings would deteriorate regardless, but the concrete foundations slowed the process. However, in Dune 2000, the buildings do not deteriorate over time.

Although each house has many common units, such as infantry, Wind Traps, and Mobile Construction Vehicles, each House also has its own set of units, such as the Atreides Sonic Tank, the Ordos Deviator and the Harkonnen Devastator. Houses Harkonnen and Atreides share the Trike, while House Ordos has an upgraded version, the Raider. Like many games of the Westwood franchise, a player can gain access to other Houses' special units by capturing an enemy building and manufacturing the desired units. House Ordos can obtain the Missile Tank by ordering it from the Starport when it would otherwise be inaccessible. After patch 1.06, the Harkonnens can eventually train the Sardaukar, which are soldier-fanatics loyal to the Corrino Emperor.

Cast and credits

Directed by

Joseph D. Kucan

Writing credits

Margaret Stohl writer

Cast (in alphabetical order)

Paul Bastardo ... Ordos Saboteur (voice)

Chris Blevens ... Fremen Soldier

Robert Carin ... Hayt De Vries

Marie Craddock ... Additional Voices (voice)

Jeff Steven Fillhaber ... Additional Voices

Bryon Garrabrant ... Additional Voices

Bryon Garrabrant ... Sardaukar (voice)

Eric Gooch ... (voice)

Barry Green ... Harkonnen Medic

Frank Klepacki ... Ordos Serviceman Spy (voice)

Mark Laity ... Fremen Soldier

David Leary ... Additional Voices

David Leary ... (voice)

Ian Leslie ... Additional Voices (voice)

Richard Marcus ... Edric O

Vanessa Marshall ... Narrator

Martin McCoy III ... Fremen Soldier (as Martin McCoy)

James McNeil ... Additional Voices (voice)

Chip Myers ... Baron Harkonnen

John Rhys-Davies ... Noree Moneo

Adrian Sparks ... Emperor Frederick IV

Steve Tall ... Additional Voices (voice)

Nancy Valen ... Fremen Kari

Musetta Vander ... Lady Elara

Michael Ward ... Additional Voices

Mike Ward ... (voice)

Michael Shamus Wiles ... Imperial General

Many of the actors returned to work on Westwood's next Dune game Emperor: Battle for Dune.

Reception

Both the PC and PlayStation versions of the game scored in the range of 60%. <ref>Aggregate score for Windows</ref><ref>Aggregate score for PlayStation</ref> GameSpot criticized the game's production values for being drab by 1998 standards, and cited balance problems despite the remake's attempt to introduce unit balance where the original game had none.<ref>http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/dune2000/review.html</ref>

References

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