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Jim, Bob and Bill are your everyday genius developers. One day, they are brainstorming on the ideas of a new game, when their boss walks in. Their boss informs them that in order for them to get any funding for their new game, they have to include his son Spiff's ideas in their new game. Spiff is introduced to the brainstorm and it goes something like this.
Spiff: Yeah, with lots of action Bob: errr, yeah.. right spiff.. action huh.. well, you know I read a book a long time ago called Dune, and it had a great storyline as well as a good deal of action Jim: Yeah, I read that book too. Bill: Great idea, we could have the game follow the stories and the trials of Paul from the ship till his conquest of Dune Spiff: Never read it Jim: Well its about this man who seeks his destiny as a master of space and time…
Bill: Well, on the way to his destiny, there are a lot of raids Spiff: Yay, lets make the game about his raids Bob: Um Spiff, there is a lot more involved, a whole substory about his sister being born.. Spiff: BORING.. sister is born at the start of the game.. Jim: errr.. ok.. anyhow, OK the game can be about the raids, but lets give it really kewl graphics. We can follow the raids, the war, the city invasion, the riding of the worms… Spiff: Too long, cut it down to 5 missions.
Spiff: Yeah, you know what I like? I like those old martial arts films where their lips move one way, and they talk at a different time.. lets use really bad lip synching to capture that old time flavor. Jim: um.. yeah.. good idea spiff.. Well, I suppose if the characters are far enough back in the cut scene… Spiff: NO WAY.. put them right up against the screen so we can see their mouths in detail. Bill: alright, alright.. anyhow, the game will go through each level roughly following the story, and we will incorporate a lot of adventure puzzles.. Spiff: Beh, the only good puzzles are how to kill the next guard
Spiff: Great, and make them pay if they do it wrong. Give them little ammo, and no save points during the mission. If they make one mistake, they should pay for it hard. This will also increase the games longevity. BOB: That does it, I quit. I am going to go work on a user friendly game.. Spiff: Users don't know what they like, lets set the default keys for them, they will love the selection I am picking… BOB LEAVES Jim: great Spiff.. is your daddy gonna fund us?
Well, that was it.. my interpretation of the developers meeting for Frank Herbert's Dune. Although the game is fair to the books in sections, the difficulty of the missions coupled with the bad control scheme and a horrible save scheme makes the game near unplayable to the average gamer. There is a lot to like about this game, the graphics and the way Paul is portrayed are perfect for the game. The only advice I can give is to know your style. If you like Action/Adventure games on the Action side, and have a high tolerance level, Dune will be a treat. If you are more into adventure games, this game will be on your shelf long before your third mission. Final Grade: C- System Requirements: Windows 98/ME/XP Supported 3D Chipsets:
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