Developer/Publisher: Westwood Studios/EA Games
Reviewed by Rosethorn on 9/13/01

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First Impressions:

Graphics:

A combination of cinematic cut-scenes and beautifully-rendered missions guide the player through the game. The full motion video cut-scenes are interesting, informative and progress the story. The 3D graphics engine renders extremely detailed units. The landscapes are initially impressive, but after a while you find there is literally no change in the view. There are a few missions off the planet that break up the monotony of the scenery, but they do not occur nearly often enough.

Sound/Music:

The sound and music definitely help carry the player through the game. When you are being attacked, the music speeds up to a frenzied pace. In addition to that, there are unique sounds for each type of attacker and weapon. When things calm down after a small battle, the music slows to a calmer pace, but still helps to keep you on edge while awaiting the next attack.

Gameplay:

Through cut-scenes, you discover that the previous leader, Emperor Frederick IV of House Corrino, was killed when his concubine poisoned him. He was murdered in order to bring an end to his tyranny and attempt to ensure that the spice, melange, which prolongs life, enables future sight and folds space for travel, would continue to be available. On planet Arrakis (also known as Dune) where the spice is found, three groups are battling it out for control of the spice: the noble House Atreides (also known as the good guys), the evil House Harkonnen, and the mercenary House Ordos. The three houses have agreed to the terms of war, known as the War of Assassins, in order to gain the Golden Lion Throne and rule the known universe. In addition to these three main groups, smaller groups come into play during the battles. The player will ally with forces ranging from the Tleilaxu with their biological weapons to the blue-eyed Fremen, who are indigenous to Arrakis and steeped in custom. You will also encounter sandworms, which eat anything in their path.

If you choose, you can acquaint yourself with the movement and basic strategies of Emperor by going through the tutorial. It isn't completely necessary, though, as this game has a very intuitive interface. Those who are familiar with strategy gaming will have no trouble, as there's nothing original in this aspect of the game. In fact, my first comment about this game went something like: "It feels like Warcraft II." You begin the single player campaign by choosing from House Atreides, House Harkonnen or House Ordos in an attempt to win the War of Assassins and control the spice. The single player campaign has three levels of difficulty: Easy, Medium, and Hard. You can also start a single player skirmish, which pits you against the computer in a fight to the death scenario, or choose to play against others over the internet or a LAN.

The game is a mix of conquering enemy territories, defending territories from enemy attack, and missions that are unrelated to the battle on Arrakis. You choose which territory to attack from a 2D map; each house is represented with a color. Territories often come with secondary missions, such as rescuing a scientist or capturing an enemy assassin, in addition to defeating the enemy. The Mentat, your guide through the game, always reminds you that conquering the territory is your first priority.

The spice harvester is the unit that collects your spice and delivers it to the refinery, which converts the spice into solaris, the currency in this game. The carryall shortens travel time for the spice harvester by carrying it back and forth from the refinery to the spice. Your harvesters are often targeted by the enemies, but fear not: if you lose a harvester or a carryall, they are often replaced for free. In missions where you must build from scratch, you are given a Mobile Construction Vehicle (MCV), which is the base unit that builds the construction yard. You need a construction yard in order to build any other buildings. In addition to these basic units, you have a barracks, factory, and hangar. These manufacture troops, while your outpost activates the radar. Most buildings can be upgraded to access better units. Also, throughout the course of the single player game, access to the other groups' buildings can become available when you ally with them. For example, the Fremen Camp will manufacture Fremen warriors and Fedaykin, both of which are experts at camouflage. There is also a palace, which gives you access to a super weapon. This could be anything from the Death Hand Missile of the Harkonnen, loaded with multiple atomic warheads and causing great damage to its target, to the Ordos' Chaos Lightning, sending any units it comes with to attack everything in its vicinity (yes, this includes friendly units). The buildings for whichever house you play are essentially the same: it is the units they manufacture that differ.

The mechanical units vary from the House Atreides Minotaurus, a slow machine with a powerful but inaccurate attack, to the House Harkonnen Buzzsaw that cuts down infantry and can destroy spice fields. All houses have infantry units, ranging from the Atreides Kindjal Infantry, which are very effective against armored vehicles, to the Ordos Saboteur, which detonates when it reaches its target. There are also air units, such as the Harkonnen Gunship, a heavily armored slow air unit which fires rockets, and the Ordos AA Mine, an airborne mine that detonates when an enemy air unit comes within its range.

In addition to enemy units, sandworms and cyclones could easily decimate an attack force. Before a sandworm attack, a wormsign, an electrical charge on the sand where the worm will appear, gives a short notice. Sometimes, when the worm attacked, I had enough opportunity to repel its attack before I lost too many forces. Other times, the worm would suddenly thrust itself from the sands and eat half my forces.

While playing, I noticed that the same strategy did not work versus all enemies. While playing House Atreides, I had to use different strategies depending on the enemy's forces. For example, when Tleilaxu came into play, I needed repair vehicles or engineers quickly in order to prevent losing my mechanical units to their power draining leeches. However, I did not need repair vehicles as quickly when fighting the Harkonnen. It is always a plus for a strategy game when you must utilize different combinations to conquer the enemy.

There were times when the game became sluggish and the missions did take some time to load. However, for the most part, the game played smoothly. I had very few performance issues, and the ones I did have did not detract from the game. In addition, the game comes equipped with an auto-updater that connects with Westwood's servers and installs any patches available for the product.

Enjoyment:

I really had a great time playing through most of the missions. While the cut-scenes and interesting side missions dwindle dismally the further you expand, the final scenarios were interesting and worth the few hours I spent in repetitive and boring scenarios. In addition, this game has great replayability, as there are three choices with three different cut-scenes (each House has its own CD) and reasons for being in the battle. Not only did I have a great time playing this game, I am now extremely interested in the Dune universe.

Multiplayer:

The multiplayer in this game would be very interesting to anyone who enjoyed the multiplayer in Warcraft II. The winner is the player who builds their forces the fastest and wipes out their enemy. The interesting thing is that multiplayer is built into the game: it will connect you to the Westwood Online server and keep your statistics, which you can access through the game. You can join a clan, a group of people who link themselves to be ranked together, and view the clan and ladder rankings through the game.

Overall Impression:

The 3D graphics, cut-scenes, and interesting storyline make for an exciting adventure. At times, this game did lose its appeal because of the tedium of some of the missions, but I persevered and was rewarded with victory! The multiplayer features will definitely appeal to strategy game lovers. Emperor: Battle for Dune is a must-buy for anyone interested in Dune or strategy games.

Marketing Efforts Towards Women:

There is no hint that the character you are playing might be male. They use gender-neutral language throughout the game. Both feminine and masculine voices are used for your units. While the leaders of the Atreides and the Harkonnen are clearly male, it is unclear what sex the Ordos might be. In addition, the Ordos Mentat is female.