Recent reviews by Helmetshell

I’m doing my part!

TLDR: For an Early Access title I would recommend it; if it had released as 1.0 like this i would not.

The game is a blend between 4x and RTS, similar in style to Northguard. The game runs as real-time-with-pause, allowing for micro on combat units while still maintaining that "timer" feel to the longer strategy decsions. The timers for technology, region captures, buildings etc are counted in "days" which equivocal to turns.

There are a few different subsystems standard with a 4x entry, with there being a tech tree (four smaller separately themed trees), global politic arena with timed buffs/debuffs that are voted on, fluctuating economy thanks to spice tax and variable market rates, subterfuge/spying, and Arrakis as an environment to traverse. All of these systems are not particularly complex but are fun enough to play around with, particularly with how different factions interact with each system differently.

Four factions currently in the game each with their own pros/cons which do change up how you interact game-to-game. Each faction has slightly different units eg smugglers have a ranged unit that does supply damage and another unit that has +damage against targets with low supply. Fremen have a unit that can unpack and provide supply/regen no matter the location, allowing you for go on long treks across the map. The faction differences really have changed my different games up, eg smugglers focusing on building underworld markets in opposing cities, vs using sandworms to move my Fremen army around to harass whilst allowing them to stay on offence indefinetely with the aformentioned unit.

The sound design is lovely and evokes the atmosphere of Arrakis. I love the overall aesthetic, but no specific art piece stands out apart from watching worms eat your own units.

Summary: The game is light on content but the foundation of a great game is there in aesthetics/systems/gameplay. There are plans for more factions and multiplayer, however no clear plans for further singleplayer content. Most of the design critiques people have brought up in other reviews have in-game solutions to them, or are personal design preferences. The game has a few classic early access bugs in there, and some strange AI on tile/map generation, but nothing that cannot be worked out in time.

Slow to pick up but an awesome game to sink hours into.