Dune II: Battle for Arrakis

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NTSC-U PAL PAL (DE)
Dune II: Battle for Arrakis
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Virgin Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Westwood Studios
Sound driver: GEMS
Genre: Simulation
Number of players: 1
Official in-game languages: English Deutsch
Release Date RRP Code US 1994-05-01 $62.9962.99 T-70246 EU 1994-06 T-70246-50 DE 1994 T-70246-18 UK 1994-06 £44.9944.99 T-70246-50 AU 1994

Dune II: Battle for Arrakis, known as Dune: The Battle for Arrakis in the US, is a strategy game developed by Westwood Studios and published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment for the Sega Mega Drive. The game was also translated to German as Dune II: Kampf um den Wüstenplaneten. It was one of the first, if not first, Sega Mega Drive game to feature fully localized, spoken German language audio.

Battle for Arrakis is a complete overhaul of Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty, a IBM PC/Amiga game released a year earlier. The Mega Drive version features streamlined controls, gameplay tweaks, new levels and an entirely new set of graphics. Dune II is considered a milestone in the real-time strategy genre, though was bettered by Command & Conquer a few years down the line.

Three houses are available for play, each having it's own set of missions and (later on) special equipment/weaponry.

Story

The story of Dune II is slightly different than the official canon of the Dune universe. None of the characters from the book are mentioned and a new house called "Ordos", created by Westwood Studios, is avaiable for play.

The Emperor of the Galaxy declares an open challenge to all powerful houses in the galaxy and announces that the victorious house will take control of the Arrakis, also known as "Dune", the only planet in the universe that a powerful life-prolonging substance called "Spice" can be mined. He states that there will be no rules of engagement.

House Atreides

Hailing from the beautiful planet of the Caladan, the people of House Atreides are known for their hardworking, peace-loving and dedicated nature. House Atreides believes an alliance with the local inhabitants of Dune, the Fremen, is the only way to establish rule over the Dune. The Noble House of Atreides is known for its tendecy to negotiate with their opponents first, a tactic that will most likely fail in Dune.

In game, House Atreides focuses on technological superiority. While they cannot produce Heavy Troopers, they will be able to deploy Ornithophers, giving them some amount of air power. Their special weapon is the Sonic Tank and their ultimate special weapons are the Fremen.

House Ordos

A house created solely for this game, House Ordos is actually not really a noble house at all. It is a loosely allied group of merchants whose armies consist of mercenaries. They do not produce any weapons, instead purchase what they need and send them into combat. This insidious house believes that profits are everything and will stop at nothing until the profitable Spice-mining business is completely under their control.

House Ordos cannot produce Quads, Trikes and Rocket Launchers. Their special unit is the Deviator and their ultimate weapon is the Saboteur. They can also produce Ornithopters but they develop them much later compared to the Atreides.

House Harkonnen

The most vile and violent house in the universe, House Harkonnen believes power is everything. Their desire is to take control of the Dune and take revenge from their hated enemy, House Atreides, drives them forward in their conquest of Dune. In House Harkonnen, power is never given; it is taken. If a soldier kills his commander and takes command, he is respected and feared by all.

House Harkonnen specializes in heavy weaponary. They do not produce Trikes and light infantry. Their special weapon is the Devastator and their ultimate weapon is the Death Hand missile.

Gameplay

In its original home computer form, Dune II was entirely mouse driven, however as this Mega Drive version does not support any mouse peripherals, all controls are mapped to the control pad. The d-pad moves your cursor, with movement sped up by holding , both selects units and gives orders, while cancels. The objective is usually to destroy all enemy units and structures on the map, while preventing the same from happening to your forces.

The construction yard can produce new buildings, while barracks and vehicle factories can produce infantry and vehicles, respectively. Building structures or units requires spice, which can be harvested at various points on the map. You can also spend spice fixing structures, or gain more by selling them. Many buildings also require power to function (quickly), so the player must build and defend power plants.

Unlike later Command & Conquer games, each building can only construct one thing at a time, and each has a dedicated menu accessed by pressing twice. There are also strict limits to the number of units allowed in the play area.

Units

	Mobile Contruction Vehicle (MCV)
	A staple of the Westwood's strategy series, the MCV is the player's most important unit. An MCV can be transformed to a Construction Yard by clicking on top of it, allowing the player to produce other buildings. Not armed at all, the MCV must be protected at all times.
	Harvester
	Given free with every Spice refinery or produced from Heavy Weapons Factory, the Harvester will collect Spice and transfer them to the refinery for credits. Slow and unarmed.
	Light Infantry
	These lightly-armed and armored troops have little effect in the battlefield as they can be easily destroyed with either heavy weapons or simply running over them with a heavy vehicle. They can, however, be used for capturing enemy buildings. Simply move troops toward the structure when buildings' health is red. Soldiers will be lost during the attempt.
	Heavy Infantry
	While slower, these power armor-wearing troops carry gatling guns and rocket launchers. They are slightly more useful in combat and can capture buildings as well. Cannot be produced by Atreides.
	Trike
	A three-wheeled recon vehicle. Light armor and firepower means that it will be useful for reconnaissance but little else.
	Raider Trike
	Produced only by Ordos, the Raider Trike is the fastest ground vehicle on Dune. It is even less useful in combat, however.
	Quad
	A four-wheeled vehicle for both combat and recon, the Quad will be a potent force until tanks enter the battlefield.
	Combat Tank
	A fast and well-armed tank for both attack and defence.
	Siege Tank
	A powerful yet slow tank with heavy armor and firepower.
	Rocket Launcher
	A long range launcher with large rockets. Very useful for reducing enemy building to rubble, but cannot engage enemies in short range. Slow speed and low armor means it will need escorts. Very slow firing rate.
	Carryall
	A utility aircraft, Carryall can automatically transport and bring back harvesters. They can also take damaged units to a repair facility (but they will not bring them back). Can be brought down with rocket turrets. They are autonomous and cannot be directly controlled.
	Ornitophter
	An aircraft that flies with wing flapping motion. Armed with guided missiles, it can engage enemy units from the air but attack frequency is low. They are autonomous and cannot be directly controlled.
	Sonic Tank
	Possibly based on "Weirding Module" technology from the David Lynch's film adaptation, Sonic tanks fire ultrasonic sound waves that are lethal to soldiers and buildings. They are moderately effective against vehicles. Very long range.
	Deviator
	A specialized Rocket Launcher, warheads of the Deviator's missiles are filled with a brainwashing gas that will temporarily turn enemy units into Ordos control. Effect does not last too long however.
	Devastator
	Most powerful ground vehicle in the game, Devastator is a heavily armed and armored tank powered by an unstable nuclear reactor. It has no turret however and must turn towards the enemy, limiting its initative. Devastator can be ordered to self-destruct and cause damage to nearby enemies.
	Fremen
	Native inhabitants of the Dune, Fremen can be called from the Atreides Palace. While they cannot be controlled, these heavily armed troopers can wreak havoc among the enemy. Turrets cannot target them.
	Saboteur
	A unit with questionable usefulness, the Saboteur can destroy an enemy building if it can reach it. While it cannot be seen in the battlefield, it can be seen in the map and all units seem to target it.
	Death Hand
	A product of Harkonnen's illegal atomic weapon stockpile, Death Hand is a powerful yet inaccurate cruise missile. It is recommendended to fire it to the middle of the enemy base for the maximum chance of a hit.
	Sand Worm
	An uncontrollable unit for all sides, Sand Worm will attack any unit that remains on the sand. If its health reduced to half, it will disappear momentarily. Atreides units, probably because of their alliance with Fremen, do not automatically attack them, so manual targeting will be necessary.

Magazine articles

Main article: Dune II: Battle for Arrakis/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in GamePro (US) #60: "July 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
also published in:

• EGM² (US) #1: "July 1994" (1994-07-19)
• EGM² (US) #2: "August 1994" (1994-0x-xx)
• Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #62: "September 1994" (1994-xx-xx)

Print advert in Mega (UK) #20: "May 1994" (1994-04-21)

Physical scans

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Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 98 Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 92 Console Mania (IT) 91 Consoles + (FR) 91 Cool Gamer (RU) 90 Computer & Video Games (UK) 88 Digitiser (UK) 86 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 80 Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU) 90 Game Players (US) NTSC-U 87 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 85 Gamers (DE) 80 GamesMaster (UK) 92 Games World: The Magazine (UK) PAL 86 Game Informer (US) NTSC-U 83 Hyper (AU) 89 Joypad (FR) PAL 85 Joypad (HU) 95 MAN!AC (DE) PAL 80 Mega (UK) PAL 80 Mega Action (UK) PAL 83 Mega Force (FR) 92 Mega Fun (DE) PAL 83 Mega Machines (UK) PAL 92 Mega Play (US) NTSC-U 93 MegaTech (UK) PAL 91 Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL 93 Player One (FR) 95 Play Time (DE) 85 Power Up! (UK) 86 Power Unlimited (NL) 77 Sega Magazine (UK) PAL 93 Sega Power (UK) PAL 90 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 90 Sega Zone (UK) PAL 90 Sega Mega Drive Review (RU) 82 Sonic the Comic (UK) PAL 91 Todo Sega (ES) 92 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 86 Video Games (DE) PAL 83 Video Games (DE) PAL 84

	88
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Dune II: Battle for Arrakis

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual PCB

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual PCB

Mega Drive, DE
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, AU

Mega Drive, AU (Silver)
Cover
Cart

Technical information

Main article: Dune II: Battle for Arrakis/Technical information.