You can select and move multiple groups of vehicles and assign numerical shortcuts to groups. In terms of mechanics, it’s pretty much identical to the original Command & Conquer. I notice early on that many of the vehicles such as harvesters and trikes take a form much more akin to the movie than in Dune II, and that’s also true in the FMV sequences. My screen resolution for the first mission is so high that I find the corners of the map with a couple of infantry then realise the mission area is basically just a box in the middle of the screen. It’s classic Command & Conquer movie territory, complete with a tiny set, about three extras and a terrible green screened desert backdrop.Īs the game begins the first thing I notice is that the unit animations aren’t quite as polished as C&C, and there are fewer frames when the units move. Playing the role of mentat to house Atreides, he delivers a brilliant piece of oratory during one of the early FMV sequences, proclaiming that “Harkonnen would rather drink your blood than their own mother’s milk”. I’m drawn to play as house Atreides, not because they’re noble heroes who liberate the oppressed natives, but because I want to see John Rhys-Davies’ beard. The game begins with an introduction to the story by Bene Gesserit concubine Lady Elara-basically a bald witch with a detachable poisonous fingernail. The icing on the cake is it still includes all three sets of ludicrous full motion video sequences from each of the playable houses. It’s available to play in just moments, and at about four times its original resolution. Gruntmods has done a fantastic job of making it easy to set up. While Dune 2000 isn’t available through digital stores, you can download and play it for free courtesy of the legally murky Dune 2000: Gruntmods Edition. Back in 1998 Dune 2000 was little more than a revamp of Dune II, but to be able to easily revisit that universe today that’s exactly what I needed. How was it going to look on a 4K monitor? Would I be better off trying to play it on a calculator? Would I really get any satisfaction out of finishing a mission without a badly acted FMV sequence at the end? Could I even be arsed to try and get a 25-year-old game to work on a modern PC?ĭune 2000 was the solution.

I’d forgotten how laborious the mechanics must have been-having to select each unit individually and manually select ‘move’ or ‘attack’. Sadly, after viewing a couple of YouTube videos I was instantly put off. I recently watched the movie again, which got me thinking I’d love to delve back into Dune’s strange universe and perhaps replay Dune II. So why is Dune 2000 worth playing today? Let’s find out.

Gruntmods dune 2000