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Coming Soon > PlayStation Game Cheats > PlayStation Reviews > Staff Review | |
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| Playability: For novices a pick-up-and-play game this most certainly is not, while veterans will plough straight into the action before the commander has time to say "CHARGE!" For the uninitiated I'll run through a few basics. Players get a choice of ploughing through a series of campaigns, a practice skirmish or a link-up game against a mate. Then decide which side of the fence you prefer to fight on - choose to command one of three battle-hungry armies, the noble Atreides, the evil Harkonnen or the insidious Ordos. Actually you will end up playing all three because each side has their own set of missions. The difference in strength between each side isn't massive and only really shows it's head in the later levels. You could even play each side twice because most missions have a choice of two maps. Before a level begins your leader will brief you on the main objective which must be completed to win the battle. This could be as 'simple' as destroying all enemy presence in the area, or as strategic as getting one of your engineers into a specific building behind heavily guarded enemy lines. A mission usually begins with a few weak troops and a couple of paltry bikes alongside a MCV (mobile construction vehicle). Decide where you wish to build up your base and then press the action button to see the mobile vehicle unfold into a construction yard. This building is the heart of your operation and must be protected at all costs. Within the immediate vicinity of the yard you can now begin expanding your camp. Unfortunately the ground in Dune 2000 is very uneven therefore concrete slabs must first be laid. You can actually build directly on the land but without foundation the structures will slowly deteriorate and eventually crumble. It's a small investment for stability but does take up a little of your precious building time. This is a nice idea and adds greatly to the tension, especially when under heavy attack. Do you quickly throw down a couple of rocket towers for immediate protection knowing they will eventually fall, or take the risk of preparing foundations while the enemy tanks are taking chunks out of your base? The choice is yours. Next you need to construct a wind trap to provide electricity to your base. This should be followed by a refinery which sends out a truck to collect spice - this is then sold for money to finance your construction. Barracks allow troops to be trained. War Factories produce various strength tanks, bikes and quads. Similar to Command & Conquer repair bays and radar outposts may be added. Each building may be upgraded at a cost, while research centres may be constructed to provide new war technology (stealth fighters are a great addition). Obviously once a base is established you will need to protect your investment. For this purpose there are various forms of immovable weapons and structures that may be placed around your base such as gun turrets, rocket towers and concrete walls. There are a wide range of deadly weapons on offer including Deviators, Sonic Tanks, Ornithopters, Fremen Warriors, the Emperor's Elite Troops, the Sardaukar and many more. At any time the enemy may begin an attack on your base and you won't have a clue when this is about to happen. This is because all of the terrain that has not been crossed by your troops is completely blacked out. This encourages the sending out of small hit squads to see what anger lies up ahead. Once an area has been revealed it will remain visible for the remainder of the game. An excellent addition to the gameplay is the presence of worms. Leave a truck unguarded for a few moments and up pops a giant sand creature to gobble it up (just like the movie). The commentator does give you a little warning of an impending attack cheerfully claiming "IT'S WORM TIME", but dread those words "WORM ATTACK!" because it's too late to do anything about it. Strangely the worms don't seem to attack your soldiers therefore strategically placing them around your harvesters acts as reasonable deterrent. Also a strange glimmer of light below the ground highlights their presence. My advice is to shoot them before they raise their ugly heads. Controlling each troop or vehicle is simply a matter of pointing your cursor on them and then clicking at the point you wish them to move. By dragging your cursor a group of vehicles and men may be all ordered to move to the same position. A mouse is preferable, but the game works fine using a standard control pad. Sadly there are only 22 maps (105 in Retaliation) within practice mode but it can be played as a single player game against up to three CPU controlled opponents, or by far the best experience is to link-up two Playstations and take on a mate in a head-to-head battle. Game Options: This is a 1 disk game for 1 or 2 Players. A link-up cable is required for a two player head-to-head. It is compatible with the standard (digital) joypad and the analog stick controls of the dual shock joypad. Games can be saved via memory card (1 block per save). |
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