Summary

Dune: Awakeninglovingly brings the world of Dune and the planet of Arrakis front and center in a way that’s not only highly enjoyable but really immersive and true to the source material. The world of Dune: Awakening has taken a lot of inspiration from the ongoing film franchise. However, there are some moments and elements from the movies that could be incorporated into the game to further connect the two.

So, if you’re a die-hard Dune movie fan, like me, settle in and get ready for a deep dive into the movies and Dune: Awakening. Here are some movie moments Awakening can incorporate.

Mel’la Yel’la stands in Harko Village with a giant, foreboding structure looming in the background in Dune Awakening.

10Giedi Prime Fighting Pits

More PvP

There have been a lot of complaints in Dune: Awakening about the game’s final PvP area, known as the Deep Desert. It’s really easy for the meta of this area to become overwhelming, or for people to feel lost and confused while trying to traverse this area, only to succumb to really hardcore players.

That’s why Awakening should consider adding the fighting pits from Giedi Prime as seen in Dune: Part Two. Having fighting pits on this planet would be a great way to add more PvP elements that could be much more balanced for different players' skills and levels. Plus, playing Awakening in black-and-white would look amazing visually.

An ornithopter flies into Arrakeen in Dune: Awakening.

9Hunter Seekers

Stay Very Still

There are versions of Hunter Seekers in Dune: Awakening. But, I think the game could stand to incorporate a very specific scene from the movies, in which Paul is tracked by a Hunter Seeker in his bedroom on Arakeen.

Ala the ‘don’t move’ mechanic found in games like Until Dawn, how fun would it be to encounter a stealth mission in which you have to avoid the gaze of various Hunter Seekers tracking you? They could even enter your sub-fief later on while you rest, forcing you to remain very still or hidden behind a filmbook projection.

hooded dune awakening character holding a bat.

8Duels

May Thy Knife Chip And Shatter

There’s a lot of hand-to-hand combat already in Dune: Awakening. However, two of the most iconic scenes from the films involve one-on-one duels with Paul and two of his rivals. Similar to the incorporation of fighting pits, it would be amazing if Awakening could find a way to incorporate a dueling system with knives that would allow players to duel one another or other enemies.

There’s already a small version of this in one ofthe Trials of Aql, so incorporating this further into the game feels like a no-brainer. Plus, being able to say ‘May thy knife chip and shatter’ has to be added at some point.

Dune Awakening an ornithopter dropping a tank into the desert while player passes on a sandbike.

7Sandcrawler Sabotage

For The Fremen

One of the most action-packed sequences in Dune: Part Two involves Paul joining forces with his Fremen hosts to take down a giant sandcrawler. This scene is incredible and one of the highlights of the film. Obviously, in Awakening, the Fremen are missing.

However, it would be amazing if, later on down the line, the Fremen could return in the game, and you could join them on missions to take out large sandcrawlers. Even without the Fremen, having more combat-focused quest lines that don’t just involve taking out grunts in various shipwrecks would prove immensely helpful for the game.

Promotional art for Dune Awakening.

6Seat Of The Imperium

Dune: Awakening has a prettyin-depth Landsraad system, which mirrors the government we see in both films. However, as the Dune: Awakening devs have expressed an interest in building other planets, it begs the question: could we travel to the seat of the Imperium?

Imagine getting to engage in Landsraad-based quests at the actual Landsraad, and not just remotely via House Representatives. Politica intrigue-based questlines could be introduced as well, creating a grander sense of immersion like we see when we visit the Imperial Planet in Dune: Part Two.

The Bene Geserit in Dune: Awakening, robed women with black veils.

5Bene Gesserit Deception

More Stealth Missions Please

One of the most iconic scenes in Dune: Part Twofeatures Bene Gesserit prodigyMargo Fenring. In the scene, she seduces and manipulates Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen. Since you can become a Bene Gesserit in Dune: Awakening and unlock many Voice-based abilities, it would be cool if you could use some of these abilities outside of combat.

Imagine how much fun it would be to run a stealth mission in which you have to use the Voice to manipulate guards to do your bidding. So many of the missions in Dune: Awakening feel very hack-and-slash, so adding in movie moments like this one could help break up the pace slightly, even if they have to be hyper-specific or localized to one location like the Trials of Aql.

A Fremen woman in a headwrap in Dune: Awakening.

4Sandwalking

Traverse The Desert

There are plenty of reasons I understand why sandwalking wasn’t incorporated into the game. It’d be painfully tedious to have to sandwalk across the entire desert. I’m not suggesting we do away with sandbikes and other vehicles; however, that doesn’t mean there can’t be sections of the game that involve sandwalking.

Chani teaching Paul how to sandwalk is one of the most interesting moments in Dune: Part Two. Perhaps the game could add specific missions in which you need to learn how to sandwalk across difficult stretches of the desert. This could almost function like a rhythm game of some kind.

A character in Dune: Awakening standing in front of a Fremen altar.

3Fremen Council

Go South

Again, yes, I understand that the Fremen are missing. But, the game has just enough hints as to their survival and their various locations that it feels like a waste not to have them altogether. If the game chooses to add the Southern part of Arrakis, later on, it would be great to have an alternate to the Landsraad: the Fremen Council.

Because the South is mainly inhabited only by the Fremen, it would be interesting to incorporate elements of the Fremen Council sequence in Dune: Part Two. I’m not saying everyone should have their own Lisan al Gaib moment. But getting to see this rich part of Fremen culture in the game would be incredibly fun.

Players surprised by a Sandworm in the Deep Desert in Dune Awakening.

2Spice Harvest Rescue

We’ll Make Room

In Dune: Part One, there’s a very fun sequence in which the Atreides rescue a handful of sandcrawler drivers from a worm attack. While, of course, this could happen to you and your guild in the Deep Desert anyway, it would be amazing if a moment like this could be incorporated into a larger quest in Dune: Awakening.

Overall, one of my bigger issues with Dune: Awakening is that the quests feel very repetitive. Most of the time, you’re just heading to a location on the map, taking out a handful of enemies at the location, and then moving on. It would be awesome if we could get some more in-depth missions, like rescuing a sandcrawler crew via an ornithopter like in Dune: Part One.

dune awakening player stood in front of a giant sandworm popping up from the ground.

1Sandworm Riding

I Mean, C’mon

This is one that many people, not just me, have been calling for, and it honestly feels like the biggest omission. How can you not learn how to ride sandworms in Dune: Awakening? In my opinion, the devs need to get on this one stat.

Everyone wants to have their moment riding atop a sandworm and using it to traverse the desert. More likely than not, this will have to be constrained to the Deep Desert. But, regardless, it feels odd that the culmination of the Find the Fremen questline is not getting to ride a sandworm across Arrakis.