It is a partial remake of Dune II, which is loosely based on Frank Herbert's Dune universe. The story of the game is similar to Dune II, and is continued in Emperor: Battle for Dune.

The Story Behind Dune 2000

It is a partial remake of Dune II, which is loosely based on Frank Herbert's Dune universe. There are also four non-playable subfactions: House Corrino, the Fremen, the Mercenaries and the Smugglers. The story of the game is similar to Dune II, and is continued in Emperor: Battle for Dune.

Emperor Corrino (Adrian Sparks) has issued a challenge that the House which can produce the most spice will control its source, the desert planet Dune, with no rules as to how the Houses can achieve this goal. Dune 2000 is a real-time strategy video game, developed by Intelligent Games and published by the defunct Westwood Studios in 1998 for Microsoft Windows. The game engine recreation fan project OpenRA has support for Dune 2000.

How Dune 2000 Plays

The player needs to choose and command one of the three Houses and must fight for control of "mélange" (spice) on the planet Arrakis. Similar to most real-time strategy games, the game map initially starts with a black fog of war covering the entire map, with an exception to units' line of sight. The player harvests spice to earn "solaris", the in-game currency, by setting up spice harvesters, refineries, silos, and power grids.

Like many games of the Westwood franchise, a player can gain access to other Houses' special units by capturing their factories. However, in Dune 2000, the buildings do not deteriorate over time when built in their entirety on concrete. They must also deploy soldiers, armed vehicles, and defensive measures to protect their operations from rival Houses, while also being mindful of vicious sandworms and explosive "spice blooms".

Why Players Still Load It Up

The game received mixed reviews on both platforms according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. According to Elara, they saw many visions of the commander dying — and only in one vision does the commander live and even rise to control massive armies and bring peace to Arrakis; thus, she and the Bene Gesserit have betrayed the Emperor's trust to bring about this possible future. Meanwhile, Lady Elara (Musetta Vander) of the Bene Gesserit and bound concubine to the Emperor, secretly takes the "commander" - the player - into one of the Heighliners, a person whose bloodline and future the Sisterhood had checked.

Emperor Corrino (Adrian Sparks) has issued a challenge that the House which can produce the most spice will control its source, the desert planet Dune, with no rules as to how the Houses can achieve this goal. Oh, well – maybe the company will do a true sequel next time instead of yet another tired realtime rehash." Peter Suciu of AllGame gave the PC version four-and-a-half stars out of five, saying that "for fans of the original game, or those who like a real-time challenge, Dune 2000 is an instant classic". The game engine recreation fan project OpenRA has support for Dune 2000.

Dune 2000 — Frequently Asked Questions