Dune: Awakening review: Conan Exiles with sandworms
Worth knowing before we go any further: Funcom’s open-world survival game first landed on PC back in June 2025, and console players are getting the biggest version yet. There’s now a full single-player mode with customisable survival settings, the complete Book One story, and PvP is entirely optional, with every reward reachable through PvE.
“No Paul, no problem”
i’ll admit, i’ve not seen the new Dune movies, so the way the world is shown has changed somewhat from the Dune i know. My first introduction to Frank Herbert’s masterpiece was 1998’s Dune 2000, the Command & Conquer-style RTS, and David Lynch’s 1984 cult classic starring Kyle MacLachlan. As it turns out, that barely matters, because Awakening is set in an alternate timeline where Paul Atreides was never born and the Fremen have gone missing. No Paul, no problem, whether your Dune is Timothée Chalamet or Kyle MacLachlan, everyone’s starting fresh.
Graphically it’s pretty good, though, i’ll admit, Arrakis doesn’t exactly have the rolling scenic hills of the Shire. It’s still very atmospheric… until you come across the endless square box buildings from other players. (If that bothers you, the new single-player mode means the only box on the horizon is your own.)
“wearing stillsuits that recycle your water like in the movie, to literally little-sistering dead bodies”
Gathering water and staying hydrated is a staple of survival games, but Dune: Awakening gives it a little flair. It ranges from harvesting dew off plants with a Dew Reaper to keep you just back from the brink of death, to wearing stillsuits that recycle your water like in the movie, to literally little-sistering dead bodies with a Blood Extractor and processing their blood into drinkable water. Later on, Deathstills render an entire corpse down to water. Arrakis doesn’t waste a drop.
Building is very similar to Conan Exiles, Funcom’s other survival game, which my brother and i have put many hours into. There are some slight quality of life upgrades, such as the game telling you which way an object is facing, but fans of Funcom games will already know how it goes. That said, the building UI is worse than Conan’s. It’s finicky, and the same goes for crafting and shops. Far too often have i accidentally crafted five pairs of gloves and wasted my resources thanks to the UI.
Gameplay wise, the combat is fun, and as far as survival games go it’s in the upper tiers thanks to its myriad of abilities. i picked Bene Gesserit as my class, wanting to be all intrigue and power, and was given some awesome abilities. The Voice lets me confuse and stun enemies from a distance, Weirding Step is basically a teleport behind someone for a quick stab, and Bindu Sprint gives me a burst of super speed, which is very useful for avoiding Shai-Hulud (the sandworms). The abilities bring plenty of exploration quality of life too. The Planetologist, for example, can create these fonts of energy that boost you up higher cliffs instead of having to climb.
What makes Funcom survival games different, and oftentimes more enjoyable than the endless copy and pasted survival games out there, is the storyline. Or at least, the closest you can kinda get to a storyline in these games. There are quests, objectives, bounties, contracts, stuff to do other than whack rock, build wall. Mix in dungeons with bosses and cool loot, plus a Book One story you can now play start to finish, and there’s plenty to keep you entertained.
“it often has you going back to places you’ve explored, to do things you’ve already done“
The downside of quest-based survival, however, is the pacing. You can’t just dive in, collect and build. There’s a whole lot of step by step missions to unlock the research for the things you need, pretty much the same as Conan Exiles’ Journey system. And just like Conan, it often has you going back to places you’ve explored, to do things you’ve already done, then back to base just to build a piece of basic tech. The pacing is all out of whack.
Is it worth it?
Admittedly, every survival crafting game i play starts with a debuff. There are just too many of them doing the exact same thing, always coming out in early access and not really offering anything. Funcom’s survival games tend to be the only ones i can stomach for a prolonged period, but even so, the bones of Dune: Awakening are a polished survival game set faithfully in the Dune world. That said, sandworms are awesome, the abilities are cool, and having contracts and quests is refreshing. So is it worth the storage space? For survival fans and fans of the new movies, yes, you’ll have a fun time surviving Arrakis. Just don’t expect anything groundbreaking, well, aside from the worms.
Reviewed on Xbox Series X. ~20 hours played. Played via Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription.
