Les amateurs de SF, de STR et de 4X seront probablement curieux de découvrir ce futur jeu hybride qui promet de réussir à allier deux genres très distincts, celui du classique jeu de stratégie en temps réel et celui des jeux de conquêtes de type 4X.
Comment ? A priori en proposant un gameplay au rythme tout simplement plus lent que dans un STR (avec des options pour accélérer / gérer le temps), ce qui est en général le principal manque de ce type de jeux, le joueur devant faire trop de choses en même temps. Ce qui n’est pas trop gênant en soi quand un jeu se focalise sur les batailles, l’action plus ou moins tactique donc, de nombreux STR l’ont démontré, mais par contre est incompatible si on y ajoute le fait de gérer en parallèle des combats, les choix pour l’exploration, le contrôle des territoires, le développement économique, la politique, l’espionnage, etc. Piments indispensables pour savourer pleinement une conquête à l’échelle planétaire, la finalité de ce futur jeu.
Il est encore trop tôt pour savoir si les développeurs du studio français Shiro Games trouveront une alchimie ludique entre ces différentes dimensions de jeu. On leur souhaite car voilà qui en un sens repousserait plutôt les frontières des gameplays habituels, l’ordinateur le permet, et cela offrirait de plus aux amateurs de la saga Dune un jeu à la saveur aussi relevée que les livres de Frank Herbert ont pu l’être. Au pire on aura probablement ici un STR épicé mais peut-être un Space opera 4X allégé, on verra.
Quoiqu’il en soit, pour le moment du peu qu’on en aperçoit, le jeu semble graphiquement très soigné. C’est bon signe, et un détail important car qui dit 4X, dit des parties en général assez longues.
Pour plus d’informations sur Dune: Spice Wars, dont la sortie est prévue on ne sait quand cette année, voyez cette page sur Steam et le site officiel.
Communiqué
Funcom and Shiro Games Announce 4X RTS Dune: Spice Wars
Political intrigue, deception, warfare, sandworms, and spice. No world is better suited for a strategy game than Dune. Next year you will get the chance to conquer the planet for yourself with the release of Dune: Spice Wars.
LOS ANGELES, USA / OSLO, Norway – December 9th, 2021 – Publisher Funcom and developer Shiro Games today proudly announce Dune: Spice Wars, a real-time strategy game with 4X elements based on Frank Herbert’s groundbreaking novel Dune. The game will be released into early access on PC already next year.
Featured today at The Game Awards in Los Angeles, Dune: Spice Wars is created by the same team that released critically acclaimed RTS Northgard in 2017. Shiro Games’ CEO Sebastien Vidal is thrilled that they could use their expertise in creating strategy games to bring the Dune universe to life.
“I think I speak for every single person at Shiro Games, when I say that we are all massive fans of Dune – both of the original novel and the new and spectacular Denis Villeneuve film. To be able to bring this universe to life as a strategy game again is incredible,” Vidal says.
“The Dune universe is the perfect setting for a strategy game. You have major factions, such as House Atreides and House Harkonnen, with a rivalry that spans back centuries. You have political intrigue, deception, and warfare, all centered around what is by far the most valuable substance in the universe: Spice. And then there is the stage itself, Arrakis, a hostile planet full of hidden wonders to explore. Massive sandworms that can devour entire armies, sandstorms, spice harvesters, all of which our amazing team of developers have incorporated into this game,” he says.
Dune: Spice Wars will have several playable factions, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as multiple ways to achieve your ultimate goal – control of the spice on Arrakis. You can deploy agents to sabotage, assassinate and spy on your opponents, use political means to influence the Landsraad and pass beneficial resolutions, amass incredible wealth and simply overwhelm the other houses through economic and technological supremacy, or you can opt for open war.
During early access, the developers will actively seek feedback from the community to continuously improve and expand the game. For more information, see the attached game fact sheet and Q&A.
Dune: Spice Wars is the first game based on the Dune IP to be published by Funcom and is not to be confused with the open-world survival game the studio is developing.
ABOUT FUNCOM
Funcom is an independent developer and publisher of online games for PC and consoles. Funcom has provided outstanding entertainment since 1993 and continues to expand its track-record of more than twenty released games. Titles include ‘Conan Exiles‘, ‘Secret World Legends, ‘Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures’, ‘The Longest Journey’, ‘Anarchy Online’, ‘The Park’, and ‘Dreamfall: The Longest Journey’.ABOUT SHIRO GAMES
Shiro Games is an independent video game development studio based in Bordeaux, France. The team is made of talented and passionate developers who strive for excellence and are brave enough to make bold decisions on a daily basis. Titles include ‘Evoland’, ‘Evoland 2’, and the critically acclaimed RTS ‘Northgard’.
Il serait temps de refaire un reboot du vénérable Dune II (que j’ai terminé 3 fois je crois bien). Le premier jeu que j’ai acheté.