Dune II, I remember playing Dune II way back when on my 486 and man was I impressed. The story was literally out of this world and the concept, artwork and color graphics astounded me. Playing this game takes you right back there... Set on the Dune novel, you are on an alien world and need to choose 1 of 3 of the universes warring clans, Atreides, Harkonnen and Ordos. The game takes place on Arrakis, a planet whose surface is covered by endless dunes.
Only Freemen (the planets locals) and sand worms populate this planet. The game revolves around the collection and sale of Spice (Melange), this spice is rare in the universe and has very special properties, enough to war over.
Each of the clans (houses) takes up residence on the planet and you then pick a clan to control and the game begins. Your job is to build and defend your base (command and conquer style) and you harvest spice for credits. You send out men or vehicles to attack other clans bases as the aim of each level is to control the dunes and spice harvesting.
Be careful with your spending as you progress the levels, your base will get attacked more heavily each time if you are
unprepared - you can spend quite a lot after an attack repairing your base structures.Don't procrastinate though get out there and find your enemy and engage it in its weak spots. I find that attacking a base where there are missile launchers can be easy if you barge your way into an enemy's base and hide amongst the structures as if you do this the enemy ends up destroying parts of its own base which can save time and credits.
As you progress each level you are able to build different types of units such as tanks and flying vehicles. You can also defend your base with turrets and walls. Strategy I find is to protect your base well but constantly annoy the other clan and my first port of attack is for the other clans construction yard as without it they are forced into a more defensive posture.
Each clan has different weapons/units available and make for a very different game, so you can effectively play this game three times through and still have great fun learning each clans strengths and weaknesses.
