Emperor: Battle for Dune (Westwood PC M15)

By PETER ELEY*

(Herald rating: * * * * * )

Westwood's real-time strategy games has been played by millions worldwide, and the latest incarnation of the Command & Conquer/Dune Red Alert 2, is still on the best-sellers list.

But they haven't changed that much since the original Command & Conquer of mid-1995.

That game's popularity started a rush of clones, but Westwood managed to stay one step ahead.

Six years on, the format is starting to look tired. The gameplay's still compelling, but the 2D graphics are rooted firmly in the last millennium.

Enter Emperor: Battle for Dune. Westwood's first true 3D real-time strategy game has a new set of clothes — beautifully detailed graphics which bring the game into line with accelerated graphics technology.

The game is in the mould of other Westwood games in that you mine resources, build up forces and then destroy the enemy. Like Red Alert, numerical superiority seems to count for more than tactical awareness.

Earlier Dune games featured the giant sandworms from the Frank Herbert novels, but they're an all-new, improved version here. Ignore them at your peril, for they pick up the slightest careless sound and can swallow dozens of units in a few frenzied seconds.

The 3D effects help capture the essence of the Dune novels more effectively than the earlier games by providing richly detailed landscapes.

The combat centres around the three aristocratic Houses from the novel — the mercenary Ordos, the villianous Harkonnen, and the noble Atreides.

Again, the graphics mean that the differences can be delineated clearly. It's a big game, with something like 30 missions for each house, plus the usual Westwood skirmish and multiplayer modes.

On that note, Westwood has made an improved skirmish/ multiplayer map editor available for Red Alert 2. It can be downloaded from Westwood

* peter_eley@nzherald.co.nz