Dune: Awakening Review – You aren’t the Lisan al-Gaib but that’s okay

My first real entry point into Dune was Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part One. I knew what Dune was before watching it, of course, but the 2021 film was the first time the world really clicked for me. Dune: Part Two only made it more compelling.

A big part of that was Paul Atreides and the idea of the Lisan al-Gaib.

Watching Paul go from the son of Duke Leto to someone trying to understand his place among the Fremen is a big part of what makes Villeneuve’s films work as an introduction to the series. You enter Arrakis through Paul, learn about its politics and religions through Paul, and experience the desert alongside him. Even when the story starts pulling apart the idea of Paul as a straightforward hero, there is still something appealing about having a role in a world where so much seems to revolve around you.

Dune: Awakening takes that fantasy away almost immediately.

This is an alternate version of the Dune story where Paul was never born. Lady Jessica followed the Bene Gesserit’s instructions and had a daughter instead, and the events of the game unfold from there. You create your own character, choose a background and mentor, and arrive on Arrakis without the Atreides name carrying you through the story.

You are not the chosen one. You’re definitely not Paul Atreides and that’s okay.

There is no prophecy hanging over my character, no famous family name, and no predetermined role waiting to be filled. I am just another person trying to survive on Arrakis.

Learning to live on Arrakis

Arrakis is not simply a big open world to run around in. You juggle hydration and sunstroke because that is what Arrakis is about after all. Going too far into the desert without preparing properly can turn a routine trip into a problem, particularly once the game starts introducing the larger threats that make the planet so dangerous.

A lot of the early progression comes down to gathering resources, crafting equipment, improving abilities, building a base, and gradually pushing farther into the world. Those are familiar survival-game systems, but the setting gives them a purpose beyond keeping a progression loop moving.

That progression extends into the character system. Dune: Awakening lets me start with one of the Schools of the Imperium, including the Trooper, Bene Gesserit, Mentat, and Swordmaster, then learn abilities from other schools as I progress. I am not permanently locked into the first choice I make, which gives the character a sense of development that goes beyond simply increasing numbers.

Usually survival crafting games have simple combat but in Dune: Awakening there is a sense of strategy as you weave through combat, particularly once shields and slow-blade combat become part of the equation. Ranged weapons, melee attacks, gadgets, and School abilities all have their uses, and getting better equipment is only part of becoming more capable. I also have to learn when to use what I already have.

Thinking of taking on a sandworm or even just piloting an ornithopter will take a very long time with the grind speed. But there is a huge crowd who loves that zero to hero feeling and Dune: Awakening can definitely provide that.

Arrakis without the multiplayer crowd

Whenever I play survival crafting games with my friends, they tend to play really fast. They’ll be done in a week and I’m barely getting started and just got my first fancy piece of armor. So shoutout to the boys of AoR and Supreme Leader Kimiko for speedrunning all the games. So when I found out that the PS5 version of Dune: Awakening has a dedicated single player mode I was all ears.

Dune: Awakening was originally built as a multiplayer survival game, but the September 22 PS5 release adds a complete single-player experience rather than simply letting one person enter the multiplayer world alone. The full Book One story is available, and systems that were originally designed around player interaction have been adjusted to work without other human players.

The Landsraad is a good example. In multiplayer, the system revolves around House Atreides and House Harkonnen competing for influence and control. In single-player, other players are simulated so that the political competition remains part of the game rather than being stripped out.

I can follow the story, gather resources, build, explore, or simply wander around Arrakis without worrying about keeping up with another group of players. I can spend more time figuring out what I want to do next instead of constantly thinking about what everyone else on the server is doing.

The game also gives players considerable control over the survival systems. Difficulty and individual settings can be adjusted for things such as resource gathering, experience gain, death penalties, enemy difficulty, and even whether sandworms are active.

If you already enjoy gathering materials, crafting, building, and managing resources, there is plenty here to sink into. If those systems are normally what keep you away from survival games, the customization gives you some room to decide how much of that experience you actually want.

The game is also designed to teach those systems gradually. Instead of dropping me into a huge sandbox and expecting me to understand everything immediately, the story introduces the different parts of survival as I move through Arrakis. That makes the single-player campaign feel more approachable without removing the survival mechanics that define the game.

Villeneuve’s films are largely about people arriving in a world that was already there before them. Awakening puts me in that same position, except I am not Paul. The Atreides and Harkonnen are still there. So are the Fremen, the Imperium, the Bene Gesserit, spice, and all the politics surrounding Arrakis.

My character moves through that world without replacing the person who originally defined it.

That is what I like about the game’s approach. It does not ask me to become Paul Atreides. It asks me to figure out who I am going to be instead.

The longer I play, the more that becomes the point of the progression. Better equipment, new abilities, vehicles, crafting stations, and a more developed base are not just numbers going up. They are evidence that the character who arrived on Arrakis with very little is becoming someone who can actually function there.

That is a different kind of Dune story, your own personal one.

A different way into Dune

I build a home there. I decide what equipment I need. I cross the desert myself. I learn how much water I need. I decide how much of the survival side I actually want to manage. I become more capable over time.

Eventually, the character who started with no Paul Atreides-sized destiny begins to feel like they belong on Arrakis. So when you finally take on your first sandworm, it will be even more satisfying. You’ll feel like your actually the Lisan al-Gaib, a mini version.

The PS5 version handles the technical side well enough to keep that experience moving. Performance Mode targets 60fps on both PS5 and PS5 Pro, with frame generation on the base PS5, while Quality Mode targets 30fps. Both modes use upscaled 4K, with the PS5 Pro receiving additional visual improvements.

What comes with the Ultimate Edition

The Ultimate Edition is largely for players who want the additional cosmetic and bonus content. It includes the Deluxe Edition’s Season Pass, Sunset Dye Swatch, and Sardaukar Bator Armor, along with the Dust Rider Sandbike Swatch, Blue Dasher Ornithopter Swatch, Caladan Palace Building Set, the Dune (2021) Film Stillsuit, a digital artbook, and a digital soundtrack. It also includes five days of early access.

None of those extras changes the single-player experience itself. The reason to play Dune: Awakening remains the same across the editions: you get to step onto Arrakis and decide what kind of person you are going to be there.ually track you down if you stay exposed for too long.

There is a lot to grind through in Dune: Awakening, but there is also Arrakis, and that alone makes the trip worthwhile. Whether you are playing with friends or finally taking the desert on by yourself, there is something satisfying about building your own little corner of the Dune universe. And if you already played on PC, the PS5 release is worth another look, with its single-player mode and quality-of-life improvements making the journey considerably easier to settle into. You may not be the Lisan al-Gaib, but after enough time on Arrakis, you might start feeling like you have earned the right to call it a nice virutal home