Emperor: Battle for Dune

Emperor: Battle for Dune by Westwood Studios is a real-time 3D strategy game released in 2001 based on the Dune universe. Emperor: Battle for Dune is a continuation of the story of the wildly popular Dune II: The Battle of Arrakis and Dune 2000.

Landsraad in chaos

The plot begins soon after the end of Dune 2000. The emperor was murdered by his concubine Lady Elara. Deprived of leadership, the Landsraad finds itself plunged into chaos. To restore order, the Space Guild offers a challenge to the three great houses that are Atreides House, Harkonnen House and Ordos House: the war of killers on the planet Arrakis. The house that wins this war will rule the Landsraad and be the master of Dune, the only source of Spice.

Game campaign

At the beginning of the campaign, each of the three camps owns part of the surface of Arrakis and must conquer the territories of the other houses by seeking alliances with the minor houses. The fighting is mainly on Arrakis but some missions are carried out on the mother planets of the houses as well as on board a long courier of the Guild. The campaign is based on an original system of territorial conquests. It is divided into two phases:

Strategic phase

A strategic phase where the player and the enemies decide in turn which territory to attack on a planetary scale. Depending on the territories conquered, alliances formed and secondary missions completed in the tactical phase, the player can benefit from bonuses in future missions.

These bonuses are of several types:

• Technological when an alliance is formed with a minor house that makes it possible to produce special units
• Economical when some secondary missions are completed
• Military through the periodic arrival of reinforcements from neighboring territories. The more the player controls adjacent territories, the more reinforcements are frequent.

Tactical phase

A tactical phase in real time which is the main game phase. The principle is inherited from that of Command and Conquer. The missions are of two types:

1. Base building at the beginning of the game the player must develop his base, collect resources and then attack the enemy. Most often he can choose to fill a secondary goal to unlock bonuses.
2. Missions without the support of a base. The player takes the lead of a small detachment of men and must accomplish several objectives.