Dune 2000 (1998). Play online

Summary

Playing Dune 2000 feels like commanding a mini‑empire on the scorching sands of Arrakis. The PlayStation version, a 1999 port of a classic real‑time strategy, drops you into the familiar three‑faction conflict—Atreides, Harkonnen, or Ordos—each vying for the precious spice that funds every expansion. I spend hours mining spice with harvesters and refineries, watching the “solaris” pile up while keeping sandworms and sudden “spice blooms” from blowing my base to bits.

The interface mirrors the sleek menus of Command & Conquer: Red Alert, letting me select groups of units rather than micromanaging one by one. Fog of war lifts only where my troops tread, and building on concrete makes every structure last longer. Every house shares core units like infantry, Wind Traps, and Mobile Construction Vehicles, yet each also fields a signature powerhouse: the Atreides Sonic Tank, Ordos Deviator, and Harkonnen Devastator, with the Ordos Raider tweaking the classic Trike.

Capturing an enemy factory even lets me train their special units, and after patch 1.06 the Harkonnen unlock the elite Sardaukar troops. Before each mission, live‑action cinematics set the tone for the House I’m commanding.

I’ve appreciated the smooth visuals, the resonant sound‑track, and the variety of gameplay modes. Glenn Wigmore’s AllGame review praised how well the title leveraged PlayStation peripherals, making the strategic challenge feel fresh even after countless replay sessions.

Storyline

Emperor Corrino (Adrian Sparks) issues a challenge: the house that produces the most spice will control Dune, with no rules on how to achieve it. Lady Elara (Musetta Vander) of the Bene Gesserit, bound concubine to the Emperor, secretly brings the commander onto a Heighliner, warning that most visions show his death except one where he lives, commands massive armies and brings peace, so she betrays the Emperor.

Dune 2000 lets players choose from three playable factions—House Atreides, House Harkonnen and House Ordos—and face four non‑playable subfactions: House Corrino, the Fremen, the Mercenaries and the Smugglers. Each house has its own signature units and tactics.

House Atreides, from the water‑planet Caladan, follows a loyal Duke aided by Mentat Noree Moneo, fields ornithopters and Sonic Tanks, and seeks an alliance with the native Fremen. House Harkonnen, hailing from volcanic Giedi Prime, serves a wicked Baron, relies on Devastator Tanks and Death Hand missiles, and employs Mentat Hayt De Vries, created in Tleilaxu flesh vats. House Ordos, from an ice‑covered world later named Sigma Draconis IV, buys all its units, uses Saboteurs and Deviator Tanks, and exists only in non‑canonical Dune lore.