Dune II, developed by Westwood Studios and released in 1992, was a true turning point for the real-time strategy genre. It's hard to overstate just how much it shaped and popularized RTS games as we know them. While a few titles had come before, Dune II blew the doors... wide open with its depth, smooth gameplay, excellent graphics, cinematic cutscenes, three fully playable factions, and digitized voice acting. It was an absolute standout and unforgettable gem that hooked players like few others. Looking back, micromanaging every unit feels clunky by modern standards, but at the time it never once bothered me. You don’t miss conveniences you’ve never known. For 1992, the visuals were stunning for a strategy title, the cutscenes carried that classic Cinemaware flair, and the brilliant music paired with spoken dialogue made you feel genuinely immersed in the Dune universe. I began with House Atreides, like most people, but it didn’t take long before I (and pretty much everyone else) drifted over to the “dark side,” diving into the campaigns for Harkonnens and the Ordos. That Harkonnen Devastator was just ridiculously cool - such an epic unit name and design. Dune 2000 came out years later, but I never saw it as a proper successor. A genuine Dune III, done right? Now that would be an absolute dream and I have no idea why it was never attempted.show more

Now this one we played the hell out of with my childhood best buddy. And we loved the music. May have been the first game I grabbed the music from just to listen to it outside of the game.

I sometimes just watched the intro over and over again. I miss intros like that. 90s had the best intros tbh.

I like Dune 2. There were also clones like Paranoia! and Paranoia 2. One of the first commercial Czech games

Do you know of any sources where I could play or download this? Would love to compare it and see how it feels.

There is also "leader" role so you can group units to one and control them this way but it is available later. 2nd one have C&C style of units grouping. It is years I played those ... made quick guide to controls, shortcuts are numbers

OK, so I messed with it a bit longer and move/attack is also via right click which makes it simpler

This is not a game but art and a historic milestone! Dune II kicks ass so bad man!

Kick ass is exactly what it was. Correction: Still is :)

One of my all time favorite 😀 Play with DOSBox (Staging)

And I am sure you don't mind the single unit selection either, right?

Nope, never minded it 🙂

(you could only have some 100 units max 😉)

Bit like Age of Empires with the population limit. I don't mind that at all, it adds a bit more complexity to manage it correctly.

One of the best games ever created.

100%. Nothing to add. If you look at teh 90s in general, what other RTS games do you think stand out?

I actually feel a bit bad for Westwood since Dune II didn't have the insane sales of the direct successors C&C, AoE and Warcraft

This game was totally my jam during the 90s

dear Herbert estate holders , please let someone reboot this

Don't tell me they are holding the rights "hostage"?

worse, the Herbert estate only wants new stuff that meets canon and has never expressed any interest in the previous games since 2002. so wo their blessing no dune games, let alone ea right

I didn't know all that. Now it makes a lot more sense. And I am really effin sad :(

maybe one day, they were very pleased with the last 2 dune movies

try to develop a Dune III with AI buddy

I lost so much sleep staying up late with this game!

Dune 2000 was basically this game, but in Command and Conquer engine And we owe C&C to the success of Dune II. If you think about it; C&C is the Dune III we never got.

my one and only love. has the best place in my heart no other game is close. next one is elite but still.

And its pixel art was great So then I see now modern game pretends to be "retro graphics" with its pixel mess I just think "omg please hire a designer"

This was the first game I ever pulled an all nighter for.

Harkonnen harvester deployed

❤️ Take me back. Not even joking...

Funny I’m 42 and that still rings clearly in my head 🤣

The leap from Dune 2 to C&C in a few short years is amazing. And these games have soundtracks I can still hear in my head.

Dune — is a charmed franchise. Unlike other licensed games, we have almost no bad Dune games🤩

I actually quite enjoy the lack of group select, it made assaults feel that more pivotal and dedicated when you have to spam Tab and M and send every unit off to a location. I’d then go there and position them as they arrived. Felt like I was a field commander, what a great rush

I only watched friends play this. I think on the Sega Genesis. At the time it was amazing to look at, but I think I was intimidated by how technical it seemed.

What a game. An absolute master piece 👍

My introduction to Dune. Had never heard of the books or the movie

The music by @FrankKlepacki is some of the most captivating I’ve ever heard. Maybe it’s nostalgia but it captured the atmosphere so well, it made you think of the desert without referring to the cliches of Arabic instruments and chanting

Way back in the day, I played as Harkonnens. I made it ALL the way to the last battle...I only had one more building of the enemy to destroy...ran out of spice to mine (yes the map was empty lol) and could not afford any units. Ahh, the good old days!

Played it first on my friends 386. Couldn't get enough of it. It was amazing.

I wish they’d release this for iPhone just for us retro folks

There's a Dune FPS / RPG now. It's not bad actually, or at least it wasn't during the public beta.

To this day I still boot it up every now and then. I've likely played thousands of hours. The Ordos late game is the most interesting (at least to me) with their Deviator tank / launcher. It works especially well when fighting multiple enemies.

I emailed Westwood: Add regenerating spice and online multiplayer for a hit. They rebranded and Command and Conquer was born. Eat your hearts out @DustinBrowder and @davidkfried you game designers who came after have no idea how much I innovated RTS as a sideline designer and #1 world ladder in every rts I gave a run. @sandy

Im still a bit confused why Ordos hasn’t been named in the movie trilogy yet 🤷‍♂️

I still have the saved games. Won the game with every house. Even managed to reach a point of money quantity that collapsed the game.

This game IS amazing!

this is THE game for me. not a game, but THE game. period

I can hear and see huge influence this game had on Command & Conquer: Red Alert. One of my favorite games ever.