{"id":95848,"date":"2026-10-27T12:16:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T04:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=95848"},"modified":"2026-10-27T12:16:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T04:16:15","slug":"dune-awakening-ps5-review-survival-on-arrakis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=95848","title":{"rendered":"Dune Awakening PS5 review: Survival on Arrakis"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Every trip across Arrakis begins with the same question: do I have enough water to make it back? That is the idea Dune: Awakening<\/b> gets right from the start. The heat drains your supplies, the open desert leaves you exposed, and staying out too long can mean being swallowed by a sandworm. You are not Paul Atreides arriving to change the fate of the Fremen, either. In this alternate timeline, Paul was never born. Instead, you play a custom character sent to find the missing Fremen, but your ship is shot down before you can get very far. Survival comes first; the bigger questions can wait.<\/p>\n

That focus carries through the rest of the game. Dune: Awakening is built around gathering, crafting and building a base, but those routines feel at home on a planet where every journey can turn into a problem. The recently released PlayStation 5 version (and reviewed here) also includes a full single-player mode, so you can follow the story and explore without sharing your world with other players. For me, that suits the game\u2019s more solitary side as much of its appeal comes from being out in the desert, figuring out how far you can push your luck before heading back.<\/p>\n

The spice must flow<\/h2>\n
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Image: Funcom<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the start, however, pushing your luck does not get you very far and even a short trip away from shelter can become a test of how carefully you are prepared. You head out to scavenge materials, keep checking your supplies and then turn back, simply because staying out longer feels too risky. It is a slow introduction, but it gives the early hours a useful tension: even a basic errand feels like a small expedition.<\/p>\n

That back-and-forth rhythm could have become tedious if the game did not give you a reason to keep going. So the materials you bring back help you craft better equipment and build the necessary machines that make survival on Arrakis easier. Completing quests and exploring new areas also earns research points, which unlock more schematics. Little by little, you can travel further and arrive at places that once seemed out of reach. The loop itself is familiar, but each new unlock has a useful effect on what you can do next. That made progression feels less like ticking off a checklist and more like earning the confidence to venture further deeper into Arrakis.<\/p>\n

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Image: Funcom<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Your base is where that progress starts to come together. It gives you a place to store supplies and turn raw materials into useful equipment, so expanding it is part of preparing for the next expedition rather than a distraction from the game. I also found building fairly easy to manage with the DualSense controller; placing and adjusting structures is less fiddly than I thought \u2013 unlike other survival games on consoles. And when a new sandbike or traversal tool lets you reach a distant area, you have a clear sense of what all that gathering was for.<\/p>\n

Better gear does not make Arrakis safe, of course. It just gives you more ways to deal with what is out there, including the people trying to kill you. Combat has its moments, particularly when shields force you into close-range knife fights that suit Dune\u2019s \u201cslow blade\u201d rule. But ranged combat is uninspiring and enemies do not always put up a challenging fight here \u2013 it\u2019s probably one of Awakening\u2019s weakest points. That undercuts the danger the game works so hard to establish elsewhere. Some of the main quests also slow things down, especially the Fremen trials, which unlock useful abilities but must be tackled in sequence. I found that frustrating when the game had already encouraged me to explore freely.<\/p>\n

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Image: Funcom<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The new single-player mode is arguably the game\u2019s highlight and allows players to discover the game at a more comfortable pace. You can adjust the difficulty and survival settings though, and then take your time with the story. That flexibility matters because every excursion involves weighing what to bring against how far you can safely travel. You need enough water and the right equipment to deal with the heat and whatever you find along the way, while deciding when it is worth pushing further and when to turn back. Playing alone does make Arrakis feel lonelier, and you cannot move a character between the single-player and multiplayer modes, but being able to shape the experience around your own pace is a welcome option.<\/p>\n

On the PlayStation 5 Pro, Performance mode targets 60 frames per second, and I preferred the smoother response when moving across the desert or fighting enemies \u2013 Quality mode tone it down to 30 frames. Arrakis can look striking when the dunes stretch out in front of you, though the visuals are less consistent up close. The interface is a mixed bag, too. Building a base is straightforward, but finding objectives and the right inventory or crafting options can mean digging through several menus. That gets in the way because these are things you need to check regularly: what supplies you have, what you can make, and where you are meant to go next. When I had to stop and search through tabs for that information, it pulled me out of the expedition<\/p>\n

Final thoughts<\/h2>\n
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Image: Funcom<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dune: Awakening is at its best when its survival systems start changing how you approach Arrakis. A water purifier means you can stay out longer; better weapons let you tackle places that once felt too dangerous; and a vehicle turns a dangerous trip into a less tense expedition. That gives the familiar cycle of gathering, crafting and upgrading a purpose. It is less satisfying when combat feels flat or a drawn-out quest interrupts the urge to explore, and not every stretch of the game makes the wait for the next upgrade worthwhile.<\/p>\n

That said, the single-player mode makes that progression easier to settle into. You can adjust the survival settings and take the story at your own pace, although Arrakis can feel awfully quiet without other players around. I still found enough here to keep me interested, especially when a new piece of equipment opened up more of the world. Dune: Awakening asks for patience, and it does not always pay that patience back evenly. But if you enjoy survival games or want to spend more time in Herbert\u2019s universe, there is a satisfying journey here once you get past the early struggle.<\/p>\n

Dune: Awakening is now available on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.<\/i><\/p>\n

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