Well, here goes...
I cannot recommend this game for some very obvious reasons. But let's be fair in the review:
THE GOOD:
The game is visually amazing. The story is interesting, immersive and well thought out. The progression system ( while at times can be a bit overly grindy ) is satisfying. Base building is fun, varied but at times limiting ( build piece limit etc ).
They are ( at the time of writing this ) also making a single player option, which will allow you to change certain aspects of the game to make it less grindy. There are also options for the deep desert which allow you to choose between PvE and PvP.
Vehicles are fun, weapons are plentiful and its an all round fun experience. It truly does immerse you into the Dune universe in a way that no other game possibly can.
THE BAD:
End game is an absolute mess.
Imagine yourself progressing through the game. All the grinding, all the effort. You finally make it to the point where you go into the world map, and go through the ( currently ) new dungeons.
The dungeon system goes from lvl 0 - 100. You may start at lvl 3, but can only increase the difficulty one lvl at a time. Meaning for each level, you have to complete the entire dungeon.
The rewards in the dungeon go from 6.0 ( Plastanium ) to 6.5. As you progess through the levels, you attain a higher chance to receive higher level gear ( ideally 6.5 ).
Now that you have run the same dungeon 37 times ( and you have to do this for every dungeon mind you ), you have reached level 40. At level 40, the percentage chance for gear 6.5 stops increasing. The levels of the dungeon do not. The increase stats to the NPCs and boss do not, but the drop chance for 6.5 gear does. Meaning you can be doing a lvl 60 dungeon, but the drop chance for gear 6.5 will be the same as at lvl 40.
Now you might think that in itself is bad enough ( completely destroying the idea that effort gets you a better chance at better gear ). But at lvl 40, which is if you remember from before, where the drop chances stop increasing, you still have an equal chance to get gear 6.4 AND a small chance to also get 6.3. At - Level - 40.
This system almost looks designed to frustrate you. To force you to grind, and grind, and grind to no end. Without any possibility to increase your chances at better loot. While admittedly Funcom has attempted to somewhat change things ( lowering drop chances of useless loot, balancing drop chances of The Ancient Way ( rocket launcher ) ), it has not remedied the core of the problem in the slightest.
The loot itself, or better yet the drop chances also make no sense.
For this I can offer two examples:
Testing Station 136: I have lost count of the amount of times that I have received double the same item. And not just the same item in the sense that two of the same dropped from one dungeon run. I mean the same item, after running the dungeon again and again. I am talking about Glasser and Plastanium Pyrocket. Myself and the friend I play with have literally stopped picking them up, because we have so many.
Testing Station 89: Has the exact same problem. Except in this case its Way of the Misr and Shishakli's Bite. I can't remember the last time I did that dungeon, and didn't see one or the other, or both. Which means they take up the drop slot for any other gear piece.
My friend has asked about this issue, and the response he received can be boiled down to " its just bad luck bro ". Suffice to say, it was dismissive and didn't help resolve a pressing end game issue at all.
In Conclusion:
Is the game immersive? Yes.
Does it provide a satisfying experience in the Dune universe when it comes to story? Yes.
Does it scratch the itch of wanting to build the way you want to build? Yes.
Is the end game balanced and rewarding? No.
Is the loot system streamlined? No.
Can you increase your chances for better gear? Only to level 40, where you have an equal chance to get gear 6.4 as you do 6.5. Which defeats the purpose of a leveling system, as it does not cancel out the chance to get worse gear.
I can very easily say that if it wasn't for the few hours that I play with my friend on Saturdays and Sundays, I would not be playing this game. As someone that has reached the end game a while ago, I was super excited when they announced the Overland Map testing stations and the new system. Only to be crushed and disappointed that it wasn't so much a progression system, offering you a chance at better loot. But a Trojan Horse that springs a grind cycle on you, combined with nonsensical drop rates of weapons/gear and augments.
You can see by my hours that I played this game a lot. But even so, I cannot recommend it to new players. And honesty, as someone that absolutely loves Dune, that is the very last thing I wanted to say...
