Set the wayback machine to 1992. Real-time strategy is born with Dune II. Frank Herbert's vision of a world of sand is brought (some might say warped) to the PC, and sees three rival factions fighting to control the Spice Melange. Years later, Westwood brings us Command and Conquer and Red Alert. Same gameplay, new graphics and sound in a different universe. Then, in 1998 Westwood returned to Dune with Dune 2000. Same gameplay and updated graphics. Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 2 followed the same pattern of new improved graphics with new units and maps, but similar gameplay. Hence, Westwood became known as the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" Real Time Strategy company.

Now it's 2001, and Westwood has brought us Emperor: Battle for Dune. To answer your question: Yes, the gameplay is similar. Anyone who has played ANY of Westwood's catalog of Real Time Strategy games will be immediately familar with the control scheme of the game. All the familar moving, targeting, building, and unit grouping are availible. The game also allows you to set up waypoints for your troops to follow and lets you set units to guard areas or other units.

The missions themselves play like most RTS games do, with you building a base and wiping your enemy off the map. Occasionally, you will have a mission where you have limited resources and you have to fufill some objective (such as rescuing troops, or holding off an enemy attack long enough to allow key units to escape). However, unlike most RTS games, there is a tactical map that comes into play in between missions. By winning a mission, you capture the teritory. Different maps have different missions, so by playing through a few times, you get a different selection of missions to play. Though the game is not completely dymanic, the tactical map gives the game some definite replay value.

In the game, much like Dune II and Dune 2000, you assume control of one of three houses in a form of warfare to control Dune. These houses are the Atreides, the Harkonnen, and the Ordos. Atreides are the all around group, containing a mix of fast and powerful units. The Harkonnen are slow and powerful. The Ordos have fast units but many of them are weak armor-wise. New in this game are 5 subhouses which you can ally with. Allying with one will ultimately put you at war with another. The sub houses provide you with new units.

Unlike all the previous Westwood RTS games, this game is rendered in beautiful 3D graphics, which you can rotate and zoom. The camera control scheme is the most intiuitive I've ever used, and allows you to pick a view without trouble. The landscape looks very good considering mostly you'll be seeing sand and rock. The units are generally well designed and modeled. Some people have said that the larger are rather blocky, but I think that the design is based to match the movie's designs. The sandworms are beatiful, although after you've lost your third Spice Harvester, you'll usually stop admiring their beauty.

As usual, Westwood has also graced this game with FABULOUS cut scenes. The costumes look like they are straight out of the Lynch movie, and the acting is mostly good. However, where and when this game actually takes place in the Dune universe is up in the air. Westwood says that it takes place 200 years before the movie, in 10190. This doesn't make sense as the movie takes place in 10191. The Emperor is dead by his Concubine's hand, which is odd because he looks like the Emperor of the movie, who was most certainly alive. It is said that the Fremen have previously been in an alliance with Atreides, but it had been lost. This doesn't make sense as the Atreides had no contact with the Fremen at that point. Also, the Fremen have weirding technology, which was given to them by Paul Atreides in the movie. So, basically what I'm saying is that there are inconsistances between the game and the movie. In my opinion, you should just play the game and not worry about it too much.

Like any game, Emperor has it's share of problems. The pathfinding at times can be horrible. If a soldier crosses in front of a group of moving tanks, the tanks often get confused as they try to move around the unit. Carryalls should AUTOMATICALLY pick up Spice Harvesters when they see a worm. That was the entire purpose of the Carryall. Harkonnen Devestators are ludicrously slow. The game also has some "issues" with the SoundBlaster Live! 5.1+ series. Being an owner myself, I have had problems with the game randomly locking up. Hopefully Westwood will fix these problems promptly.

To summarize, if you like RTS games and you like Dune, chances are that you will like this game. It's paced a little slower than Red Alert 2, but it has a good amount of units that are, for the most part, well balanced. If you like RTS, get this game.

84% of the llamas seem to think that Emperor rocks hard