With a delay of about 20 years, the Dune game initially developed in 2001 and canceled the following year was released today. The original title was Dune: Ornithopter Assault, e it was supposed to be released in 2002 for the Game Boy Advance. Obviously the game was designed as a videogame transposition of the books by Frank Herbert.
Something went wrong though, and the team’s Interactive Cryo he decided to abandon the project.
The 2001 Dune game comes out … but it’s not called Dune
Flashforward to 2022: A Kickstarter campaign of 352 supporters has garnered over 21 thousand dollars. Enough to revive the project and release the game on Steam, despite the 20-year delay. PC Gamer reports that the basis for the revival of the project would be The Retro Room Gamesa company specializing in the preservation of retro gaming titles.
The game is therefore now available on Steam. However it is not called Dune: Ornithopter Assault, quite the opposite. The title is now Elland: The Crystal Wars.
What you need to know about Elland: The Crystal Wars
Elland: The Crystal Wars. Credit: The Retro Room Games
In Elland: The Crystal Wars, players take on the role of Ethan Lancashire, one of Elland Inc.’s top fighter pilots. His job is to collect and protect crystal shards from smugglers. The game takes place on the desert planet of Elland, on the outskirts of the galaxy, an area where minerals and crystals used in the construction of galactic star cruisers are extracted. The title presents 23 playable missions in which the player will also have to fly spaceships.
In addition to the original features of the 2001 title, Elland: The Crystal Wars includes support for the controller and the consequent ability to map controls. There are also cloud saves and image resizing options.
Elland: The Crystal Wars is currently available on Steam (at this link) at price of 11.96 €, with a 10% discount at the launch. The official price is in fact € 13.29.