Fake game Friday: Frank Herbert's Dune Golf

4:43 PM on 08.17.2007   |   Anthony Burch

9 comments

Let's be honest: who hasn't looked at the vast dunes of Arrakis and thought to themselves, "That's one sand trap I would never get out of"? Most people, probably. But not forumite BetaMaster, whose fetishes for both Frank Herbert sci-fi and the most boring sport known to man resulted in this week's fake game.

Hit the jump for the lowdown on Frank Herbert's Dune Golf, or check out BetaMaster's full Photoshop (attached below).

Alternately, if you think you can do better, feel free to hit the official Fake Game Friday thread in the forums. If you're lucky, maybe we'll feature your idea on the homepage -- that, or we'll verbally mock your idea in community emails and snicker about it behind your back. Still, these are risks worth taking.

Game Name: Frank Herbert's Dune Golf

Reason: Why not? Every other franchise has at least one spin-off.

Plot: The three noble houses decide to settle their politicial struggle over a round of golf across Arrakis.

Graphics/Settings: The setting takes place mainly in the desert planet Arrakis, which is almost entirely dry, empty landscape, with sand dunes, mesas, et cetera. While this'll lead to repetitive scenery, hey, it's Dune. With the right camera angles, it'll still look awesome. And every now and then, to switch things up, instead of playing on Arrakis, you'll play a hole or two on another planet in the universe. As for the graphical style, typical golf camera angles for the most part, but I'm thinking landscape/cinematic mode should be added, a la Prince of Persia.

Gameplay: Players can choose who they want to play as, and then they start the competition! Small patches of grass will litter each hole, but for the most part, it'll be one big bunker. So, to counter the fact that there will no longer be sand traps, and water hazards are out of the question, a new hazard will be sandworm traps. The vibrations of your ball can attract them, and you don't want that.

Players: 1-4

I hate golf and I know next to nothing about the Dune universe, so I'm probably not the target audience for this game. But what about you, dear readers?