A once-canceled game based on Frank Herbert's Unreleased Dune Game For GBA Returning After 20 YearsThe Spaceshipper (via. GameSpot) took to Twitter to point out that the Dune-based title had finally received an official release on Steam with the new title Elland: The Crystal Warsââââââ. The title was brought to PC by game preservation specialists Retro Room Games following a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised $21,222, and boasts 23 levels. Retro Room Games also gave the title some modern quality-of-life features during its redevelopment and move from Game Boy Advance to PC, such as the ability to save anywhere, and the addition of controller and control remapping, cloud saves, image scaling, and smoothing options.
Elland: The Crystal Wars' Story Will Be Very Familiar To Dune Fans​​​​​​
Regarding its story and visuals, not much has changed from Dune: Ornithopter Assault, but any obvious traces of the Dune IP have been stripped from the title to avoid any copyright infringement. Instead of taking control of Dune's ornithopters (which are now in Fortnite), players will be piloting "advanced flying machines" called Raptors as they explore Arrakis stand-in, a hostile desert planet called Elland. Instead of protecting spice harvesters, Elland: The Crystal Wars' story sees players fighting Trafford Corp, the largest constructor of space cruisers and weapons in the Galaxy who have their sights set on the planet's Brem-Nar crystal mines, with the crystals being asset essential for space travel.
Although Dune fans have official titles to enjoy - with Westwood's collection of classic strategy titles from the 90s and early 2000s still easily accessible on PC, and Shiro Games' strategy title Dune: Spice Wars currently in Early Access on Steam - it's nice for long-standing fans of the franchise to finally get their hands on an official version of Dune: Ornithopter Assault after its unceremonious cancelation. Despite Elland: The Crystal Wars not using terminology from within the Dune universe, its gameplay remains largely unchanged, and what is left is certainly similar enough to evoke Frank Herbert's epic world without inciting too many legal issues.
Sources: The Spaceshipper/Twitter (via. GameSpot)
