Choicest VGM - VGM #154 - Dune II - Rulers of Arrakis


Composed by: Frank Klepacki and Dwight Okahara

So we finally come to a game soundtrack that is not The Ur-Quan Masters, although the only reason I had so many tracks featured from that game is because they were all pretty damn good. This game's soundtrack, Dune II's soundtrack, was co-composed by one of my favourite game music composers of all time: Frank Klepacki. Frank is probably best known for the soundtracks of more popular games by Westwood Studios, such as Command & Conquer and Red Alert but he was working at the company a few years prior to them being released and Dune II was one of his earlier projects.

Why did I pick Rulers of Arrakis over other tracks? I think it's because this track, along with the others I will feature in the next couple of weeks, are considered classics, at least by Frank as they you'll hear them again in the remake Dune 2000 and quite possibly in Emperor: Battle for Dune, although don't quote me on that.

When I listen to the first bit of this track I could just imagine the base commander, looking in suspense as the spice harvester slowly crawls back to the base's refinery, vigilantly looking for any signs of Sand Worms or enemy forces. At 0:33 the track starts to rock and at this point I like to imagine the funds starting to trickle through and the base coming to life as you start pumping out more buildings and units for the upcoming battle.


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