In making a survival MMO, Funcom has welded two concepts together in a way we rarely see. We've survived on worlds with other people on them, but usually only in small numbers; rarely have we played with this many people on worlds this big. Similarly, while we've played large online worlds with many other people, rarely have they granted the kind of sandbox build-your-own-adventure freedom Dune: Awakening does. It feels quietly, profoundly, new.