spice mining. Copec grows impatient, however, and poisons Rakan's food. Copec assumes the title, and goes to Arrakis to have his brother swear allegiance to his new baron. Believing that Copec has usurped the title, Gunseng openly rebels against him. The player character chooses to either side with Gunseng or Copec, and both opposing factions battle on Giedi Prime. Depending on who emerges victorious, the game will then feature Gunseng or Copec as the reigning baron of House Harkonnen. House Ordos' campaign revolves around their ability to create gholas. The house eventually creates a ghola of the deceased Emperor Shaddam Corrino, who will serve as a puppet emperor subservient to House Ordos. Ordos motives are typically insidious in that they attempt to manipulate many of the subhouses (Fremen, Sardaukar, Smugglers) into conflict with the major houses they are fighting, using gholas and other forms of treachery to thwart any attempts at alliance among their enemies and secure alliances for House Ordos. The Ordos are led by the Executrix, four beings that share a single mind and communicate only through a creature known as the "Speaker". The Ordos are calculated in their thinking, almost machine-like. Advising the "Commander" (player) is the equally cold female Mentat Roma Atani. There are also subplots within subhouses and factions on Arrakis. Ix and the Tleilaxu have made it clear that they cannot be united, and force the player to choose one or the other, though it is possible to have the support of two. A Sardaukar coffin containing a trooper in suspended animation can sometimes be found in the battlefield. These troopers usually ally themselves with the faction that awakens them. Cast The game's storyline is told through full motion videos featuring notable actors. Reception The game received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Jason Kapalka of Computer Gaming World reviewed the game, saying it had "nice graphics, fun cinematics, some interesting units, and a fun interactive campaign map", but panned it for having "outdated graphics, iffy AI and pathfinding, crummy multiplayer, and an overwhelming sense of deja vu" as well as a lack of then standard control features in similar real-time strategy games. Jason Samuel of NextGen, however, said, "Fans who can't get enough of Westwood's particular brand of RTS or anyone who has missed a Westwood title from the past three or so years will enjoy Emperor: Battle for