Dune: Awakening's first major free update is live, boasting all-new murders, secrets, contracts and tattoos

Dune: Awakening has received its first "major" free update, a continuation of the MMO survival game's story following the revelations of Act 3. What revelations were these? Honestly, lads, I never made it that far. My character is presently a furry chunk of worm jerky, crammed into a half-built shack after accidentally encasing herself in the furniture, so I couldn't spill the beans even if I knew. But I can reveal there are "gruesome murders" to investigate from this point on, and further opportunities to dig up the misbegotten secrets of Arrakis. Here's a trailer.

Also: fresh looks! "Re-customize your character, discover new contracts, items, character hairstyles and tattoos, and dynamic encounters that breathe more life into the ever-shifting deserts of Dune," comments the press release. That last line about the ever-shifting deserts rings a little hollow in the wake of Sword Of The Sea's grainy tsunamis, admittedly, but you can't squash people with ornithopters in Sword Of The Sea, so let's call it even-stevens.

The update accompanies the launch of the paid Lost Harvest DLC, which comprises a standalone story. "Dig deep into the lore of Dune and you may recoil at what stares back," explains the press release. By gawd, it sounds Nietzschean down there!

Abyssal ruminations aside, the DLC includes "the new Dune Man building pieces, new decorations, cosmetic armor sets and weapons, swatches, and the Thumper emote." All that and a new vehicle, the Treadwheel, this being a kind of doubled-up Penny Farthing with phat treads. It's got "unique animations and handling" but does not, the developers assure, confer any real advantages over the sandbike equivalent in the base game. Here's another trailer so you can watch the big wheely goof do its thing.

Dune: Awakening has fallen down the charts a bit since launch in June. In my case, I lost interest quickly once I clocked that I was playing a survival game, with all of the associated grubbing around for materials and a generic holo-template building system that felt like a massive waste of the Dune fiction. Brendy (RPS in peace) pounded his gavel thusly in our Dune: Awakening review: "The world of Dune is well-realised in multiplayer survival game format, offering a harsh planet of unintentional comedy, braindead NPCs, and plenty of grindy crafting."

Funcom are letting people play for free across September 11th-15th, which includes access to all the stuff in this week's update. There's a discount running thereafter, to lure in those who've developed an appetite for the sands. I'm not sure I'll be going back, but I'm interested to hear how you spice miners are getting on. There are two more paid DLCs with new areas and stories coming in the game's season pass.