Therefore, the devil's in the details of the various units, vehicles, weapons, abilities, and tactics available to them. Nevertheless, as in any great RTS game, it can take an indefinitely long time to truly master the different options of any one of these factions. Consequently, the thought of learning to play as each of them, in turn, doesn't seem intimidating. However, these similarities are to the game's credit, because they serve to reduce the learning curve involved in switching from play as one faction to another. As mentioned, the four sides in Dawn of War aren't drastically different, since they're each dependent on the same resources and have roughly analogous military units. In addition, the game features four separate interactive tutorials-one for each of the game's factions-which get you acclimated with the respective sides' buildings and units. Playing through Dawn of War's campaign at least teaches you to respect the space marines' abilities in battle. The campaign only lets you play as the space marines, but the other three sides are yours to command in skirmish and multiplayer matches. You'll see characters flapping their gums and animating awkwardly, which is in stark contrast to how terrific they look in battle during actual gameplay.
However, the between-mission cutscenes, which are rendered using the game's 3D engine, simply don't look good. The actual story is pretty good, at least, and it unfolds between missions through some excellently over-the-top dialogue between the game's main characters. However, the campaign is brief and conventional overall, so any remotely experienced RTS player should find it to be a cakewalk at the default normal difficulty setting (two tougher settings are also available). It's tempting to help the guardsmen in their defense of you, or at least it's tempting to watch as their tanks and laser weapons stave off the aggressors. In one mission, a computer-controlled battalion of the imperial guard-human allies of the space marines that lack the marines' cybernetic enhancements and power armor-covers your flank from an onslaught of orks as you conduct your operations. Some missions have some interesting set pieces in them.
DAWN OF WAR 2 REVIEW SERIES
The campaign itself isn't great, though, since it's just a linear series of missions that typically involve building up a base, mustering your forces, and crushing the enemy. It's a good setup to pit you against three of the game's four factions, and the main character of the story, a veteran space marine commander named Gabriel, is quickly likable because of his ruthless, loyal, and valorous attitude. In addition to fending off the orks, the Ravens soon experience some "misunderstandings" with the eldar, who are already on location investigating something sinister-something that chaos is after. The game's relatively brief campaign of around 10 missions begins when the Ravens are called in to assist with the defense of the planet Tartarus, which has suddenly been overrun by the warmongering orks.
Visual differences aside, each faction is distinctly (though not drastically) different and playable in the game's skirmish and multiplayer modes, although the single-player campaign exclusively focuses on a space marine chapter called the Blood Ravens. Whereas chaos summons its buildings through arcane rituals, ork structures unceremoniously arrive from orbit in big heaps of junk parts. Even the way in which the respective sides build their structures is interesting. Dawn of War actually features four of Warhammer 40,000's most popular factions: The tireless and imperialistic space marines, highly versatile warriors who have access to a variety of vehicles as well as terminators, the strongest infantry in the game the savage green-skinned orks, whose tough forces can vastly outnumber and therefore overwhelm their enemies the enigmatic and technologically advanced eldar, who are the sneakiest and most maneuverable of the races, and who have access to numerous specialist units and the traitorous forces of chaos-former space marines who have been warped by demonic energies, and whose strong infantry are assisted by terrifying demonic creatures.Įach of these factions has a great deal of personality in the game thanks to the imaginatively designed, vibrantly detailed, and beautifully animated units available to it, along with equally good speech and audio effects.
Those unfamiliar with Warhammer 40,000 will get the perfect primer in the game's brief, spectacular, introductory cinematic that shows off a pitched battle between two forces that are bent on ripping each other to shreds-and are well equipped to do so. Now Playing: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War Video Review By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's