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For the Imperium!
I really enjoyed Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and its expansion packs, and I was a little worried when I heard that Dawn of War II was making some drastic changes, but I'm pleased to say that everything seems to have worked out.
Dawn of War II follows the story of a group of Blood Raven Space Marines in the attempts to purge their sector of space from a myriad of alien forces. Along the way, they fight Orcs, Eldar, and finally, a Tyranid Hive Fleet bent on consuming the entire sector. The fight rages across three worlds in the system; one jungle, one desert, and one covered entirely by a giant megalopolis.
This game is different from its predecessor in a lot of ways. First and most obvious is that there is no base building at all. The closest you'll come to building a base is laying down turrets and landmines, as well as purchasing a few upgrades at your headquarters in multiplayer matches. The game also abandons the larger-scale tactics of the first DoW game in favor of smaller scale. In the single player mode, you are strictly limited to 5 units in every mission, but these units are upgradable via stat points and equipment dropped by defeated enemy units.
This game is a great time. In many RTS games, there are the missions that feel very rote and plodding, where you're just trying to get through it to get to the good stuff. I had very few moments like that in this game. From the intro mission where you rescue your commander that's been cut off by a seething horde of orcs, to a mission where you have to purge an area of Tyranids and then seal it off with the help of the local militia, this game kept me on the edge of my seat consistently. The gameplay also manages to be difficult without being discouraging, which is a very hard balance to maintain. Even though I never lost a mission(or was in any real danger of losing a mission for that matter), the game still delivered a level of tension that was absolutely exhilarating. The multiplayer is a good time too, especially the Last Stand mode, which pits players working cooperatively against hordes of enemies in a RTS version of Horde mode from Gears of War.
I can find very little wrong with this game. It would have been nice to play as more than just the Space Marines in single player; they are the only faction represented, with the other three only available in multiplayer. The space marine story is excellent, much better in fact that the previous Dawn of War games. I just wish the other races got some screen time besides when you were killing them. Also, while the combat in single-player is very good, it doesn't do a whole lot to encourage you to change up your strategy. I played through the entire game with the same set of squads using the same tactics, and the game never once threw a situation at me that I couldn't resolve.
Dawn of War II is definitely worth your money. While old-school strategy gamers may not like the lack of buildings or hordes of units waiting to be cursor-lassoed, its still a game they should check out.
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PC
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| Genre: |
Real-Time-Strategy
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| Experience: |
Finished Single-Player campaign; some multiplayer
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