The Games Workshop produced tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000 has an extensive history of releases in the land of video games, most of which fail to attract players unfamiliar with the universe. This has all changed in the latest effort by Relic Entertainment (Homeworld, Impossible Creatures) who have a created a high-quality Sci-fi action RTS which gamers have not seen the likes of since the Blizzard-developed masterpiece StarCraft. Placed firmly in control of one of the four most dominant races in the 40k universe, the Space Marines, Forces of Chaos, Eldar, and Orks are the centerpieces of Dawn of War. While playing the game, each race’s diverse personality and units come across extremely well with incredible animation, sound bites, and an overall presentation rarely seen in the RTS genre. Basic gameplay is standard fare. You begin a standard skirmish with a basic HQ structure and few units, and quickly begin the process of assembling an army with which to destroy your enemies. Resource management is the same for each race, with players having to capture and hold strategic points scattered throughout the war-torn environment. Gaining control of these takes a few moments, however once you’ve captured it the point grants you a steady flow of resource points, which are crucial to acquiring new buildings, units and upgrades. Naturally these points are open to attack from the rival races, however you’re able to build listening posts which in turn can be upgraded to automated defence turrets, ideal for a sudden surprise against a pack of curious Orks. This dynamic certainly lends the game a novel twist to the proceeding action, and ensures that the tempo of the battle is always kept to a maximum. Turtling, camping, or other related strategies usually don't work in the Dawn of War universe, and many players should find that a welcome respite from other games in the genre. With a simple resource management system, the developers obviously sought to emphasize the combat in Dawn of War, and it truely is where the game shines. Visually there are few faults to be found, and the in-game models will likely impress the most die-hard Games Workshop fanatics. The game is packed with detail and there’s action on-screen nearly at all times, perfectly capturing the chaotic feel of how you’d imagine those tabletop battles to manifest themselves. Special note must be paid to the animation of every individual unit, with a staggering number of varied animations for each individual model, such as the ruthless Dreadnoughts and Wraithlords squashing opponents and throwing away their lifeless corpses like litter in the trash, or the Orks constant barbarity. One of the most unique features in Dawn of War is how it features a rather different way of handling upgrades for units. In Dawn of War, players select specific squads to which they want to upgrade or specialize. For instance, a space marine squad’s members can upgrade to weapons which are effective against vehicles and buildings, or other weapons which are effective against certain types of infantry. You are given the freedom to apply this to all infantry units or just a few specific ones. This helps to ensure that infantry units are important in the outcome of the battle and the tactics you decide, instead of just researching the most advanced units out there and leaving your initial units useless. In addition you can assign leaders and powerful characters to the squads, each of which will improve the overall power and efficiency of that particular one. The other innovation which shines in Dawn of War is the morale system. It’s extremely important to keep an eye on the morale level of your units, which is depicted as a blue meter above the green meter that represents health. Morale along with health is decreased when a unit comes under attack, whilst certain units and attacks will affect morale more so then health, like flamers and artillery fire. When a unit’s morale has become completely depleted it will not run away blindly, but instead its overall strength becomes substantially crippled – so naturally it’s a good idea to get those shivering at the knees out of there. Different races each have varying morale characteristics, so you’ll find it harder to scare Space Marines compared to the Orks. Initially the micro-management of units may seem to be a little too much, and there does appear to be some glaring omissions when it comes down to organization with only a brief selection of default settings, however it’s unlikely to cause too many problems if you’ve played RTS titles in the past. With all of the positives, there are certainly a few negatives to be had as well. Dawn of War was made to be experienced in multi-player, with massive armies clashing on the war-torn battlefields, and as a result the short single-player campaign takes a definite backseat to the action. In a little over 10 missions, the campaign follows the story of the Blood Ravens space marine chapter and their efforts to liberate the planet Tartarus from an Ork invasion. Eventually the Eldar and Chaos show up to wreck havoc, but throughout the single-player mode only the space marines are playable. Still, the campaign is good while it lasts, but not at the level of quality that can be had in skirmish, or online. Overall, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War strikes a near-perfect balance in the RTS genre and is certain to appeal to fans of both the genre and fans of the Warhammer universe. The innovations and stunning presentation make up for any faults in the game, and is a definite winner in my book.
Other Helpful Reviews for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War
I'm not writing your average review for Dawn of War because by the time I got around to writing this you could have already read 20 other different reviews giving you all the technical information about the game you can ... Read Full Review
Okay, as soon as you start up the game, you are hit by the coolest movie ever of a battle between the Space Marines and the Orks. Its bloody amazing!, everytime i start up the game, i watch it. And the actual games is ju... Read Full Review
