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Strategy fans have had it good recently. Kohan II, Rome: Total War and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War were released within a few days of each last month, which for a strategy fan is a dream come true as all games are excellent strategy titles. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War has the benefit of being developed by the guys at Relic, who has earned the allegiance of strategy fans everywhere thanks to Homeworld.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War’s campaign mode, you’ll control the space marines who are highly skilled warriors who are called in to protect a planet from opposing forces – the Orks and the Eldar – other factions in the game. The campaign missions in the game are largely of the amass a large base and attack the enemy sort of thing. The game’s story is told through in-game cutscenes which happen between the numerous missions in the game, and though functional isn’t a primary factor in the game’s overall excellence.
Although you can only play as the space marines in the campaign mode, you’ll be able to control three other factions in the game. The chaos forces are basically demonic space marines, the eldar who are the most technically-savvy and the orks who simply have brute strength. There are differences between them mostly that they have different but comparable units and they build units in different ways (in terms of animation) but they all collect the same resource.
To build these units you’ll need to gather resources, as in any real time strategy game. In Dawn of War, you’ll need to look for certain points which can be defended and upgraded to give you one of the game’s resources. The points, called strategy points, are scattered throughout the map and will occasionally be attacked by enemies. You’ll also need to collect power to build units, but this can be done by building generators in the map, including special, more powerful generators which can only be built on certain locations.
The game’s resource management system lets you build a decent army to fight with. The game actually rewards you for having a steady stream of units to battle with and most of the game it is better to be on the offensive than trying to defend your points from enemy invasions.
Battles in the game are rather small, compared to other recent strategy games, but fun regardless. The units in the game do a respectable job of fighting on their own but they can’t do everything so you’ll need to make sure that the squads are of appropriate size, and if possible, led by a team leader. You’ll also be able to use cover in the game to protect the troops from enemy fire. The game visually lets you know when a unit is covered, so there isn’t guesswork involved, which is always handy. In a pretty unique twist, you’ll not only have to monitor your units’ health but also morale. The morale of a particular unit is affected when they are attacked, though some attacks are more damaging. When the morale meter is empty, the unit doesn’t die but it becomes very useless so it is best to retreat since they won’t be able to defend themselves very well.
As with any RTS, Dawn of War lets you play online against others. You can use any of the four factions online and it is a treat to fight against another human and notice how they use the different factions’ abilities. The game’s browser is functional and doesn’t require too much of you to get online.
The game’s visuals are very good. The many maps and enemies are painstakingly detailed, partly because many of the battles are rather small, allowing the developers to personalize the different units much more. Nonetheless, they animate very well in battle and some of the larger units are simply wonderful. The excellent animation doesn’t always apply to the cutscenes which sometime feature wildly exaggerative actions.
The game’s audio perfectly complements the on-screen action. The background music is fitting and dramatic, as are the sound effects for the many units. The voice overs are a bit repetitive but sound pretty good nonetheless and do add to the story.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is an excellent RTS without a doubt. The game’s resource management, battles and particularly factions are wonderful and provide much depth to the game without ever overdoing it. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Oct 12, 2004
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