Time to adjust
Let me start with a disclaimer: I'm a Warhammer 40k geek. With that being said, I loved the original DoW (and its expansions) because of the complexity, variety, and ingenuity Relic put into the game. With DoWII, I had to completely readjust my way of thinking. It went from large-scale epic battles to a handful of squads.
However, since I was a fan of the tabletop wargame, I quickly found I liked the more intimate smaller scale better. I actually started to care about these squads. Every lost marine was felt, and every battle won carried some weight to it. That's something rarely seen in an RTS nowadays.
The visuals and sound in the game really go hand-in-hand to create a great atmosphere. You really do feel like a badass the first time you see your assault marines fire off their jump packs and land smack dab in the middle of a swirling melee. When your Devastator squad, Avitaus' squad, focus fire to suppress the enemy, the sheer volume (both in terms of sound and amount of rounds fired) really got me going. Then, of course, there's your commander. To see him level up, put on some serious wargear, and wade right into the thick of the fight- well, that's heroism at its finest.
The multiplayer is pretty good, too. You gain access to the other 3 factions in the game (orks, Tyranids, Eldar), and each play differently than the others, requiring you to alter your tactics. And this game is completely about tactics. You have to use cover, buildings, and each unit in the game in very specific ways to be successful. Learning how to set up bottlenecks, when to hastily fall back, and when to call in an orbital bombardment are all skills you have to come by to win.
Overall, I'm very pleased with my purchase, and I feel that what Relic's doing with this game is a step in the right direction for a very tired, very cookie-cutter genre of games. Take note, Blizzard- Starcraft II is on notice.
