Years ago, my brother dragged me into the local comic/hobby shop, Werehouse Comix (yes, a werewolf was the mascot), owned by my good friend Mark. He had been talking to some friends at school, and they were all about this new tabletop game called Warhammer 40k. So, we scrounged up some money from our work (we were both teenagers at the time), and bought the starter set just to see what all the fuss was about. The boxed set contained two starter forces- orks and space marines. He loved the oks, so I claimed the marines for myself (which was what I wanted anyway). We played a few games just to get the jist of the rules, but before we knew it, we were knee-deep in minatures, dice, and playing games in the garage. Eventually, he stopped playing altogether, but I kept going for a few years and really enjoyed the game.
But what interested me most of all was the setting. Games Workshop has done an amazing job on the backstory of the game. Set in the 41st Millennia, the Imperium of Man is beset on all sides by enemies. On the Golden Throne of Earth sits the immortal Emperor, saved at the point of death in his battle with the heretic Horus, preserved as corpse- revered as a diety. The dark and gritty theme really registered with me.
As years came and went, I stopped playing 40k, but still loved the fiction. It wasn't until the original Dawn of War was released that I recalled how much I loved that world. I bought up every expansion, and played through every campaign. Now that Dawn of War II has been released, I had to have it. So, I bought it, installed it, and I've had a tough time tearing myself away from it to write this review.
First, let me say that this is not a simple incrimental upgrade of DOW. They've scaled back the scope of the game in multiplayer, and you'll rarely control more than a few squads at once. There's no base-building, but you must upgrade your original base to gain access to new troop/vehicle types. However, by doing so, they've created a great new tactical game, where cover, positioning, and reinforcements are all called into play. Sheer strength of numbers won't do the job alone (unless you're playing as the Tyranids).
The shining jewel of the game is the single-player campaign. This has you planet hopping, trying to quell ork uprisings, Eldar manipulations, and Tyranid swarm incursions. You play a commander of the Blood Ravens chapter, which was introduced in the original game, tasked with defending your recruiting worlds from the aforementioned aliens. Your commander and squads gain experience for fighting and completing missions, allowing them to gain new abilities, and use the new wargear you pick up along the way. This expands greatly on the tactical flexibility of the game, because you can tailor your units for particualr missions.
I do believe that most DOW players will be put off at first by the changes from the first game. I myself had to adjust my play style to the new situation. However, the learning curve is fairly shallow, and RTS players should adpat within an hour or so of experimentation. The game itself looks amazing, and the little details like destrucible buildings, missed shots kicking up dirt, etc really lend a lot to the new experience. The system requirements aren't really all that steep, either.
Overall, I'm very pleased at the new changes, and I can't wait to see what they do with the expansions. The only real gripe I have is that there are so few multiplayer maps out of the box. But, the single-player campaign alone more than makes it worth the price of admission.
A-
