When I was a bit younger,
a ton of my hard earned fast food money got sunk into the world of Warhammer
40k. I can remember heading to my local hobby store and grabbing tons of Space
Orks, Space Marines, and just about anything else in the GW universe that I
could get my hands on to paint and to play with. Well, here I am … 12 or more
years later … and I have craved a good Warhammer title to play, and as of late
(while there have been some titles to hit the shelves), I haven’t really found
one that has jumped out and grabbed my attention. Well, none up until now that
is.
THQ has just released
their newest FPS entry into the PC world set in the Warhammer Universe by Games
Workshop known as Dawn of War. The main story mode to the game focuses on a
series of missions following the Blood Raven Marine Squad as they land on a
planet swarming with bloodthirsty and battle crazed orcs, and you get to play
through the various missions and of course complete the story. If you’re not in
the mood to play a set series of missions however, you can also elect to play a
skirmish mode which allows you to play as one of the four factions represented
(bloodthirsty Orks, noble and battle hardened Space Marines, traitorous and
demonic Chaos, or the powerful and mysterious Eldar) in set maps where you can
have a few selections of victory conditions like capturing the most strategic
locations or just wiping your enemy off the map completely.
THQ and Relic did a great
job with Dawn of War in bringing players a good representation of the popular GW
universe. While it’s not turn based and it all moves in real time, thus knocking
some of the actual traditional rules of the tabletop version out, it still
remains a great title set in that world. Players will get to see a lot of their
favorite characters and weapons from the 3-D RPG version of the game like storm
bolters and chainswords, Bad Moon and Blood Axe ork brigades and even Painboy
field medics, Chaos Demon Hordes, and Marine Rhino Tanks or Eldar Falcon Grav
Tanks. The lingo in the game also stays true to the series as well, as ork
buildings are built like “Da Boyz Hut” and “Pile O’ Gunz” and the Eldar will
construct Webways and such to keep it familiar to long time players.
In the Warhammer
universe, there is one commandment to live by … “Thou Shalt Kill”, and due to
this the game is very focused on action and combat versus managing a bunch of
resources. Basically, there are two primary things to watch in the game, one
being requisition (obtained by capturing strategic points … places on the map
where your team’s banner is planted symbolizing ownership) and the other being
power which is harvested by having units that can build plant generators within
the vicinity of the main HQ area. By using both of these, it permits you to
upgrade your HQ or build new structures like Armories or Sacrificial Circles to
bring out bigger and better things, like upgrading some squad members to flame
throwers or jetpack squads or machines like tanks or walkers. This also allows
you to upgrade the squad cap which allows you to bring more troops out onto the
field at one time and amass a much bigger army.
Another couple of areas
that I thought the Relic people took care of here is in making sure that terrain
modifiers and morale were also included in the game. This does a good job in
helping to set up some strategic positions and stuff, since you can do things
like move an army into a crater while guarding a captured relic which provides
cover if an enemy unit happens to come by and a firefight ensures. They also
added the modifiers for having a commander present in the squad or attaching a
champion to it, so these things all play out to give you an advantage or a
disadvantage depending on whether you or your opponent take care of it first.
Also, troops can get routed if they happen to suffer heavy losses … but you can
actually call in extra reinforcements on the fly to help out in this area as
well. If you lose three troopers in battle, a quick three clicks of the mouse
will start the timer to call three more back in. Timing plays a role here though
obviously, since if too much of the squad gets knocked out while waiting for
help to spawn … it won’t matter much in the end anyways.
Graphically, Warhammer
40K: Dawn of War does one heck of a job portraying a gritty, bloody, violent
universe where only war and death prevail. The environments are dark, dirty, and
consist of things like collapsed buildings, eroding statues, and war torn,
blasted landscapes. The character animation looked great, but what really made
the looks special in my opinion was an actual squad painting program that was
included which allows you to paint up your very own squadron of Orks, Eldar,
Chaos, or Marines and make your own unique unit to play with. Now this is one
thing that any Warhammer fan will tell you is what helped make the tabletop game
so great to begin with. Shortly after popping it in, I made my Black Guard squad
a sickening purple with infected green highlights and glowing, evil red eyes …
complete with a banner representing the Chaos god Nurgle … deity of pestilence.
Next, I went into nostalgic mode and put together my own Bad Moon Ork clan, then
hit a skirmish to pit the two against one another to see who would win. It took
me back to my days in my friend’s basement; although it didn’t cost me hundreds
to put the squads together nor did I have to stay up all night to play through
one game.
Overall, RTS players
looking for more of a build and conquer may not find Dawn of War to be exactly
what they are looking for, only due to the major focus on war, armies, and
killing opponents rather than resource gathering or building wealth. Even with
that being said, it will warrant checking out due to the solid controls and fun
gameplay that they implemented into the game. Gamers who enjoy a more action
oriented RTS title without a lot to worry about other than fighting and
capturing strategic areas will definitely have a great time with it, regardless
of having an in depth knowledge of the Warhammer universe prior to picking it
up. Thanks to Relic and THQ for finally putting out a Warhammer game that I can
say I really enjoy.
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Gameplay: 8.6
Due to it’s
almost action only play style, the game remains pretty fast paced and forces you
to keep an eye on what’s going on around you. Squads can be selected with a
quick click of the mouse, and you can of course select multiple ones by clicking
and dragging to move a huge army into battle. Also, AI seemed to do well in the
game, and vehicles or troops contained a good balance to them overall.
Graphics: 9.0
The graphics in
Dawn of War looked great, either from a distance or up close, and it was really
neat to zoom in and watch opposing squads being ripped to shreds by cannon fire
like you would picture that they would be. The army painter that was added in
was in my opinion a fantastic idea, and really emphasized creativity in making
your own forces which is part of where the enjoyment of the game came in for me
to begin with.
Sound: 8.8
The music will
get more or less intense depending on the situation that is there, and the sound
effects of the storm bolters and such had a cool chain clinking effect when they
would fire. It definitely added to the overall aspect of the environment.
Difficulty: Medium
There are three
different difficulty settings to play on, and they are done well since easy is
great for beginners and will offer a challenge without being too difficult,
while the hard mode will put seasoned players to the test. The tutorial was a
bit long, but did a good job in getting you ready to head out into the fray well
prepared.
Concept: 8.9
Not only did they
do a good job in bringing out a Warhammer game that I can say was worthy of the
name, but they also did a good job in bringing out a fun and action packed RTS
as well.
Multiplayer: 8.8
If you get tired
of playing on your own, you can also sign in online and play other people from
around the world. What’s better than destroying a computer opponent? Beating a
live one and getting to talk some smack in the process.
Overall: 8.7
Overall, Dawn of
War provided a fun filled and violent romp into the world of Warhammer that I
always enjoyed and grew up with, ever since high school. Fans of the tabletop
game will no doubt like what they did with the game, and RTS players that are
looking for a new title should most surely check it out. Even if straight action
isn’t always your thing, it will still provide a lot of fun and action to keep
you busy for a while.
