23.12.2004

I only heard about this game a couple of months before it came out and though it "looked" good I just expected a cheap cash in to the popular Warhammer universe. However I dedided to get it anyway in the off chance that someone might have put some effort in (unlike in the other Warhammer games), and I was not disappointed. Relic have really achieved something here, not only is this far better than any previous Warhammer game it also stands up very well when compared to other good strategy games (Warcraft 3, Age of Mythology, C & C Generals, e.t.c).It intoduces a new element to rts play in the form of capturable points that allow for brilliant strategic play and very fluid battles.Relic have decided they dont just want another "build up for 30 minutes, then attack" rts, they have made Warhammer a game where not only is it a good idea to expand early, it is basically mandatory if your want to win.Then we come to my favourite part of the game, the units. All infantry are produced as squads instead of individual units, these can be reinforced (at any time) to have more men, upgraded with heavy weapons, and you can also attach heros to them to improve their effectiveness. I can't believe no-one has done this before, it's such a simple yet highly innovative idea and takes the game from very good to excellent. Something else worth a mention are the 4 playable races (orks, space marines, chaos, and eldar). Relic have made it so that when you come to play a different race they are different enough to keep you interested but not so much that you are put off by a difficult learning curve, this drastically increases the longevity of the game as you will want to play and become proficient with all the races.There's also a lot of other things that greatly add to the game but which I don't have time to go into great depth with, so I will only mention them briefly. The brilliant unit animations in battle (you just have to watch these close up), the perfectly realised vehicles (including the brilliant dreadnought and wraithlord), the good graphics, good single player campaign (though you'll have more fun in skirmish and online), and the excellent unit voices.Overall, what really seperates Dawn of War from other Warhammer games is the fact that not only have Relic put a good deal of effort in, it is evident that they truely care for the source material and really wanted to make a good game and you will feel this shine through as you play the game.So, in conclusion, if you like Warhammer, you will love this, but if you don't then still get it, as underneath the shell of a Warhammer universe lies an excellent, innovative RTS that is still 5 stars based on its own merit, ignoring the Warhammer exterior.Buy it! I guarentee you will not be disappointed.

4.10.2004

AT LAST!!!A GW game that has shown the true nature of the war torn universe of the 41st Millenium, that reflects how a unit of Assault Marines bring death from above or how an Eldar Wraithlord should stride into battle.I am in love with this game war like beauty. It has what every RTS game needs and more so. The graphics are intence and add a huge ammount of feeling to this game.An outstander from the other RTS's on the market it has what no other has, a difference between melee and firpower. How many times have I seen a squad of Soviet Conscripts fire at allied GI's at point blank, to shame. Not Dawn of War.E.G. Oh no my Orks are getting mullered by the Chaos Legion's heavy bolters,

13.10.2004

...dawn breaks, and a Eldar ranger squad sit idle in some woods... awaiting for the space marine scouts to run over to capture the nearest objective point... The rangers tilt up their rifles and open fire, cutting down a marine. The scout, having seen the loss of his comrade, breaks and runs for cover... their he hides to regain his strenght. Has he gets up, Assault marines fly out from the sky, bolt pistols blazing, cutting into the eldar rangers, they charge with chain swords drawn and attack the rangers in vicious close combat. The rangers draw their combat knives and attempt to hold off the marines, but they are cut down... the last ranger wobbles,

23.11.2004

In my youth I collected and painted up an extensive Eldar army. I gave it up a fair old while ago, but have always had a soft spot for the Warhammer 40k universe. When I heard about Dawn of War, I decided it offered me a way to get back into it without all the time and expense.The second I started to read the manual I was filled with nostalgia, suddenly all the names flooded back, Farseers, Howling Banshees, Warp Spiders, The Avatar oh yes!Next came the intro movie! Wow! For the first time this imaginary world was alive. The film is a brilliantly rendered scene of Space Marines battling Orks and the movements and sounds all seemed incredibly authentic.So at this point I was pretty excited.

4.9.2004

I have been one of the lucky ones to actual get my hands on the beta of this for testing. And for any one who has any questions I can answer a few here.1. There is no material collecting for this game, the only thing that is close, is building power generators that are needed to supply energy need for any support units.2. Thou most of the units for the table top game are included some are still missing. E.g. [A] Space Marines have land speeders but the chaos army does not. [B] The Orks have all there various unit classes but as of this moment some of the Eldar do not.This has been done more to try and balance the army's strengths and weakness. But sadly this has lost you the choice of some more interesting units.

11.5.2005

Command and Conquer was always 'secure resources, build army, kill'.Dawn of War has an element of that, in that the strategic points you need to capture to gain resources do need to be secured, however, unlike C&C, your best units aren't unlocked by sheer money or research alone, you need to capture specific locations to warrant access to the hardest of units.Also, if you adjust the victory conditions, you can make certain points of the map real meatgrinders (if thats what you want) by setting a certain amount of critical locations to be required for victory, or for a certain amount of strategic points. Finally, there's the oldie but a goodie - instant death - capture a strategic point from your opponent and they go.The single player campaign has a good storyline to it,

22.4.2004

Games Workshop has teamed up with award winning developer THQ to produce yet another computer game utilising the rich, gothic, SCI-FI setting of the Warhammer 40'000 universe, essentially centred around mankind's struggle for survival in the far future against the myriad hostile races of aliens and the Daemonic minions of the Empyrean.The transference of the tabletop game to the computer screen is a well-trodden route for Games Workshop and it is strewn with failures, Final Liberation, Chaos Gate Rites of War have all attempted to bring the Warhammer 40k universe to us on the PC.They all flopped.So why should you be interested in this game?

26.10.2004

I have been playing various Games Workshop products on and off for fifteen years and in that time have seen some truly shocking attempts by the company to enter the PC games market. Well, this time they really have finally got things right.The AI and gameplay are better than any RTS (Real Time Strategy) game that I have played before. The variety of units available is reasonable and it is admirable that they have stuck so close to the universe created for the main 40K game.There are two main areas that I can find fault in this game. The first is in longevity for the single player game. I am by no means an expert gamer but through application of sound tactics I was able to complete the game in a couple of days.

17.9.2004

As one of the lucky few to have been able to play this in Beta, I have been exposed to the game for several weeks, and have really been able to gain a feel of what this game is about.This game is not about resource-gathering or tech trees, or about simply collecting enough "shooty units" to get the job done. It is about pure, undiluted combat strategy.Each map centers around controlling Strategic Points, when captured give you requisition resource to reflect your progress in the game. From here you can advance and build ever better units. No longer is your progress determined by how much stuff you can gather safely back at the base, its about front-line combat and battling against your foes to retain strategic and militaristic superiority.

17.9.2004

I have played Warhammer 40k over many years, so I am familair with the game, background etc and was (and still am) excited about the release.I have played the demo which you can download online. it involves a bit of campaign mode and a couple of skirmish scenarios and tutorial. Not everything is available (not surprisingly) and you only get to play as the Space Marines.First impressions are the game is very good. The graphics are excellent especially from a distance (you can zoom in and out). As with all these games the few lines given to the standard characters ("For the Emporer" etc) gets a bit irritating after a bit, but they do look incredible and are very close to the models.

30.9.2004

First off over the last year or so I've become bored with the RTS games being released, what with none of them being overly original and just repeating the previous game with different unit graphics.However this time things looked promising with the claims that Dawn of War was something fresh, not exactly a completely new RTS game, but a breath of fresh air. To my delight the claims have for once turned out to be true.The games itself is stunning, graphics and audio are about all you could ask for in a game of this type, attention to detail is second to none, some people claim that there is only so many times you can watch the critters killing each other. But,

28.9.2004

This is a review of the final game, not the beta. I tried the demo and within one play had decided to get the full version of this game.I have waited years (about 15 in fact) to play 40K on a computer. Where I live there aren't any other players of the tabletop game, and anyway I can never find time to collect and paint a whole army, and at last I don't need to.The gimmick about resource gathering not being important is misleading, you still have to capture land and guard it the same as in any RTS. But it doesn't matter, because the emphasis here is on action. Different weapons are needed for different types of enemies - for example killa kans need to be taken down with missile launchers,

20.6.2005

I am a big fan of the rts genre and have played many a good rts. this is truly a great game for it has geat graphics amazingly good animations intense fighting and cleaver ai. there are four races orks,space marines,chaos marines and eldar. vision this if you will you are in the middle of a abandoned eldar city your squad moves though the city all around you are the bodies of dead eldar you wounder what happened here then you see it orks heading for your position. what now? you only have a squad of ten men a force commander and two predator tanks against hundreds of orks. Do you run and disrace the imperial emperior or do you fight knowing full well that u and your men will probaly die.

5.1.2005

Yes the single player compaign is easy, but it's a good idea to think of that as an introduction to the way that the game works.The real fun begins when you hit the multiplayer / skirmish maps and you get to play with the entire tech tree - what other game allows you to fly your Khornate Greater Daemon into the midst of a Space Marine army, where you then get to watch a poor unit get stuck, writhing, on the Daemon's axe before it's flung off into the distance?As others have said, the emphasis here is to capture strategic points which then provide you with the resources to buy or otherwise improve your units and buildings. In other words,

6.7.2005

This is simply the greatest real-time-strategy of all time. it is set in the 41st millenium and the universe is very different, full of aliens, chaos, psychics and most of all WAR.The focus of the compelling single player campaign is the Space Marines, who are genetically modified super humans fighting in the name of the immortal emporer. Other playable races in the multiplayer mode are the ferocious orks, the high-tech eldar, and the traitor marines of Chaos, who worship demonic gods.Each race has unique units that can be modified to perform a specific task (for example arming marines with rocket launchers rather than plasma weapons to take down enemy vehicles),

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