Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War

Game: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War
Developer: Relic Entertainment
Platform: PC
Release Year: 2004
Stephen's Rating: 7/10

Dawn of War is Relic Entertainment's real time strategy game based in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Basic Plot

The player takes on the role of the Imperial Space Marine faction on the planet Tartarus. The planet is besieged by a large Ork force. The story is long and convoluted but involves several characters and coming into contact with the Ork, Chaos, and Eldar factions. The planet Tartarus is found to house a Chaos artifact, the Maledictum, which is turning the inhabitants to Chaos. The story involves both the Imperial and Eldar forces joining together to defeat Sindri and destroy the Maledictum but unwittingly releasing the daemon Khorne (who is the antagonist in one of the expansions).

Other units never really stood a chance against space marines.

Gameplay

This is a real time strategy game but different from other games such as StarCraft or Age of Empires in a few aspects.

Firstly, armies are broken up into squads. Squads behave as a single unit but are made up of several individual units who act in unisen. When a squad is hurt its numbers dwindle but can be replenished. If no-one remains in a squad, the squad has been killed.

Secondly, income is based on holding waypoints rather than gathering resources. The income is limitless and constant and depends on which waypoints you hold on a map. This makes map control a very important part of the game and encourages skirmishes between players.

There are "commanders" who play the role of hero units and can gain experience during a game. These are somewhat similar to heroes in Warcraft 3. There are some buildings the player needs to research and upgrade, as well as building units - but the emphasis is on battle and squads as well as map control.

There is a single player campaign which tells the story, as well as multiplayer (which I never played).

Positives

The Warhammer 40,000 universe is interesting and diverse, and this game is an accurate and well presented window into it. It was nice to see a different kind of real time strategy. It detailed and polished graphics for the time.

Negatives

The mechanics which work so well in the model/board based game don't translate as well into a video game. The mechanics of the more traditional games such as StarCraft end up being more fun. Particularly having "squads" which is frustrating if you're used to micro-managing your units individually.

Memorable Moments

In this original incarnation of the game it is worth noting that you play Space Marines, who are inherently more powerful than your enemies. This is pretty satisfying, and I missed it in the expansions.