Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 (PC)

[aruljothi]

Release Date: 02/19/2009
ESRB Rating: Mature
Genre: Strategy
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Relic Entertainment

Random fact: Darren Aronofsky, the director of The Wrestler and Requiem for a Dream, was slated to film a remake of Batman: Year One. That project fell through, but was ultimately picked up and revived by Christopher Nolan -- resulting in Batman Begins. I think of this because Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2, while a wholly original game, finishes an idea that I first heard about from Blizzard.

For a bit of context, way back in 1999, Blizzard announced that Warcraft III would be a "role-playing strategy" game, as opposed to a typical real-time strategy game. While the initial development was focused on fusing RPG with RTS gameplay, Warcraft III ultimately became a traditional RTS (but with Hero units). I'm in no way accusing Relic of copying Blizzard, but it's interesting nonetheless that it took 10 years for someone to finally create the role-playing strategy that was pitched way back when.

This leads me to my next point: DOW2 is neither "Dawn of War with modern graphics" nor "Company of Heroes in space," as people would expect from Relic. Instead, it's a wholly new blend containing DOW's lore, over-the-top combat animations, COH's destructible terrain and cover/suppression mechanics, modern production values, and the lure of "better loot" RPG fans are familiar with. Despite how I just said that DOW2 is re-visiting a 10-year-old idea, it pulls if off so fantastically, that the game feels genuinely fresh.

The actual structure of the single-player campaign is a melding of the traditional linear RTS story campaign, plus the "go into territories and win battles" Risk-style of previous Dawn of War games. There are story-specific missions (the plot is just an excuse to cram Space Marines, Orks, Eldar, and Tyranids together), and as you progress, optional missions become available. These generally tend to be either "go destroy a specific target" or "defend this point from an onslaught." At any one time, you have to decide between two or three plot missions and a bunch of side ones. Each mission advances the calendar, and side missions often have very specific timetables; meaning, you'll have to decide which cool reward (I'll get to that later) you want to obtain by virtue of what mission you play. Additionally, each map has optional objectives that bestow both an immediate tactical benefit (such as the ability to call down orbital strikes), and a strategic one (like earning extra experience points per mission).