 |
|
CG rating |
The Bad
- RPG elements in single-player
- The voice-acting
- Co-op mode
- Frantic multiplayer battles
- The single-player campaign could have been more fleshed out
- The design and technical problems that drag down the multiplayer experience
Review
|
A lot of people think that after launching a successful game, one that grabs a lot of awards and gets praise both from the press and the community, you can just slack around and wait to cash in the Benjamins. Preferably in the Bahamas. Yet this romantic notion is as further from the truth as you can get.
Barring the fact that the producers never, ever get 100% of a game’s profits, a major commercial success practically begs for a sequel. At which point the people who had been put up on pedestals get torn to shreds. What do you mean, “why?” Well, wait just a second there buster, you’re giving me this great game and you think I’m gonna expect the sequel to be lacking in any way? If it’s not twice as good as its predecessor, I’m gonna bash your creative ass to smithereens, you feel me?
Dawn of War was a resounding success and yet another proof of Relic’s skills when it comes to real-time strategy. The fact that the game dragged its roots off a very popular tabletop game with loads of fans could only bring more joy into our hearts, given the “glorious” transition of popular franchises, especially movies, to video games.
However, I don’t think the announcement of Dawn of War 2 came as a surprise to anyone, least of all Warhammer 40K fans or RTS fans, and neither did its initial features. First of all, thanks to the blockbusting sales and numerous awards it got, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the chiefs up at THQ and Relic would sooner or later come up with a sequel.
And then there’s Company of Heroes’ launch, that dispersed any doubt as to which engine would be used for the sequel. And then, given the fact that the three expansions for Dawn of War (Winter Assault, Dark Crusade and Soulstorm) had already inserted all the major figures in the Warhammer 40K universe, with just one left behind. So the announcement of the Tyranids at GC 2008 snagged an “About fucking time too” at best from the fans.
Given the conditions stated above, Relic had a major challenge ahead if they were to hope for a new success. Which eventually happened... after a few kicks up the old sitter on the way.
 |
 |
 |
 |
Prepare to drop
Compared to similar titles, building a base and gathering resources were a secondary objective in Dawn of War. And Dawn of War 2 takes the concept further. This time around, building bases was cut off in such a way that it’s basically not there. At best, you’re going to place some mines or static turrets around and build some generators for power. Other than that, it’s utterly absent. No barracks, no research centers, farms, nothing.
What am I supposed to do then? Well, this game emphasizes the use squads. Just like Company of Heroes. For instance, a tactical Space Marine squad is made up from three heroic space marines, who may get a sergeant to back them up, for a hastier and more productive alien eradication. This means less micromanagement for you and a squad can still be useful if it loses a soldier, as units become much more important.
This is why on top of brilliant flanking maneuvers and the use of terrain to get a tactical advantage, the squads are key to victory. Unlike other similar titles, this time around the whole “Oh, did I lose a Devastator squad? No matter, I’ll have another ten replace them” gig doesn’t work. If you lost a Devastator squad that kept the enemy in check on your the right flank, you’d best pray to whoever it is you usually pray that the enemy is dumb enough not to speculate the hole in the defense he just caused.
In case I wasn’t clear enough, the focus in Dawn of War 2 is on cleverly using a limited number of units instead of building a flourishing economy to back those numbers up. Which is pretty obvious right from the tutorial, when you, as a novice Force Commander, are sent to the Blood Ravens recruiting planet of Calderis to repel an Ork attack. You don’t start out gathering resources or building various structures, yadda yadda. You’re sent directly on the respective planet with a TAC(tical) Squad, in the middle of the bloodbath. And from then on you start battling for survival.
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Comments [Add a new comment]
| Yes | |
 | 59% |
| No | |
 | 27% |
| Haven't decided | |
 | 14% |
Total: 1664 votes
^ Top ^