Warhammer 40,000--Dawn of War

Attitude. That sums up Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War better than any other word. For those that don't already know, Warhammer started life as a tabletop miniatures wargame, which is set in a distant universe that is part fantasy and part sci-fi. The tabletop rules have since spun off a number of board and computer game products that attempt to capitalize on the rich story and edgy feel that has made the product so popular and led to its international following. The results have not always been a complete success. The veteran real time strategy pros at Relic (the creators of Homeworld and Homeworld 2) have picked up the Warhammer ball and introduced their own take on the series. The result is one of the most polished and well thought out RTS games to come out in a while.

The game opens up with one of the most memorable intro cinematics in recent years. A fanatic force of hardcore space marines is locked in desperate battle with the onrushing hordes of bloodthirsty space Orks. The intro sums up what Dawn of War is all about: fierce combat and wholesale destruction. Those who prefer a more thoughtful and slow paced approach to real time strategy gaming need read no further, as this game is totally unapologetic about its in-your-face combat.

Dawn of War includes four of the major races from the Warhammer universe. The races are reasonably balanced and although they more or less work the same way, each has a very distinctive flavor. The presentation of these races is really what makes Dawn of War such an enjoyable game. Some other recent real time strategy offerings have had decent gameplay, but the factions in these games have tended to be bland and too alike to make for a really interesting story. Dawn of War's approach attempts to reverse that trend by introducing races that look and feel altogether different, even if the underlying mechanics are generally similar.

The first of the four races are the Space Marines, fanatic warriors who serve the brutal dictatorship of the human Imperium. These are Dawn of War's most balanced race, and they have access to a wide array of powerful infantry types, vehicles, and artillery systems. They are totally dedicated to the Imperium's emperor and consider it a great honor to die in his service. Next are the forces of Chaos, fallen space marines who now worship demons and unholy powers. The Chaos are similar in many ways to the space marines of the Imperium, but they can call on powerful demons to aid them in battle. The Eldar are a mysterious and technologically advanced race who's abilities are more subtle and require more thought than the other races. The Eldar are reminiscent in some ways of Starcraft's Protoss race, and make heavy use of stealth and speed. Last but not least are the Space Orks. Surly and uncouth, the Orks make up for their backward technology with sheer numbers and brute force. The Orks can also be one of the toughest races to deal with as they multiply rapidly and are well suited to traditional rush tactics.

Dawn of War includes a single campaign, and sadly it is of limited replay value since you can only play as the Space Marines. It would have been nice to either have more campaigns available or be able to play as each of the different races. Nevertheless, the campaign is fairly enjoyable and centers on the defense of a planet which is being overrun by the Orks. Predictably, the forces of Chaos are also involved in the plot and the Eldar aren't simply going to stand on the sidelines and watch these events unfold. The missions are fairly diverse and by the end of the campaign an average player should be well prepared to enter the multiplayer arena against human opponents. One mark against the campaign is that it is linear, forcing the player to successfully complete each mission before advancing to the next. If Relic would have shown the same attention to detail with the campaign that they did with the gameplay, this aspect of Dawn of War could have been a lot better.

The game does a great job of depicting the carnage and slaughter which characterizes the Warhammer universe. On the surface, combat may appear to be nothing more than face-paced battles of attrition, and although that is true to an extent in all RTS games, there are some subtleties and tactics involved which make Dawn of War a better game than most. For starters, units are grouped into squads, which is a definite plus and makes managing larger forces somewhat less of a click fest. Various type of leaders can be assigned to these squads, and the presence of these leaders can have a major impact on their overall effectiveness and morale. In addition, some of the leaders are very tough and sport devastating special abilities which can be enough to turn the tide of a battle if used wisely. But to keep things from getting out of hand, each side has a relatively limited number of powerful leaders available and they take a while to research and build. When the more powerful leaders aren't available, medics can be attached to a squad to give it a bit more staying power. There is also a negative side to all this, as when a leader is killed the squad can suffer a shock to its morale. This forces the player to think a bit more before sending units with powerful leaders on suicide runs. It is unavoidable that some leaders will eventually fall in battle, but they can usually be revived after a period of time at the player's base.

The actual game mechanics and resource management aspects of Dawn of War are more or less fairly standard for the genre, but perhaps a bit more polished than some other games. In addition to gathering resources, each side must build generators in order to have enough energy to power all the buildings. There are also strategic points scattered around the map that must be seized and held in order to unlock the most powerful units in the game. Players who prefer base building and defensive tactics (i.e. "turtlers") will probably struggle in Dawn of War as the game tends to reward players for aggressive tactics and holding as much territory as possible. In many situations it's simply impossible to sit back and build up an impregnable defensive position, and enemies will rarely give the player an opportunity to do so.

Dawn of War is well suited for multiplayer gaming and each of the races is a viable choice in this setting. And although there are only a limited number of maps available for multiplayer and skirmish mode, the maps are of very good quality and user made maps can be downloaded from the Internet. Skirmish mode adds a great deal of reply value to the game and can be even more fun than the campaign game at times. There are enough options to choose from when setting up skirmish games to keep almost any player satisfied for quite a while.

Dawn of War's graphics may not 'technically' be the finest in the RTS genre, but they are very very good and presented with plenty of stylistic flair. For starters, the races look completely different so there is almost no possibility of losing track of who is who, even in the middle of a chaotic battle. The game excels at explosions, laser blasts, and flame effects. Animation is top notch and it is not unusual to see larger units grab hold of smaller ones and either crush them into pulp or hurl them across the map. Artillery blasts will send man-sized creatures flying in all directions and powerful leaders can unleash devastating special attacks which wreck havoc on small regions of the map. The larger unit models have a level of detail not seen in many other games of this type, and at times it's tempting to simply sit back and simply watch the action unfold. The Space Marines have a huge tank available which sports laser weapons on three sides, and the graphic effects as it blasts enemies into dust is outstanding. The Orks' 'big boss' has a giant claw that can slice, dice, and generally tear enemies limb from limb. All of this combines to make the battlefields fast, furious, and a joy to behold.

One other great touch the developers included is the option to completely customize the color patterns for the race being played. Unlike most other RTS games that assign each faction a generic color (green, orange, blue), races and factions in Dawn of War have mixed color schemes that allow the player a great deal of flexibility in creating a unique look. Once created, these custom schemes can be saved within the game and used over and over. In addition, each race has a banner (a flag) that they carry around and plant when they capture key locations on the map. These banners can be completely customized and replaced with high quality images of the player's choice. This can really add to the sense of immersion in multiplayer games and is a great feature.

Sound effects in Dawn of War are generally very good. There is a lot of different variety between the races and the various unit types. Not only is the voice acting good quality, but the responses are actually fairly entertaining to listen to. The Orks (or "Boyz" as they call themselves) are particularly fun, with units spouting all sorts of outrageous lines like the Mad Doc unit which says, "who's ready for surgery?" The developers seem to have a sense of humor as they saw fit to give the Orks a thick British accent, which strangely enough seems to be eerily appropriate and really ads to the flavor. Another nifty addition is that the game has an option on the menu to enable extra unit responses. Once enabled, the units have more things to say, which does help keep the game from getting repetitive. These serve as more than just "ear candy," they are very useful audio cues for important events around the map, such as when a squad is about to lose its morale. The only weak spot in the audio department are the Chaos units. Instead of inspiring fear and terror, a few of these speak in a cringing, annoying way that just makes you want to smack someone! Surely this part could have been done better, but no game is perfect.

RTS developers should pay attention to the interface in this game. Even newbie RTS players will be up and running in no time and everything is very clear and intuitive, making the game easier to play and more enjoyable. The interface also has a different look and feel depending on which race is being used. Camera control is excellent and allows the player to pan around the map, zoom in and out, and basically look in any direction at will by using the mouse and keyboard. One of the only other RTS games with such great camera control is Homeworld 2, which is another game from Relic! Although it doesn't really break any new ground, this interface is polished and puts all the modern conveniences of RTS play at the gamer's fingertips.