Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II

Multiplayer

While the single player campaign might be a mash-up of RTS and RPG, the multiplayer aspect of Dawn of War II will be much more familiar to strategy fans, although Relic has still made some notable refinements to keep the game play fluid and fast moving.

The biggest difference is that, just as in the campaign, there’s absolutely no base building. Each side starts with their own HQ building pre-built and protected with turrets to discourage base rushes, which can then be upgraded to higher tiers, unlocking more sophisticated units and upgrades. It’s a bold move and one that Relic has pulled off really well, although RTS veterans might find the lack of different build orders a little simplistic – you can pretty much always know what units to expect from an opponent.

As well as the franchise figure head Space Marines, in multiplayer you can also choose to wage war as the brutish (and hilarious) Orks, ethereal Eldar or xeonmorphic Tyranids and all four races have been fleshed out with the same wonderful attention to detail and respect for the rich lore of the Warhammer 40K Universe.

The unit models and audio cues especially are fantastically realised, from the Tyranid hive mind’s soothing, yet menacing tones to the Eldar farseer’s self righteous battle cries. It’s the Orks that really steal the show though and their dialogue is nothing short of hilarious, from the snivelling snotling announcer telling you your side is losing (and begging to not be punched) to the gleeful banter when you capture a victory point (“Who captured the point? S’me!”). We challenge you to play as the Orks and not giggle at at least a few of the lines of dialogue.


Each race is then split further into three separate factions which you choose before the start of the match, each with its own unique commander unit. Just like in the campaign, your commander will gain XP as your army merrily slaughter enemy forces, levelling up and gaining new abilities in much the same way as the hero units in Warcraft 3. You can also purchase War Gear at the cost of resources, upgrading your commander dependant on your needs and turning him into an anti-tank specialist, infiltration expert or all round infantry massacring machine.

However, while each race has a good variety of different units, usually in the moulds of either ranged or melee infantry, jump jet infantry and then moving onto armour and tanks, distinguishing between them in the heat of battle can be difficult, as many look alike, even close up. This is especially troublesome for the swarming Tyranids, whose squads total up to eight individuals and who easily get lost in a blob, but all the races are affected and it can be enormously frustrating trying to select your anti-tank or jump jet infantry at that crucial moment in the battle and finding them buried in a mass of units.


Another gripe is the multiplayer’s heavy reliance on micro-management, which makes it very unwelcoming to new or inexperienced players. While the game does suggest you try taking on the AI in a skirmish before heading online to get a feeling for the game, there’s no specific multiplayer tutorial bar some easily missed in game tool tips and there’s a hell of a lot to keep an eye on.

You’ll need to manage your income of the two resources (requisition and power), call in special abilities using your command points (earnt by fighting), build more units, reinforce wounded units, buy upgrades – and we havn't even started on placement of squads behind cover, the use of melee and ranged units in different situations and the importance of fielding and countering armoured units.

Needless to say it’s very overwhelming at first, more so than any other popular RTS we’d care to mention, as the multiplayer is so different to the single player campaign and it’ll take a lot of practise with each race to become familiarised with the game’s complex mechanics. However, perseverance really does pay off and once you’re onboard, Dawn of War II delivers an extremely engrossing multiplayer experience – just don’t expect to be anything but totally owned your first dozen or so games as you learn the ropes.