NIDZUMI+

There once was a time went strategy games involved collecting large amounts of lead miniatures, gluing them together (along with your fingers), painting them and then throwing them into battle on huge tables festooned with polystyrene scenery. Of course combat involved multitudinous dice of varying shapes and sizes and the mandatory measuring tape. This was the basis of the massive tabletop gaming empire that is the Games Workshop.

Whenever the Games Workshop tried to foray into the virtual world most attempts ended with a bit of a whimper. That was until Relic got their hands on the Warhammer 40,000 license. The result was Dawn of War – a revolutionary RTS that not only complemented the rich back story that encompasses the WH40K universe but also gave it life in a way the Games Workshop and their fans had only dreamt of.

That was five years ago. Now, after three superb expansion packs Dawn of War has become one of the most successful PC RTS games of all time. It is now time for a change. So Relic went back to the drawing board, fresh from their successes with Company of Heroes, in order to bring us a sequel worthy of the Emperor himself.

Instead of merely updating the engine and the game mechanics for Dawn of War II, Relic decided to mix things up, change the game completely and create an experience far closer to the tabletop incarnation than ever before.

Essentially this meant ditching the resource gathering all together and creating and game that has more akin to a tactical RPG than its RTS predecessor. This was a huge gamble. Fans watched with bated breath as, little by little, details tricked out of Relic as to how DOWII would turn out.

To be perfectly honest DOWII does not disappoint. It picks up right where Soulstorm left off and throws you into the very midst of a desperate conflict between the Eldar, Orks and a mysterious threat from the edge of the galaxy that has engulfed the Blood Raven’s recruitment planets.

You are the commander of a small detachment of the Emperor’s finest entrusted to root out the threats and save your home planets from annihilation. Of course, the mysterious threat turns out to be the biggest treat of all for WH40K enthusiasts being none other than the ruthless Tyranid hive. For the uninitiated Tyranids are a swarm of biogenetic creatures linked together in one giant hive mind with the sole purpose of devouring all life in the galaxy.

The game starts with your forces coming to reinforce an outpost that has come under heavy attack from Ork forces. You begin with you commander and just one four-man squad of tactical marines and your job is to break Ork lines and relieve the scouts holding the outpost.

As the early missions progress you get introduced to the other squads at your disposal – as well and the Tactical marines led by Sergeant Tarkus, there are stealthy Scouts led by Sergeant Cyrus, heavily armed Devastators led by Sergeant Avitus and the brutal Assault marines led by Sergeant Thaddeus.

Your force is never any larger than four squads and this includes you commander. This reflects the rarity of the elite Space Marines under your command and the technology that they wield. It also encompasses the spirit of the 40K universe where small numbers of humans hold the line against countless hordes of alien aggressors.

The game’s dynamics have changed greatly from the first Dawn of War. Missions are no longer a meat-grinder as you fight for control of the map, strategic point by strategic point. Now you have one compact force and you have to choose how to approach every situation very carefully.

The tactical options are now very impressive. Ambushes can be set, scouts can actually observe the enemy’s movements to find the best place to attack and your troops will now seek the nearest cover as a point to fire from.

Interfacing with the game is simple. Each squad is mapped to number keys 1-4 and the right click issues the move and attack commands. In a very useful addition to the interface you can hold down the right mouse button and, moving the mouse you can direct each squad’s field of fire so that they set up, in cover, ready to fire upon the enemy.

Instead of the base building aspect of the game, it now has squad sergeants that gain experience as the missions progress and bring new abilities and wargear to enhance each squad’s fighting capabilities. These include the ability to can in artillery strikes, use exotic weapons like flamers and missile launchers and wield various types of grenade. The commander can also level up and has access to abilities that can enhance the whole force and can make the different in a tight situation like medical packs or special force fields.

Wargear is collected in battles when dropped by enemies or earned as rewards for completing primary and secondary objectives. Your marines will grow in stature and you will be able to tailor you force to suit the missions and you own tactical preferences.

These changes make a huge impact on the gameplay but they enhance the game making it that much more of a truly tactical experience. Playing through Dawn of War II in single player mode is a much more rewarding experience as the RPG elements have been seamlessly integrated with the character of the tactical aspects of the game. In all reality Dawn of War II plays very much like a strategic version of Cannon Fodder.

Missions range now from capturing various targets, relieving stretched defensive positions, holding off vicious assaults and eliminating enemy commanders. The latter missions play out very much like boss battles in standard RPGs but each boss requires a slightly different tactical approach The gameplay does tend to repeat itself slightly as the game progresses but each level has had so much thought put into it that repetition can be forgiven because of the superb implementation.

Another feature of the game that could be seen to add to both the feeling of repetition and the attention to detail is the decision to re-use the maps for multiple missions. It does make complete sense that the same areas might be fought over repeatedly but some might think that seeing the same map twice is a feature that should be relegated to multiplayer games only. It does fit in really well with the story and feels like another nice touch rather than lazy coding.

The game has also had Games for Windows Live and Steam support integrated very well indeed and even on my underpowered PC, switching between Live menus and the game presented very little in the way of slowdown.

The multiplayer mode of DOW II has not been changed quite so dramatically. Gone is the need to build whole bases – you just have a HQ building which you use to requisition the battle support you need. As with the previous game you need to capture strategic points on the battlefield to gain requisition points to spend on troops. This time around you also need to capture power points as well to get the energy required for the more exotic units. Also depending on which of the two multiplayer modes you choose there may also be extra points to capture. The two modes are Annihilation – unsurprisingly, a mode where you have to destroy you opponent – and Victory Point Capture where you have to capture the majority of the map before your opponent does.

Multiplayer play style is reminiscent of the old Z games from the Bitmap Brothers. The play is less of a frantic dash than Z was to capture the territory necessary to build the army you need to win the battle but it is still some good fast-moving fun.

Technically the game works like a dream. On slower machines the loading times are a bit on the long side but even playing at minimum detail levels the game looks gorgeous and plays smoothly once engrossed in a battle. The fact that it runs well on even the minimum hardware is another testament to the care and attention that was put into the game’s production.

Relic have really done themselves and the Games Workshop proud with Dawn of War II. They have thought outside the box, rather than just tweaking the old game to take advantage of new technology, they have built a whole new gaming experience just as revolutionary as the Dawn of War was five years ago. Come Christmas time this could very well be a contender for game of the year. And I almost forgot – the Tyranids are awesome.