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Just when you thought you had seen it all

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: December 15, 2004
Author: Amazon User

After Homeworld, I figured the RTS genre was finished being defined (I've played them all going clear back to the original C&C). I had resigned myself to playing the same games on into the future with the main differences from generation to generation being graphic and AI improvements and larger and larger battles with more units and bigger maps. What a wonderful surprise Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is!

The campaign is ok, but I really enjoy the skirmish maps. Someone posted that this game isn't challenging?!? Set the difficulty on Hard+ (never play below HARD or you are wasting the game) and play a map against 3 enemies. Still not difficult enough? Put the other 3 computer controlled players on the same team! I have spent probably more than 80 hours just on a few of the skirmish maps that I really like. Someone else said there is an over-emphasis on action and not enough strategy? No way! This game can really push you to think. Maybe they say that because things tend to happen so quickly that it can feel like you are going all helter-skelter until you get a good, solid control on the quick keys and other interface items. Once you get it all under control, this is one of the most mentally demanding games I have ever played. It just depends on how you set up the skirmishes. There are seemingly endless ways of going about the missions. Sometimes your strategies work, sometimes you get steamrolled before you realize what hit you. The AI adapts and no two games are ever alike (outside the campaign). AND I have played all this time only as the Space Marines (I'm a hard-core Star Wars Stormtrooper and USMC aficionado, so this game is perfect for me!). I have yet to dive into the other 3 races. Talk about your replay value!

The one gripe I have is that you seemingly cannot turn off Commanders (Supermen) or Mechanized units for skirmish maps. I would like to have the option to play with a technology cap with only infantry and infantry based weapons. Maybe in an expansion pack?

One of the best RTS's I've ever seen.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: September 27, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I write few reviews...only when I play something really good or really bad. This is a really fun game!

Sometimes you'll find a game that's fun to to play, but has crappy graphics...other times you'll find a beautifully rendered game, but the gameplay is not fun. This game has both...and big time too.

If you're a fan of Starcraft/Warcraft you'll love this game. The game interface is identical to your Command & Conquer, Age of Empires, Warcraft series.

1. Resource Collecting: I hate having 20-30 peon units running around collecting resources and having to manage that. This game takes care of that as all you have to do is "control" certain points on the map and you automatically collect resources. Now I only have 2-3 peon units to worry about (to build building and collect resources).

2. Unit Control: You don't just control one soldier, you build and control a squad of units. No more constantly re-assigning the CNTR-# function. If a soldier in a squad dies you can reinforce the squad without having to go back to the barracks and build a solider and then CNTR-# assign again.

3. Graphics: Incredible! Not just the beautiful units and background, not just the fact you can zoom and rotate, but its the unit animations! I see something new each time. A dreadnought (think big mech) comes up and grabs and ork in its iron hand, shakes and squishes the blood out of him, and tosses him aside. A space marine fighting hand to hand runs an Ork through with his sword...he uses his boot to push him off the blade.

Some people love incredible detail. I didn't care much for Rise of Nations because I felt like the gameplay got old quickly because it was the same old, same old...this game does not!

For the Emporer! RTS fans should get this game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: October 13, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I haven't bought many RTS games in a while, as FPS(First Person Shooters) have been coming out more frequently.

I love strategy games, but it's hard to find really, REALLY good ones that you can love and adore. When I first got Starcraft, I finally understood what a good RTS game should be. Now I have that feeling again, since I got a hold of Warhammer 40k: Dawn Of War.

If you love squad based battles, large armies, different races, different and unique battle concepts, then this game is for you! The Warhammer 40,000 universe is ever expanding, and the PC market is a great place to experience it.

The use of squad based control instead of individual makes moving units around alot easier. We also get vehicles, as well as mecha (The Dreadnoughts kick so much butt!). Instead of 'resources' per say, such as oil or gold, you grab and have to hold Critical Locations on the different maps in the game. In war, you need to hold important locations, and this holds true. The game will make you explore the map instead of hiding and hording over one resource location. With the Space Marines, Chaos Marines, Eldar (One of my favorites next to the Space Marines, I've always wanted to try the elf-like Eldar) and the warlike Orks, this game will have you playing for hours.

I've only gone through a few missions in the single player campaign, but if you like single player missions where you don't go through them fast and you have time to learn how the game works, then it's done fairly well. We also have Multiplayer which has online and LAN play, and even has a skirmish mode, for when you want to battle with AI armies, but don't want to play online and just want to go for all out war.

The game also runs great and smooth. With great graphics and great music, and so far with NO BUGS, this is like an RTS dream come true.

In the name of the Imperium! This is a day we've been waiting for! And this is a game that shall bring many RTS fans to glory! Get this game, do not miss it! Get the demo first if you want to try it out, but in the long run, you probably won't regret it.

"SPACE MARINES! ATTACK!!!"

A great RTS!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: October 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I just finished the single player missions. I'm hoping that Relic will be releasing expansions because the single player in this game is short and doesn't come to any sort of conclusion in the story line. This game is very addictive and the multiplayer is awesome. I would say it is probably the best RTS game out right now to play multiplayer.

It has its flaws, but it's a good (very short) RTS

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: November 22, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I was anticipating this game after playing the beta, it's got awesome graphics, a nice assortment of races with differing units, and the sound is pretty good as well.

After having made the purchase, I don't think it was worth the price. It's a great game, no doubt - but there is nothing "epic" about the story. In a universe where these races have access to a great deal of planets, this is a twelve mission campaign set over the course of under three days.

The single player skirmish is fun though, and multiplayer may boost the play time for this game if you can get past the childish players that can't say anything but "i pwned u loserz ha".

A few other issues I found in this game seem to be cloned from Starcraft. If you have too many units in a squad, and too many squads in the same general location, some units will:

a) never stop moving, which can be an issue if they wander too close to the enemy while they try to find the rest of their squad

b) cease to move completely, and will not catch up with the rest of the squad when the squad engages or moves.

Another issue I found is that of the "attack move". Most of us know what that is, for those that don't - you select a location you want your units to go to, but you want them to stop and engage all enemies along the way. When sending a great deal of squads/units on an "attack move" it is very likely that some of the squads at the back of the group will simply stop moving.

If you want an epic story, get Starcraft if you don't have it - or Warcraft 3 (not the expansion, it gets too fruity). If you absolutely must get this game, either make sure you have mature friends (or that you are the "omg loserz11!!one1" type) to play this multiplayer with.

Oddly enough, something I heard a lot in the campain by way of unit voice, rings true for this game as a whole: "Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment."

Hot metal on target on time!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: November 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I just finished WH40000, and albeit a tad bit short (about 10-12 hours for the main campaign) this is the first RTS since the good ole' days of RTS action (Dune II, Command & Conquer, etc.) that not only held my attention but riveted me to my computer for hours at a time! First off, the opening animated sequence for the opening is worth the money alone (on par with the first Mech Warrior opening movie). It is the absolute jaw droppingly coolest and most violent game opening sequence ever, period. I watched it 50 times and still could watch it another 50. The interface of WH40000 is really simple and easy to learn. The units and unit animations, sound, AI, path finding, special effects are all excellent, very cool, and well done. The missions are interesting and the story (with numerous lengthy between-mission animated plot hooks and twists) draws you into the story. My only complaints about the game are:
1.) Changing the view is a bit awkward compared to a lot of similar type games (Homeworld, Ground Control II, etc)
2.) Once you build up 3 or 4 groups of your Blood Ravens, they are virtually unstoppable, so some missions are a bit of a cake walk
3.) It is a short campaign, and unlike most RTS games, you don't have the option to play the other races

The good news is this is an excellent, well done, and virtually bug-free game, and it provides a great platform for future add-ons and expansion packs. The game ends with a total plot twist and invitation to many more missions for the Blood Ravens to come! I give this game 5 stars and fully recommend it. As soon as you see your Ravens enter combat against overwhelming odds and the thunder of the auto-cannons and bolter guns opens up, and the Ork meat starts flying through the air, you will see what I mean.

More interesting than Warcraft 3!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: March 18, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game in many way mirrors Warcraft 3. Firstly, there are 4 races being Space Marines, Chaos Marines, Orks & Eldars.

The opening scene is no less than cinematic. It is excellent! The gameplay is very interesting in that one has to capture 1) Strategic points for resource management, 2) Relics to build the best units in the game like Obliberators for Chaos Marines which are totally cool and 3) Critical locations to win the game if you hold them for more than 7 minutes.

This method of gameplay differs from the typical ANNIHILATE everything on the map style that most strategy games preach about...Also, there are many interesting upgrades for the game like the typical weapon and armour upgrades. I personally like the squad based concept in which a small squad can be "trained" versus a single soldier. Although realistically speaking, it is rather stupid that one is able to reinforce your army during battles. Your single most important squad will contain of your Force Commander, his fighting prowress in unparalled and when he attacks in close combat, he can literally FLING his enemies around which is way so cool!! Not if you are attacking someone else's Force Commander! Then, there are Sergents, Librarians, and soldiers can also be upgraded with flamethrowers, rocket launchers and such! Very cool indeed.

The soundtrack is superb, the graphics is good where RTS is concerned. Also, when your soldiers walk pass buildings, you get to see their "shadows". The same applies for enemy troops. Also, there is something called morale in the game, bring down their enemy morale and their fighting spirit is crushed and they will run and you can pick them off easily!

The panning camera isn't very user friendly however using the default camera will suffice. It's difficult to see your own soldiers' faces....Skirmish missions are tough even when on standard mode. Enemies attack withing 2-3 minutes into the game, CONSTANTLY! Bad thing is that enemies start the game before you for skirmish and they have an upper hand on technologies. For example, when I started out my base, the Orks sent over a robot that dealt 300++ damage and decimated my base.......it's a little bit like cheating on AI's side. However it takes a challenge to train a Jedi!

Overall, the game is very fun, well balanced and will certainly keep you very entertained although the campaign is WAY TOO SHORT! have fun with the skirmish though and I bet it will be a blast playing online, I havent tried yet. Just played it last night for 4 hours straight till 1am. I believe it will be a game that one will continually polish strategies and will revisit from time to time. Strongly recommended for RTS lovers.

Fun... but didn't quite achieve it's objective.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: September 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game is excellent fun, the battles were extremely intense and unpredictable and fast paced. My complaint is that micromanaging bases is still a problem. Because the battlefield requires so much of your attention, it's extremely easy to neglect you base. Thus, the AI rockets ahead in terms of technology and troops while you are still trying to capture local objective counters. I wish that the game would have done away with a resource and base system entirely.

I am rather upset with this, since the game promised that we'd be able to concentrate on the battlefield rather than micromanaging gold mines. But capturing objectives is basically like capturing gold mines in a regular RTS, as is building power plants. You don't have to manage peasantry (a plus), but there are still builder units (servitors) crawling around.

But don't let my negativity get you down. Dawn of War is still an excellent game, far better than most RTS games on the market now. Plus, it's 40k. And best of all, it's got incredibly viceral combat. :)

The game that rocked my world

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: February 18, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is the game ive been w8ing for, the best game this year! As soon as i saw the start menu i was amazed by the 3D graphics, they are the best graphics ive seen on a game in a long time. Plus i liked the gameplay just like age of empires except based in the future, the thrill of playing online was spectacular i was hooked i couldnt get off the game. One downpoint is theyve missed out alot of races like Imperial Guard but they are all too come in the expansion pack and there were not all the troops u could get. But it thrilled me to bits!!! So i have to say well done THQ it is truly a great game and im lloking forward to the expansion pack.

Yours Truthfully
Thomas Gibson

"Brothers! Let us destroy this alien filth!" (4.5 stars)

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: June 13, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I am a fan of real-time strategy (RTS) games and have played most of the major ones that have come out over the past several years, such as Age of Empires, Empire Earth, Warcraft, and Rise of Nations. However, there is something very special about this one. Most RTS games have you sparring with your opponent(s) until one of you gets knocked out or assimilated. Not with W40K: Dawn of War. It's non-stop kicks in the groin until one of you doubles over and then gets decapitated with a buzzing chainsword. This is by far one of the most graphic games I've ever played. It gives you a front-row seat to an all-out brutal spectacle of carnage and savagery. The game is at once cute, entertaining, dark, grim, and horrifying. Rarely does a match last over 45 minutes and most are over (at least the single-player matches) in 30 minutes or less. It's heart-pumping, adrenaline-rushing action from start to finish--and it's great the whole time. Overall, DoW is very well put together and should be in the collection of any strategy gamer.

Gameplay: W40K is much like other RTS games in which you build buildings which produce units which seize territory and kill enemy units. However, all of the collecting of resources has been nicely steamlined. Instead of hoarding the usual food, gold, timber, stone, and so forth, you seize strategic points and build plasma generators. That's it! Your peons are used only for building and repair, no collecting. Thus, the game allows you to concentrate much more on battlefield strategy. And believe me, you'll need to. Unlike Age of Empires or Rise of Nations in which national borders or walls can protect you for a while from your foes, your enemies in this game often stop by within the first 30-60 seconds of gameplay. And they don't send a nice welcoming committee either. The gameplay is visceral, bloody, and furious from then on. You absolutely can't win without capturing strategic points and to do this means that you have to always be expanding. Of course, this means that you are always at war.

Thankfully, each of the four sides that you can play are all designed for war. The space marines (my personal favorites) are the human faction. They are tough and well-rounded and fight well in close quarters and at a distance. The Chaos marines are an evil version (but not a duplicate) of the space marines and employ demons and dark magic, as well as a good mix of infantry and artillery. The Orks lust for war and often attempt to wipe out enemies by their sheer numbers. The Eldars are a very advanced race of aliens who specialize in various military tactics and have teleportation abilities. Overall, the races seem pretty balanced with the 1.3 patch, though I have only played single-player games and always play with the space marines.

The single-player campaign has 11 missions, and it is quite good. However, I wish the game had shipped with one or two more campaigns. Very surprisingly, the game does not ship with a map or scenario editor, though the developers released a rather complicated one later on their website. Fortunately, there is a good variety of maps which come with the game (and the patches included a few more), which should keep both solo players like me as well as the online crowd happy for a while. (...) You can also replay recorded games to see how the computer plays. This will probably be worthwhile to some gamers, since the computer plays very well on the standard and hard difficult levels and is probably near impossible to beat on the insane difficulty setting (which I haven't tried yet).

Graphics: A beautiful, well-polished, fully animated game. This is really where the game shines. The landscapes give you the sense of a future torn by perpetual war and grim carnage. The units all have their own unique animations and finishing moves. Even if you zoom the camera in close they still look great. Combat is actually very entertaining to watch, even when you are losing! And all of the special effects are done well. I wish that the camera could be zoomed out a bit further so that you could see more of the battlefield. However, this is a very minor thing, since the mini-map allows you to focus in on various hotspots. And I must say a word about the introductory movie. It is probably the best cinematics I have ever seen in a game. It's very high quality and captures the mood of the game perfectly.

Sound: Very good voice acting (except for the Chaos side), well-done music, and the sound effects are perfect. There are a lot of little sound bites in the game that are witty and dark at the same time. I have no real complaints in this area, except the Chaos forces sound a bit too whiny.

Technical Issues/Documentation: At least with the 1.3 patch installed, the game has been perfectly stable on my machine. No crashes, freezes, or any other problems, even after playing for 8 hours straight. I wish I could say that for all of the games I've bought over the last few years. The manual does a decent job giving you the basics, but should have said a bit more about the units and buildings. Thankfully, the tutorials are very useful and the single-player campaign also eases you into the game nicely.

Replayability/Value: Tons of replay value, even for solo players like me. There is also a fairly active online community for those into the multiplayer scene. There are enough maps that come with the game to allow you to configure all kinds of match ups and scenarios. Also, there are many more player-made maps and mods that can be downloaded from various DoW-related website. RTS games are known for their replayability and this game does not disappoint. I bought this game for $50, and it was worth every cent. I highly recommend it to all computer gamers, particularly those into strategy games.

Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

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