Warhammer: Dawn of War II
Genre: Real-time Strategy
Players: 1 & (online co-op / multiplayer)               
Review on: PC

The official sequel to the multiple award winning RTS franchise changes pace from its predecessor by streamlining gameplay to focus on battlefield tactics.  When the ravenous Tyranid threaten to consume entire worlds, the warring factions of The Elder, Orks and The Empire must put aside their differences and take up arms against a common enemy…or not. 


The Good

• Done away with the tedious micro-management of base building and resource gathering and focuses on smaller scale firefights that manage to feel epic and visceral.
• Persistent units earn experience and can be customized by gear drops.  Skill points also let you decide what unlockable abilities each squad will employ.
• Graphics, controls, dialogue and sound effects are all absolutely top notch.
• Cover-based squad formations make using the environment a key to success.  Gunfire chips away at enemy cover, explosions can outright destroy it.
• Non-linear storyline lets you chose optional missions for longer playtime and better gear.
• Not all units can be used for every mission or level capped by the end - which makes for great replayabilty if you want to try new strategies.  Second time around I made my Commander a flamethrowing bad-ass instead of a charge-in melee combatant….bad-ass.
• Whole other side to the game is Multiplayer which lets you choose one of the 4 races (Elder, Space Marines, Tyranids, or Orks) and battle it out in skirmish or objective based missions against human or computer opponents.
• Stays true to the mythos of Warhammer 40k – in fact every piece of gear has a detailed description of its history.

The Bad

• Only Space Marines are playable in the campaign mode.
• The non-linear nature of the gameplay can lead to a somewhat disjointed narrative.
• Not enough variety of mission objectives.
• AI can struggle sometimes to comprehend what you’d like them to do. Path finding is good but not perfect.
• Story doesn’t feel as epic as it should – not enough ‘surprise’ moments.
• Cut scenes, while done quite well, seem tacked on in places and don’t really add much to the experience.
• Until your squads get some decent gear they seem like liabilities more than help.
• Gear management system needs more info – sometimes a weapon with a lower DPS can be substantially better than what you have equipped if it is of a different weapon type.  (plasma > bolter for example)

-Graham Misiurak