Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War

[wfalcon]

Ok, I've been living in a rock for the last 4 months (Iraq), and will be glutting myself on games when I return this month. My wife sent me a PC Gamer that had the demo on it, and I must say it was rather fun. However, I ran a search here, and I don't see many threads discussing it. Granted, it's not as hyped as Halflife 2, but I would hope there are still folks playing mulit online at this point. Is this still a good buy today? Was there failure to patch bugs or something to cause it to have no staying power? Just curious. I don't really want to buy a dead-end title. Thanks.

 

[Dijonase]

I have it and I'd say it's a decent RTS. If you liked the demo you'd probably like the full game. I hate to say it but after playing the single player and a couple of skirmishes I got a bit bored with it. If you can get it at $40 or less then it might be worth it. Then again, maybe I just need to play a bit more to really get into it.

 

[odoe]

I play multi online every now and then, but I get my ass handed to me most of the time.
It's a really fun game, one of the more fun games I played this year. It does need some patches, but now that the mod tools are out there are some nice packs available.

I still haven't finished the single player.

 

[Zoramac]

Probably one of the best singleplayer RTSs ive played, especially when you zoom all the way in during combat. Cant say as much for the online as i get my a$$ handed to me just about every time i play as well.... why people have to attack you before your done building up ill never know?

 

[odoe]

heh
scout rush

 

[Netrat33]

Assuming you're a soldier. Wishing you all the best over there.

As for DoW...OH my god it's SO much fun. Problem: Too short! There is only one campaign you can play as and it's the space marines. You do fight the other races but that's it. In skirmishes you can play all of them and those are pretty fun (Me though I love stories unfolding) Multiplayer this game is strong in from what I understand.

Also I expect the mod community to to make new campaigns and mini universes.

This game still is 50 dollars after release so it must be selling well

 

[Direwolf20]

Assuming you're a soldier. Wishing you all the best over there.

As for DoW...OH my god it's SO much fun. Problem: Too short! There is only one campaign you can play as and it's the space marines. You do fight the other races but that's it. In skirmishes you can play all of them and those are pretty fun (Me though I love stories unfolding) Multiplayer this game is strong in from what I understand.

Also I expect the mod community to to make new campaigns and mini universes.

This game still is 50 dollars after release so it must be selling well

I'm with this guy, but the developers are doing a bad job keeping the patches coming. Maybe I'm used to MMO's by now. But there has been 1 patch since release and that basically nerfed the Eldar (my class) 5 times, while buffing all the others. They also took away one of our most important abilities because it "wasn't working properly". They promised to return it in the next patch (once its fixed), but that has yet to come...so I'm kind of soured by that bit.

But don't listen to me, its definately a fun game and aside from that fact that they cheapened out on the single player campaigns, the multiplayer is quite fun and challenging.

 

[chrusher97]

If you want a good RTS, play starcraft, its still going strong

 

[tranCendenZ]

This game is excellent.

 

[G'ßöö]

being around since "day #1" of computer gaming, it's a good game but not enough maps and poor AI, AFTER you get use to the AI...it gets repetative in multi action. Our huge lan base totally love it against each other ...but not many play that way cause they R pussies!

get it, it's loads of fun but yea, as said, play SC for good RTS, nun compare

 

[abudhu]

Dawn of War: B or a 8.4/10

I didn't find it all that great. It annoyed me more than anything. It was all about who could rush faster, and I apparently could rush far faster than the computer. Rush quick, build quick, win quick. I suppose since I have never played a Warhammer game before I missed some story progression(?) but I found it to be a lot of the same RTS. I didn't much enjoy this game and it was a good thing I borrowed it off a friend or else I would have been pissed if I had spent 50 bucks on it. The ingame cutscenes could have been so much better had the low poly characters looked any good upclose. Construction of your base also angered me, as I couldn't place building anywhere I wanted. I always had to have an energy source. Another thing that bothered me was controlling points. The entire game is about controlling points. Build a huge rushing force, rush all sites possible, build smaller forces to defend those sites. In case things go sour back at a controll point, rerush with your gigantic army.

Some things I did like were the Batallions and how they fought/worked together. Good AI there. However, if I could keep bashing this game slightly...I never changed my tactic much during the duration of the game...I built a lot of ground troops...rushed, then I built a ton of Deep Strike soldiers, uped them all, and then bought/built a few long distance artillery and nailed the shit out of the bases. It was sort of stupid, because the AI never reacted all that well. I would place my Siege artillery outside their base, bomb it to hell, have it protected by a bunch of soldier, and then deep strike after key building were destroyed. All the while doing this (seiging at least) the enemy would continually try to pound away at my insanely fortified controll points. So..

All in all...
I wouldn't waste 50 bucks on that game. Its fun, engaging, and it will keep you entertained for the...___ hours it takes you to beat. For me, it has no replay ability and I don't want to bother with online play. As of about 2 months ago it was uninstalled off my old system and I will not install it on, this, my new pretty system.

Go buy WarCraft III or Battle For Middle-Earth instead :-D Those are worth the 50 dollar price tag.

/opinon. Please don't bash me for speaking my mind...

 

[wfalcon]

Thanks for the responses. I guess I'll wait until it hits the bargain bins. I've already got Warcraft 3, but I suppose I in the mean time, I could invest in the TFT expansion pack.

 

[dreadster]

Man the game is great! Three different tactics (Marines and Chaos are very similar so I don't divide them)! And a spectacular WH40k universe! I'm waiting for an add-on!

 

[Mauli]

I find the muliplayer to be great, and definatly challenging, however, tho i havent played it on insane yet, they are said to be cheating (the AI). Now that i find a little weak, but oh well.

The single player, i hoped you could play through with every race, btu oh well...

All in all, if you are into multipyler gaming, ´buy it definatly.-.. and practise.. its so not easy

 

[UMCPWintermute]

I thoroughly enjoyed the singleplayer, but would have liked to have campaigns for each race. Ah well. As for skirmishing, that was also a lot of fun. I haven't been able to play it multiplayer, but I suspect that would be very fun, due to the non-resource-gathering focus of the game.

 

[SUPERFLOP]

yeah the game is great i had loads of fun with it, still am playing it.. great RTS but like everyone said the single player campaing is a bit short 21 or somethign missions, i was hoping for 50+ missions while i was palying it. the skirmishes are great too once you get above normal difficulty the computer startes to lay into you so thats good, the only bad thing is that during skirmishes i always want to use my special troops (i like the marines) but by the time i get a relic and everything else i already have sufficient force to destroy the enemy.. i havent used the patch tho, i didnt think the eldar were too strong but then again i read the release notes on the patch which mainly mentioned multiplayer fixes and decided not to install it as i dont play multi player, i usually play this game while im downloading or something where i cant play a multi player game.

great game tho i would give it an 8.5, only because of how short the campaign is.

 

[Vagamus]

I've been with DOW since the open beta. I play it all the time with a friend of mine. Its definately a fun game, but it takes a little time to baton down the proper strategies, build orders or what not.

Best way to do that is to play the skirmishes with the hard ai. You'll learn pretty quick that they ai (and most of the people who play online... the rush monkies) use the same tactic of building up basic troops, not upgrading much, and just seem to be on the platform of riding in on you while you're still building.

The way around such attacks is simple, build up as they do, but immediately get the guns that decimate groups, such as the plasma cannon, the big shootas, the shuriken cannons. You can hold them off long enough to get some of the more advanced units, and from then on out, you're winning.

I've heard that people seem to the think they eldar got nerfed with the patch, but its mostly due to the way people play the eldar. Most that I know play the eldar like the ork or the space marines, mass them into groups, and send them straight into combat without a second thought. The eldar have the LARGEST divide between infantry and mechanized units, as in... most eldar infanty is greatest vs other infantry, but really sucks against vehicles. You almost have to use the grav platforms with them in order to succeed in the beginning, and then you absolutely must build up a varied mechanized unit to maintain them.

Another thing about the eldar is, if you build the avatar, you get a 30 cap on vehicles and a 26-28 (don't remember atm) on infantry, which more than makes up for their digresses. The eldrich storm will destroy a base in seconds, the multitude of powers granted to the farseer is extremely useful, and the warp spiders are especially your friend. Almost every unit the eldar have is either fast, can fly short distances, or can teleport (even the basic builder guys) ... and that is the eldars biggest key element; mobility. On the field, run your banshee's around and flank the typical mass groupings, you can teleport your warp spiders around and to specific targets to utterly decimate their lines, and you can use all of their vehicles in the same sorts of attack.

And then there are the Fire Prisms. Some people think the Space Marines have all the advantage because they have the orbital bombardment... Fire Prisms are basically mobile orbital bombardments... they can uttery decimate ranks of infantry and vehicles quickly, fly away to a safer position, and continue.

So you see, the Eldar was meant to be played a lot more actively than the rest of the races. You can't simply throw them into combat and expect to win. As with their race's creed, grace and swiftness is everything. (Granted, a few of their units are still far too frail, but i post all this as a way around that, which i've tested to work)

If you wanna throw masses into combat (with comic relief to boot) and win, play the Ork.

If you want a mix of mobility and toughness, go with the Space Marines (not the most powerful race, as much as you'd like to think so)

If you want extremely capable hand to hand combat, walking armories, VASTLY superior tanks/artillery combinations, AND a Daemon... go with Chaos Space Marines. (Slightly weaker per unit than Space Marines, far better armed. The horrors are so under used.)

They all have their strengths, weaknesses, and play styles. I've more than enough time on the game, trust me heh.

Anyhow, of the whole game, the Online play is where its at... imo the singleplay was kind of weak. (Still a bit of fun, but when i got the game I was used to having all the units.) While you will get smashed a few times in play with humans, you will progress to become the kicker of ass you know you are. Also, playing two or three players vs a couple hard/advanced/insane AI is a great way to play... the game shines with team games and coop type stuff IMO.

PS... wfalcon... if you get the demo, there is a way to unlock the terminators and the landraider (each race gets atleast one super unit/type... those two are the space marines'. A big tank with 3 turrets, looks kind of like a ww1 tank, and groups of space marines in heavier armor, bigger guns, and a big maul/shield combo on the assault termies.) and the Ork Squiggoth (Ork's super unit, think of like a huge boar/rhino combination with big tusks coming out the sides of its mouth... has sort of a mounted ork fortress on top of it).

If ya need any help with that, you can either go to forums.relicnews.com, do a quick google for it, or ask me how to do it. Not terribly hard, and you'll like the use of them.

 

[Direwolf20]

I agree with everything you said about the eldar, except one part, you forgot defense.

Defense is the eldar's greatest ability. They can cloak, and (until the recent patch) make some buildings all but invulnerable for a few seconds. They weren't COMPLETELY invulnerable, but they were pretty darn close . A large group of tanks COULD kill them though.

I was a very defensive player. The previous patch ruined that for me, because now the enemy cuts through my defenses like a hot knife through butter. Our defensive buildings have nill for hitpoints and armor, and thanks to the patch, our most IMPORTANT ability for defending ourselves was just removed (rather than fixed). Relic did a piss-poor job fixing that....

 

[Rob94hawk]

And then there are the Fire Prisms. Some people think the Space Marines have all the advantage because they have the orbital bombardment... Fire Prisms are basically mobile orbital bombardments... they can uttery decimate ranks of infantry and vehicles quickly, fly away to a safer position, and continue.

Those damn fire prisms are NASTY! I just get into close combat with the eldar when they are around cause if I'm going down, they are going down with me!

Oh, and if you bunch your squads up when these are around your are in deep shit!

 

[Vagamus]

I agree with everything you said about the eldar, except one part, you forgot defense.

Defense is the eldar's greatest ability. They can cloak, and (until the recent patch) make some buildings all but invulnerable for a few seconds. They weren't COMPLETELY invulnerable, but they were pretty darn close . A large group of tanks COULD kill them though.

I was a very defensive player. The previous patch ruined that for me, because now the enemy cuts through my defenses like a hot knife through butter. Our defensive buildings have nill for hitpoints and armor, and thanks to the patch, our most IMPORTANT ability for defending ourselves was just removed (rather than fixed). Relic did a piss-poor job fixing that....

I get the sense that most of the game is geared for offense. If you're going to defend, your best chances (being eldar, after all) is to put a few turrets down, and enough force to gate your important buildings to another waygate location. You DO have that ability ya know

For what i've found, especially with the eldar, is engaging groups is a lot more complicated than with anyone else, you really have to get a stronger unit out in front to soak up damage, and surround the force you're up against for greatest effect.

Every single time i try to play the eldar like another race and just run into battle guns blazing... its "call pizza hut cuz you got pzwn'd."

They are a hard race, i definately concur, but because you lack on ability does not waive your other options, work around it

The eldar are DEFINATELY the most rewarding of the races when ya get em working to their full potential. Every measure of doom they can do.

Hell, you can eldar storm their bases when they are away massing to attack you, you can teleport a bonesinger across obstacles (a long ass way, too) and position a gate behind their bases and strike them with minimal resistance as they try to attack you. When it comes to taking down building fast, the eldar have that locked down with their prisms and warp powers. All you have to do is survive their attack long enough to take out a player, and its pretty much your game.

The eldar are definately the race to have multiple bases with. Yes, yeah are weak with their buildings, but you can cloak EVERYTHING from the enemy. You should be able to work something out

 

[Vagamus]

Those damn fire prisms are NASTY! I just get into close combat with the eldar when they are around cause if I'm going down, they are going down with me!

Oh, and if you bunch your squads up when these are around your are in deep shit!

A great strategy for facing fire prisms... and a good reason never to use them in masses

 

[legcramp]

how would you guys compare this game to warcraft 3 frozen throne? (my currently favorite rts game BTW)

 

[EvilGenesys]

i love DoW, in fact iv'e reccomended it to every one of my friends that play strategy games because it's excellent.

i dont get to play very often due to my pesky life, but every time i do get to play, i have a blast, and get my ass handed to me promptly. i think our brothers accross the pond have a fanatical obsession with WH40K...

 

[abudhu]

how would you guys compare this game to warcraft 3 frozen throne? (my currently favorite rts game BTW)

Well as I seem to be the only one who didn't like this game. I will choose WCIII over DoW anyday hands down. Why? Go back to page 1 and read my comments on the game.

 

[Vagamus]

how would you guys compare this game to warcraft 3 frozen throne? (my currently favorite rts game BTW)

Well, there are a few similarities. Each race has two "hero" type units that have special powers and such... but the (what some people would find) annoying hero management from wc3 isn't there. In my opinion dow is better than wc3 due to several factors, one of them being a bit less in micromanaging, another being simple battle splendor.(The battles rule to watch)

If you like futuristic scifi environments more than sort of retro-scifi settings, like i do, the game also has that measure going for it.

While its probably not a game for everyone, its got plenty to keep it fun.

As opposed to wc3, all your units, save for mechanized stuff, come in groups instead of singular. You outfit them in a lot of cases with weapon upgrades and make them bigger groups. You can position things faster than wc3, makes battles feel faster paced, but offers a bit more flexibility in combat.

The hero's are absolutely kick ass battle components. they'll get right in with it all knock people everywhere, and aid everyone around them with many bonuses. As with all leaders, they inspire more courage out of everyone around them, so your units fight harder with a hero near it, or attached to it.

The hero powers can be something as simple as a war cry that enhances all troops around the unit, or it can be an orbital bombardment that decimates anything it hits... and can be literally used to take out a force that highly outnumbers you.

As opposed to wc3, every unit has atleast two modes of fighting, ranged and assault... and if you engage a unit specialized in either with its opposite, you'll of course win that battle. Wc3 is more "traditional" i'd say, to RTS's, regardless of all it does with hero's , this game is more about strategy, and its setup to be so.

I would say that if you like wc3, you should like dow somewhat. Anyone liking wc3 should play it atleast once, and see a 4-8 player outright brawl for themselves.

The real thing that might not make ya like it, is that you can't really turtle, or you'll lose. defensive players (which i am, typically) will find it a bit tough to break the cycle to get that win.

As opposed to gold and timber in wc3, you're all out to get 4 different types of points on a map, strategic points, critcal areas, slag deposits, and relics. Strategic points are your main resource (or most specifically, requisition), you basically plant your flag on the site, have a builder make a listening post on it (which can be upgraded twice to be a gunned defensive position, and give more requisition per second) and it will gain you resources.

Critical areas are just like strategic points, except that you cannot build a listening post on them for defense, but they offer about as much requisition as a fully upgraded strategic point (and perhaps more). Think of these as the prizes that are typically in the middle of the map.

Power is available anytime, thats your second resource, however a slag deposit offers the ability to build an expensive (but worth it) super power rig on it to facilitate more power.

A relic offers the same comforts of a strategic point, it gives your requisition, and you can build a listening post on it for defense. However, a relic facilitates the use of each races' uber unit or units. Capturing these allows Space Marines the use of Terminators and the Land Raider, allows the Chaos Space Marines the use of the Bloodthirster, allows the Orks the use of a Squiggoth, and offers the Eldar the use of the Avatar of Khaine.

Terminators are like super heavy troops, lumbering around in cumbersome power armor, with weapons that are typically on vehicles.

Land Raiders are big freaking tanks that are also APC's. They have two dual mount lascannons on turrets on each side, and one front facing stormbolter. Lascannons = think of a big lasercannon, effective vs vehicles and buildings, but decently effective vs troops too. Stormbolters, atleast on a land raider, are like two autocannons strapped side-by-side on a swiveling turret, effective vs both light and heavy infantry.

The Bloodthrister is a big daemon that can fly short distances, absorbs damage like a mofo, and gains lift from every unit it grabs, crushes, and drinks the blood of. Its the most powerful uber unit in the game, but its only around for a short time, and quite vulnerable alone. When its not in combat, it steadily loses health. Its got a big ass axe, in which it will skewer, play baseball with, and swat units away from it like pests.

A Squiggoth is like an enormous reptillian boar, with a the twist of having a big ork fortress on its back. In close combat, it will skewer units with its tusks, stomp them away like pests, and it has the ability to charge through ranks and do all kinds of damage. Again, a tough unit, but vulnerable on its own.

The Avatar of Khaine is... well... think of a giant flaming tiki with a huge ass searingly hot sword, and a serious case of hot foot when it walks. The Avatar functions a lot like the bloodthirster, but does not steadily decrease in health. In close combat, he will pluck units in hand, crush them, and throw them away like crushed beer cans, he will impale units with his sword, and all the rest of that good stuff. He has no ranged attack, can't fly, so he's a bit less flexible than the bloodthrister. He does, however, do quite a service for the Eldar. Once built, the Avatar allows an Eldar player to build about half again more units to fight with, and everything in an eldar base glows to signify that the Avatar is also augmenting the build times of all those buildings. In my opinion, he's the 2nd best support unit in the game for the last bit. The first best in the game are the Terminators and the Land Raider, imo... due to the fact that they are basically just an addition in arms to your forces.

Now, thats going through the idea of uber units in the game, which i suppose you can think of as high level hero's in wc3. However, in wc3, even the heros are somewhat frail... you won't find that being the case in dow... Take the force commander for instance, the space marines's "primary" hero unit (I say primary because you can get him from a low level, just straight out of a barracks), at range he has a pistol on him that he'll shoot at foes with, but he really shines when ya close the gap and get into hand to hand. The man has an enormous powered maul, which he'll use to wade through groups of units by knocking them in waves away from him. The maul he has is essentially the basis of his power in h2h, but you also see the use of it when he uses powers such as an orbital bombardment. Now, since the Space Marines of this universe are more or less fundamentalists to their emperor, when he "casts" orbital bombardment, he gets down on his knees, and prays... you see a light eminating upward from his maul, and then a short blue burst up to the ships.

Once he is done with that, the orbital bombardment comes down (somewhat inaccurately, but it really doesn't matter ) where you cast it, and it looks sort of like what you'd expect from an anime movie. The light appears, rocks on the ground where the light is start to elevate upward, all the while the light is focusing into a narrower beam.... and when it does focus (takes a second or two) there is a big explosion and anything near it is knocked away in arcs. The blasts leave scorch marks on the ground, the explosions ripple off in blast waves for a short distance, and anything that gets hit by this is pretty much toast.

Things like that make up a lot of your combat breakouts, where your units are essential in their aiding and gaining superiority, any skilled player in the game will use all their powers to their advantage. (And imo, its somewhat easier to do that in dow than in wc3, but i'm nto a big wc3 player)

Thats about the best i can do on comparison without saying "just try it"

 

[Munka]

Dawn of War is the best RTS I have played since . . . goddammit a LONG time ago....

I play this every lan party and a few nights a week over the net with my friends... next to a few other good multiplayer lan party games this one stands head and shoulders above... except for maybe UT2K4

I agree with IGN, one of the best multiplayer games of the year.