Dawn of War Impressions

I picked up the new Warhammer 40K RTS, Dawn of War, this week. After some initial frustrations (which had nothing to do with the game itself) I settled in to give it a try.

Overall, I'd say I'm impressed. Not quite as polished as say Warcraft III and it's expansion, but still of a good quality. Also, nothing ground breaking in the genre, but what really is in games today.

One of the most important features that I like is the squad interface. Here you can manage each individual squad, and customize it to your hearts content, much like in the tabletop game. After creating your initial squad at a barracks, you can increase the size of the squad at any time by "reinforcing" them, just a click away. So, so nice not to have to build additional units at the barracks and march them all over creation trying to hook up with the squad you want them in. Also, you can select the weapon options for the squad in this interface. For example, want a close in unit...give them 2 flamers and charge. Wanna hang back and blast away? Couple of missile launchers or heavy bolters and away you go. You can also add Sergeants in this manner. Very sweet. Plus, as units are taking casualties, you can reinforce them, and they will produce additional units in the midst of the battle. Some Vehicles, especially dreadnought, can be equipped in the same manner.

The camera is also a bonus on this game. It's fully 3D, so you can swing around and watch the action from any angle. The zooming is also pretty cool, as you can get down to see the individual action in battles. Well done. One small problem I have is that I wish the camera zoomed out more...it'd be nice to see more of a big picture sometimes.

Finally (or maybe it should be firstly), the opening cinematic is just cool. I watch it every time I boot up the game.

Too bad the campaign is just Space Marines. I hope thru patches or expansions the ability to play the other races in single player becomes available. Also, this game screams for the other armies of the 40K world to be added. Playing the Imperial Guard, the Tyranids, or the Tau (please please!) in this game would rule. Please see to this, GW.

All in all, a very solid game, especially if you're a 40K head. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.

1 pt.