First look - Dawn of War II

The pulling power of Games Workshop’s futuristic Warhammer 40,000 franchise is surprising. As a boy, I dabbled in this world, until I got fed up with grown men shouting “Waaaaaaaggggh” while hunched over their collection of expertly painted Orks.

So I left it all behind, but never lost the theoretical interest in that sort of thing (not the shouting, the gaming). 15 years later, Dawn of War II is moving the franchise further into the digital sphere, after the very successful first iteration created new legions of fans.

Four years ago, Relic unleashed Dawn of War, a violent and relatively faithful real-time strategy version of the 40K universe. The usual suspects were all present and correct – Space Marines, Orks, Eldar, Chaos and so on – and its success spawned expansion packs-a-plenty.

It satiated the appetite of less hardcore RTS fans who weren’t as interested in the more cerebral, intelligent strategy of the Total War series, falling far more on the C&C side of things.

Dawn of War II, then, looks to build on the success of its predecessor, with Relic using the experience gained from producing Company of Heroes, which means greater physics implementation, deformable terrain and scenery and real-time lighting effects.

Of most interest to the casual fan, as ever, is when things get blown up real good. The scope for this in Dawn of War II is quite substantial, adding a new tactical layer to the action. Whether this will make a difference in practice remains to be seen, of course.

Hardened veterans will want to note that the number of units under command will be scaled back, focusing on five or six squads of elite soldiers, with more personality than the hordes of nameless cannon fodder of the first game.

With the focus on smaller numbers, the use of Force Commander characters will be essential for victory, especially when the Space Marines are being swamped by Orks.

The Campaign mode will also be getting a facelift, with several missions to choose from at any time. Choices made will impact the storyline, depending on the scale of victory.

Co-op is in vogue nowadays, quite correctly, so the campaign will be playable two-player, with the now-standard drop-in drop-out mechanism in place.

Early footage of the game indicates the combat will be as fast-paced and hectic as before, with the vastly improved graphics enhancing the experience significantly.

Relic also seems to be placing less emphasis on base-building (Ed – Thank God!) and resource-gathering, in favour of a more concentrated, squad-oriented action. Much is still left to the imagination, but Dawn of War fans should be reasonably happy with the way things are progressing.