Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War Review

The biggest problem here is that, sadly, you can only play as the Space Marines in the single-player game. And there simply just isn't enough of it! I finished the eleven missions in a day and a half of playing. Some of it can be attested to the fact that I picked the easiest difficulty setting. But, if we compare Dawn of War to Blizzard's work, we'll see that both games have single, skirmish and multiplayer modes, and yet in a game like Warcraft III, you get to unravel the story from the perspective of all the major factions, which adds a lot more content and depth to both the core game play and narrative.

ARGH! I'm blind, I'm blind!

ir, I think I have lost the enemy. So I really need a drink... Over and out.

Granted, you can play as either of the four races in the skirmish and multiplayer modes, and I must say that I had loads of fun getting into some heated online conflicts. So, in terms of replay value, there's plenty to be had in this one, but if we take Blizzard's Warcraft III as a shining example of a strategy game that's brimming with great single and multiplayer content, then one must conclude that Dawn of War fails to meet those standards. With such great dialogue and voice acting in place, it would've been very fun to play as the Forces of Chaos or the Orks. Alas, we'll probably have to wait for the first expansion to hit the stores for that to happen.

As it stands, Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War is an immensely entertaining RTS experience. The combat is visceral, massive and fast-paced and the story is worthy of its great license. The multiplayer is fun, so there will be reasons enough to come back to this one once you're done with the single-player. However, I still cannot get over the fact that the campaign is so short and that it only focuses on the Space Marines. I don't know if Relic was pressed for time, or low on funds, but to earn your spot among the greats, certain standards that such a spot requires had to have been met, and they simply weren't.

That said, this is still a great RTS that all fans of fantasy-themed strategy games should own or at least try by playing the single player demo.