Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War Game of the Year

List Price: $19.99 Discount Price: $5.50

Features:

• Real-time strategy game based on the popular table-top war game
• Vie for the survival of mankind or its ultimate destruction
• Control 1 of 4 unique races
• Improved resource model makes it easier to focus on frontline action
• Single player campaigns; Multiplayer for up to 8 via LAN or Internet

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Customer Reviews:

awesome [Posted on 2007-02-07]
nice game i bought it after company of heroes so it was nice to see it uses the same engine for easy play but a totally different experience.

Super game that absorbs you [Posted on 2007-03-11]
The graphics are great, the game can get you hooked. So plan to play this game when you have nothing to do, cause once you start you won't be able to stop.

In the future there is only war...and Dawn of War sure captures it [Posted on 2007-04-02]
Relic has done something which many Games Workshop fans have been wishing for all these many long years. They finally took the Warhammer 40,000 franchise, with its rich and detailed history and background, and turned it into a fun and rich RTS. Dawn of War brings to the RTS genre of gaming new innovations which gives the game a unique look in terms of gameplay. Relic really brought the grim future of Warhammer 40k and it truly nothing but war.

Dawn of War uses many of the basic concepts of past real-time strategy games like Starcraft (in my opinion a knock-off of Warhammer 40k), Warcraft, Age of Empires and a multitude of RTS clones. The game allows a player to pick from four different races for multiplayer. These races are the bread and butter of the Warhammer 40k mythos. There's the Space Marines of the Imperium who are the humans (genetically-enhanced superhumans) in the game with the Eldar taking the role of the elves if this games was based in a high-fantasy setting. The other two races might be considered the villain races of the game in the form of the brutal and savage Orks (Orcs in space as I like to call them) and the Chaos Space Marines (the darker and evil version of the Space Marines).

Each of the four race follows a tech tree to determine which units become available right from the get-go and what could be requisitioned later on as certain goals are met either through building certain structures and/or taking command of relic items. This is where Dawn of War takes a different path in terms of gameplay mechanics. Instead of farming for energy, gas, crystals or any sort of energy patches around the map, the player can concentrate of just taking control of strategic points which allows for more areas to be used to build structures such as power plants and armories to requisition troops and vehicles. The game breaks away from past RTS by not bogging down the player with building farms an non-combat units to farm resources.

This new way of procuring units and energy to build more structures allows for players to get into the thick of the fight right from the beginning. In fact, creating a fighting squad is the first thing players need to learn to do right from the start in order to capture strategic points to expand a player's space to build power plants and structures on. These units are accurately designed and portrayed both in look and how they move and fight. From the Space Marines and their methodical way of fighting, to the graceful Eldar who speed gives them an advantage over slower opponents and right down to the hardy and brutish Orks who can take more damage than other units. All four races are pretty well-balanced in that no specific army is overpowered over the rest.

The single-player campaign really brings the universe of Warhammer 40k to life with it's brutal story of warfare, conspiracies and epic storytelling. Relic introduces a new Space Marine chapter to the Warhammer 40k canon with the enigmatic Blood Ravens Chapter whose role in Dawn of War brings them into conflict with not just the Orks but also with the Eldar and their twisted and debased battle-brothers, the Chaos Space Marines. I thoroughly enjoyed playing through the single-player campaign. It's quite a change to actually have an engaging campaign to play through which most RTS games don't have.

Overall, Relic did a fine job in translating the grim future of Warhammer 40K into an innovating real-time strategy game. Dawn of War takes what's very good of past RTS games while bringing in something new to the table which gives the game its own unique-style of gameplay. Finally, Games Workshop has a hit on their hands and something that brings the world they've created and cultivated for the past 25 years to new fans. Dawn of War is a game worthy of being called a Warhammer 40k game.

One of the best Strategy Game Ever [Posted on 2007-05-12]
I've never played a strategy game like this. Intense fighting and music to boot.

Second best RTS game ever (Starcraft) [Posted on 2007-07-05]
Starcraft was ground breaking when it came out.

This is the latest ground breaking RTS game.

Get the version with the expansion "Winter Assult" included. They made some pretty good updates with that expansion.

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