Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II

The Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II Open Beta Test has given players the firsthand experience of the new Relic Entertainment game in action. The posts on the forums prove that the impressions obtained from the tests (I would like to remind you that they only concerned the multiplayer game) are very different. My guess is that it will be the same for the single player campaign and other minor aspects of the fun. The knowledge of other Relica games will surely affect the assessment of this title by each player individually. It just so happens that DoW II can be viewed either from the perspective of someone familiar with the first Warhammer 40,000 , or from the point of view of a fan of another important production from this acclaimed studio, Company of Heroes .

Above all, he will see incredible chaos. In DoW II, the issue of stations that players take to obtain resources: energy and requisition was downplayed. As we remember, in CoH all sectors with this type of stations had to be adjacent to each other in order to draw resources from them. Thanks to this, a very clear front line was also created. This has been completely ignored in the new Warhammer 40,000 game. Moreover, stations attacked by both sides of the conflict pass from hand to hand dozens of times during a single match. As if that were not enough, in the course of the game, players are often forced to disperse their forces to maintain strategically important positions; and the front is usually very, very long.

The most striking difference is the inability to set up a base. There is one building at the player's disposal that is responsible for the production of units. Just like in "number one", it can be upgraded to gain access to additional support, more effective troops and extremely helpful upgrades. The player's attention will not be overlooked by the small number of units participating in the fight. This is often due to the lack of resources and the nature of the game, which requires only a handful of soldiers to gain new levels of experience. Anyway, even if you produce many units (in DoW II, ten units is a lot), the need to disperse them on the map makes the player feel as if he were taking part in a small skirmish. Multiplayer battles are characterized by extremely small momentum - there is no point in looking for epic clashes, even if the maximum number of players participates in the game. Larger cannonades can only be observed when three allies make a final attack on the enemy base. The result is a certainty then, but the charming appearance of the projectiles and lasers that are fired always remains.

My impression is that - after playing DoW II - Company of Heroes fans will say: "it's not CoH ", while fans of Warhammer 40,000 will say: "it's not a number one". It cannot be denied that DoW II is a different creation, very different in terms of gameplay from other Relic Entertainment games. Multiplayer can be either loved or hated here. This is obviously a matter of taste and it is difficult to predict in a review whether an idea will find many supporters or not. Taking into account the fact that the first tournaments were organized already during the beta-testing period, I would be leaning towards the success of DoW II .

There is still no doubt about one thing - the multiplayer mode needs to be refined. It is difficult to arrange a six-player game without high ping, connection problems, desynchronization, etc. Moreover, the player search engine completely does not fulfill its role, which forces you to manually look for a convenient game. The small number of maps can also be frustrating. However, as I mentioned, if you like the idea of having fun in multiplayer mode in DoW II , the game is for you - it's hard to find a similar production at the moment.

On paper, the idea for the single player mode looks quite interesting - we have a group of soldiers here, which, like in a purebred hack'n'slash, tears through hordes of enemies and fights bosses from time to time. Moreover, our people collect on the battlefield items of equipment abandoned by enemies. With a lot of new gear, we can either better equip our Space Marines or "sell" the equipment for a small bonus to our people's experience in return.

Each subsequent level of experience means the possibility of improving our skills. So you can invest in Vitality, Ranged Combat, Melee or Energy (which is needed to use special abilities; something like hack'n'slash mana). Each team member has unique abilities, thanks to which he can perform special functions on the battlefield - one "pinches down" the enemies with a machine gun, the second one crushes the enemies by jumping on them with the use of a jetpack, the third is a sniper, the fourth specializes in combat with assault rifles at medium distance e.t.c.

This is what the single player campaign looks like - we go through the next missions, in the meantime developing the capabilities of the Space Marines. The character development system and a clear division into roles does not help this game, because the campaign itself is terribly boring. The vast majority of missions are based on one simple scheme. At the beginning, when the player does not know all the secrets of the game yet, it is quite interesting. Unfortunately, after about an hour of play, a person comes to the conclusion that he is in some hopeless loop in which he does the same all the time. 90% of the missions are to reach the boss and eliminate him. Everything else is either unconventional tasks belonging to the main plot, or missions based on the defense of some important building. The scheme on which the campaign is based reminds of itself almost every now and then. Playing the game, a person does not think about what items he will get or how the story will unfold. Instead, he concludes that he is wasting his time senselessly playing a game that he hardly enjoys.

DoW II offers several difficulty levels. As with the first Dawn of War , they aren't too tight. Everyone, even those who are not familiar with electronic entertainment, can easily start their adventure with DoW II from an intermediate level. When discussing the difficulties of the game, it is also worth emphasizing that it is very difficult to fail the mission here. Special abilities that allow the heroes to revive (yes, yes! They do not die, at most they lose consciousness) and beacons with which you can quickly regenerate make the game much easier.

If you tried to complete the campaign in one sitting, the game would probably last no more than 7-8 hours. The moderate length of the campaign, the moderate level of difficulty and the schematic nature make us think that DoW II is a production aimed at people who rarely play the game for a short time. These types of people won't care that almost every mission is the same. The length of the game will be just right for them (in the end, they will spend weeks on it), and the simplicity will be an advantage. Could the campaign be directed to the so-called Sunday players? Obviously.

I would like to make one more objection to the singles campaign. The game is designed in such a way that we can take a maximum of four heroes on a mission, while there are six heroes in all. This means that we always have to give up two. Theoretically this is interesting and quite reasonable, but in practice it looks like one of our people (a scout, a certain Cyrus) is like unnecessary ballast and it almost never makes sense to take him on a mission. There is also the problem of the second fighter put into the shadow. It just so happens that he joins the game only after completing about 60% of all missions, so the player most of the time does not have to worry about the right selection of people. In this tragic way, Relic has destroyed an interesting way to diversify the fun. All in all, the single player campaign is completely failing.

DoW II requires an installed Steam client and an account in this service to function properly. While Steam is a platform that is rather positively assessed by Polish players, many people like to hang dogs on Games for Windows - LIVE. DoW II , like many recently released games, has also been included in this initiative. Although, on the one hand, it makes it easier to play with friends and offers a system of achievements (in DoW II we have 49 of them), it requires an account as a resident of one of the western countries. Only in this way is online gameplay available. However, if you manage to install the Games for Windows - LIVE application and register for this service, everything should be fine. Personally, I have not encountered any unforeseen problems with the functioning of the software required by DoW II .

Although the single player campaign is boring and schematic, you cannot deny its atmospheric dialogues conducted by our team members. You can see that these people are devoted warriors, and their sense of mission temporarily affects the player as well. The sounds from the battlefield are also at a high level - machine gun fire, explosions and groans of soldiers from both sides perfectly match the theme and nature of the game. The sound design does not save a weak campaign, although it does its job well as part of the audiovisual setting.

The same is with graphics. Textures and special effects in the form of explosions, flames and flashes of energy weapons can really please. The artistic setting of the title resembles the first part of the series and is also at a high level. In my opinion, the detail in the appearance of our people deserves special praise. Throughout the game, it changes quite drastically due to new armor, weapons, equipment, etc. These changes are also clearly visible in the battle itself - just zoom in to see the symbols of Space Marines and Blood Ravens on the banners, places shattered with paint, as well as weapons held by soldiers. The oval shapes of buildings and some units may bring to mind the third installment of the Warcraft series.

They also enjoy the possibility of terrain deformation. All kinds of buildings, wire entanglements, walls and the barrels and boxes set up here and there can be destroyed. The ground itself is also subject to modifications - artillery fire causes the formation of shells. It is true that it is difficult to see them when looking at the battlefield from above, but there is no doubt that our people can use them to protect against enemy bullets.

For the singles campaign itself - definitely not. It is too boring and schematic to be worth spending more money on. It is different with the multiplayer mode. Here you have to consider whether the inability to build a base, focusing only on the movements of units and the simplified gameplay model (compared to, for example, Company of Heroes) deserve to get rid of some salary / pocket money.

Dawn of War II is a title that is very different from other Relica games, so I do not advise you to follow other productions of this company. It contains a lot of factors that can drastically affect the final rating of the game - from the unusual universe to the multiplayer assumptions. Dawn of War II can evoke extremely different feelings. Personally, I think it's a decent title, but - as is usually the case with RTS and strategy - its strength will be demonstrated by the number of people playing in the multiplayer mode. Will it be big? It's really hard to predict now.

Maciej "Sandro" Jałowiec

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