Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II Review

[Michael {United Critics}]

The Warhammer 40k franchise is known for their deep lore and dedicated community, I was expecting a dense game and many hours just to get a grip of it, this was not the case for most of the game but I ended up enjoying it way more because of how accessible and straightforward it was.

Warhammer 40k 2 is a simple yet effective real time strategy game that takes away many mechanics we sometimes take for granted in the genre like building, but keeps the strategy as a core mechanic letting you focus on the action.

The plot: Space marines!, I think?

Trying to explain the story of Warhammer is a little complicated, I didn’t get most of the story since I’m an outsider of the Warhammer franchise. However, I believe you can ignore most of the names and locations, is a serviceable story that focuses on the characters and their stories within the universe more than the universe itself. We follow the struggle of sergeant Tarkus on his endless battle against the other rival factions and meet many more commanders, new or old later on, this is where the game lost me, if you are a fan of the series, you might recognize said factions or even characters, but I only got that the space marines were the good guys and rolled with it. As I said knowing these places or factions is not needed to enjoy the game but I feel like is mandatory to actually enjoy the story because I keep getting names that sound important but there is little to no impact on me. Yes, you can ignore all of it and have a good time but even if I understood the references, I don’t think there is something worth mention to praise the story for more than it is.

The gameplay: Simple and effective action

At first I saw the title as a water down strategy game and got a little disappointment, an RTS with just a few troops with no resource gathering or building doesn’t sound very interesting to me, especially when I had Age of empires in mind as comparison, but the more I played the more I developed a taste for the title. It was unfair to compare it with said series because Warhammer 40k 2 is something completely different, it can even be perceived as an action game with an aerial view. Still a strategy game but you don’t have to focus on capturing resources or making towers and walls to set up your defenses, just on the positioning of your units and the right use of their strengths.

You have a few squadrons with 1 commander each, the commanders are the head of the squad and the main characters of the story, you may find familiar faces from past games which is cool but I had fun with them despite not knowing them. If any of your commanders lose soldiers in battle you can get them back on strategic places, however, the commander won’t die, just go down when its defeated and has to be assisted by another commander. You may not be able to create buildings but you can take advantage of the ones already exists to take cover or to harass other units from them, enemy can do the same so you can use explosives to take down these edifications if they are being used against you.

Another nice surprise is the non-linear campaign, it can take place in many worlds and you have some agency to choose where to go next after your last mission regardless if you were win or lose. Optional missions will be there for limited time and will reward you with bonifications for your troops in the form of new gear, knowing when you should take your time to upgrade your squads is entirely up to you and adds a very welcome management minigame. This aspect adds tons of dept since commanders are unique, they may have special skills and can become stronger by leveling up, but the skill tree has more options than your max level, you can’t have them all so choose carefully.

The general gameplay loop of securing strategic points with constant rewards for doing all what you can with many optional objectives and different kind of missions makes for a very satisfactory cycle that manages to feel fresh even many hours into the campaign. I still think the gameplay is a little oversimplified compared to other titles of the genre but I can’t say it’s a bad thing, more like a different approach and one that I can enjoy and recommend to strategy fans.

One last thing to mention is that there is a cooperative mode and is a blast, there is something about joining forces with a friend to share the weight of the strategy. Everything is best with friends but most of the time I don’t see these features included in RTS games, it was a nice addition to experience the campaign and by far my favorite way to do it.

The presentation: Still epic

This is another case of good graphics but not so inspired art style, but don’t get me wrong, the art style is good, just a little repetitive. This mostly talking about the landscapes, these are good and clear but the colors are always the same and is just not that memorable even when we get a multitude of different biomes. For characters is another story, especially for enemies that have many intimidating and imaginative designs. Back to the graphics I think it’s a decent looking game even for today standards, scenarios and characters have a good level of detail and very clean animations that delivers that epic badass warfare situations that represent this franchise that much.

Something important for RTS games and strategy games in general is the UI, I don’t think Warhammer 40k 2 has the best one, is kind of generic and simple. Interface looks a little outdated, but is perfectly functional and clear when it has to be, in this case being practical beats being ugly.

The verdict

Warhammer 40k 2 was a great time for me but I had to change my perspective to appreciate it for what it is, once you stop comparing it to traditional RTS games you may find a nice gem for your collection. Still possible to dislike it and rightfully so if you are looking for something deeper and more conventional, but a decent initiation for new people in the genre.

The best

• Nice sound design
  
• Aged very well
  
• Easy to grab

The worst

• Lots of DLC
  
• not so interesting story

Rating: 7/10

Reviewer: Rily