Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade

The Good
Ahem. Since I first took the step from messing about on Creative Writer to purchasing, playing and being completely addicted to Age of Empires I have been a fan of RTS. It may be an inflated sense of megalomania, it might be the satisfaction of leading vast armies into battle, whatever, it's always held a place in my heart.

But almost all RTS games suffered the same problems. Here were you leading a righteous army in domination over another civilisation. And with a "yes sir" etc in recognition they would proceed to... stand in front of each other and wave their weapons about a bit until the other fell over. Even Warcraft III, with all its pretty animations, had the same problem. You were left with only your imagination to fill in the gaps.

Now picture the scene. My squad of Space Marines are blasting away at the approaching Dreadnought, tracer rounds alighting the air (why has THAT never been in an RTS?), bullets ricocheting off its armour. Then it charges. And my squad is THROWN backwards. It picks an unlucky member in its claw and renders it limb from limb, crimson blood splattering through the air and on the ground. And the squad don't just stand there. They pick themselves up, draw knives and charge the unholy thing, screaming oaths and battle cries. And this is ONE minor, incidental combat!

This is a culmination of animation, sound and unit design all thundering towards each other, leaving cracks, craters and bodies on the ground in their wake. And it blasts all your senses. Even though you are restricted to a similar number of units as any other RTS, every unit in Dawn of War is superbly imagined. Watch as men are gobbled up by behemoth monsters, scorched and sent scampering by flame throwers, cut in half by metallic fiends or blasted to pieces by artillery and tanks the size of buildings. This is a WAR not a morris dance.

All the strengths of the series are represented in Dark Crusade. Rather than individuals you control squads, and each individual squad is a normal RTS army unto itself. In its selection screen you reinforce and re-arm them, as well as activate whatever special moves they have. This makes the swift game play much easier to manage. And with a hero unit in tow the list of finishing moves, psychic blasts, orbital bombardments, bombs etc etc is dazzling. And this is ONE unit!

The gameplay itself is revolutionary, actually doing justice to the S part of RTS. No longer is it a case of chucking hoards of whatever at the enemy. You’ll come up against well-entrenched troops that exploit your weaknesses and jump-pack packing reinforcements that’ll break your troops down and scatter them in the wind. Then you’ll notice an unseen flanking force making mincemeat of your resources and base (a very popular tactic from the computer I may add). This coupled with the idea of requisition points that must be captured rather than simple resources creates a dynamic battle with multiple clashes and engagements all over the map, rather than the almost universal sieges seen in other games.

The key problem with the original Dawn of War’s single player was its linear, play-once-then-discard campaign. This is now replaced with a Total War style turn-based strategy map representing the provinces of the planet you’ve set out to conquer. And it works rather well, setting the mood of the universe perfectly. Designate global requisition (earned from captured provinces) in reinforcing provinces or pimping your commander with equipment.

A neutral province essentially plays like a standard skirmish. Have to defend a friendly province? All the buildings you created when capturing it are there ready, giving you an advantage. The reverse is true if you attack a province owned by the enemy.

Each side has a “stronghold” that they began on and attacking these becomes a more choreographed affair with various extremely daunting objectives. Invading the Imperial Guard’s home is a key example, with artillery and air bombardments to contend with from the get-go, bridgeheads to storm, reinforcements to cut off and more that I won’t spoil. All in all a thrilling experience that’ll leave you genuinely exhausted from the pumping adrenalin.

In conclusion Dark Crusade is a genuinely fun and exhilarating gameplay experience, just as every RTS should be but isn’t.


The Bad
The gameplay is fast and dynamic. Some would say TOO fast. I’ve become accustomed to clicking and moving around the map at a meteoric rate. You need those resource points as quickly as possible. But as soon as your attention is else ware the enemy is on you like a rash and your main army is on the other side of the map. Whilst not bad in itself it is a pretty steep learning curve from the usual sit back and relax style RTS play. Plus you are moving around so much you often miss the beautiful animations of your men in combat. They can handle themselves reasonably well to a degree (never as well as with your guiding hand of course) but it’s a shame not to BE THERE and see the carnage unfold.

This speed gives a very strong sense of immediacy. You are essentially playing at squad level in medium to small sized skirmishes most of the time. Even the campaign map fails to bring a "larger" feel to the game. This of course isn't a negative reasoning as such, especially considering that most RTS' have you storming a city with about thirty men.

Climbing the technology ladder is just as swift. In no time at all (with enough resources of course) you’ll have built every building and have access to the cream of your units. So should an enemy attack that province you’ll be able to hammer them completely almost instantly (although you do have to re-learn all the research). Also when the proverbial face hits the proverbial demonic axe having to zoom back to your base to keep those upgrades coming can be a pain.

The strategy map is a superb and well thought out addition, but isn’t perfect. There are several bonus resources handed out for capturing certain provinces, which does add some flavour to the whole thing. But they can overpower you somewhat. Playing as the Space Marines you can easily reach the Industrial Production resource granting extra crucial requisition points every time you fight a battle, the Frenzy resource that lets you attack twice in a turn (VERY deadly) and the Space Port, which lets you invade ANYWHERE on the map apart from Strongholds. With all three you become nigh unstoppable.

I’m being a bit picky but in a galaxy with personified War Gods, Demons, holy warrior monks and where the basic Space Marine melee unit carries a chainsaw; the Imperial Guard feel a bit lax. I love their voice acting and giant tanks but their almost contemporary looking infantry and buildings are a bit prosaic, although it does give them a more “human” feel. Also they have a great big enormous tank with like eight guns.

I’m not sure if the difficulty levels are cleverly worked out. I’m playing through on medium difficulty and the standard battles become a cake run. Whether this is a testimony to my skill (haha) and my observation and exploitation of the enemy’s weak points-i.e how you should play- or a genuine fault I’m not sure. Even the Stronghold battles, which are truly intense experiences, aren’t always that hard, particularly after about the halfway point. That said playing a Skirmish battle on hard seems almost impossible. The enemy seems to have created a suitable force for annihilating your base before you even have your power generators up.

That’s all I can think of really…

The moral system, while relatively innovative, doesn’t always seem that realistic. Sometimes units break where it seems illogical and once they do they become next to useless. That said it does add to the flow of battle when your overwhelming troops, having nearly reduced a Demon’s health, are sent scattering and butchered when it sends out a spine-tingling roar.

Oh and whilst pretty much all the upgrades for your general look cool they don’t always seem to have much affect on his or her performance in battle (bar a Chaos one I could mention...). And the Space Marine Commander’s leg upgrades look a bit daft.

Also the narrator for the various big battles and key positions on the map, whilst dramatic, seems to emphasis all the wrong words in every sentence. You'll see what I mean. It's not bad, rather just odd.

The Bottom Line
This is a raw and brutal real time strategy that tests every skill you own, whilst looking and sounding and FEELING universally brilliant. Buy it, play it, love it.