Toronto Thumbs

REVIEW
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Soulstorm

By Jorge Figueiredo - April 4th, 2008

Developed by Relic Entertainment and Iron Lore Entertainment and published by THQ.

Some would argue that real-time strategy titles are a dime a dozen. There are so many of them that this statement might be true. However, there are a few franchises worth mentioning.

The Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War series (which will be the subject of an upcoming Retro Review) started back in 2004 with a wonderfully produced slice of RTS goodness. Utilizing a persistent tabletop game with a rich background, Relic produced an awesome product. In my opinion, this PC conversion was actually better than its source material. But this is a whole other debate.

I like having a few RTS games on hand to play to suit my mood. For example, when I’m jonesing for Medieval-style fantasy, I’ve got Battle for Middle Earth II. Dawn of War really satisfies what can only be described as the “war-torn bleak future” craving. Relic has done a great job with the series in terms of game ambiance and feel.

In the last few years, there have been several expansions. Each expansion introduces a few new races to play with, and in a great move, you can play almost each expansion on its own. The catch is that while all of the races (cumulatively up to that point) are available within the game, only the races tied to the expansion are playable, unless you own previous expansions (or the original), thus enabling you to be any corresponding race.

Soulstorm, the latest expansion, continues the DoW legacy of the Risk-style single player campaign, and ups the ante by introducing three additional planets (with their own territories) to the series. Each area has distinctive advantages (the more areas you control, the more perks you get). Also, there is an RPG element, as your commanding officers gain experience and access to more (and subsequently better) weaponry/armor.

The gameplay is straightforward: Dominate. You leverage your race’s strengths and forward the plot by achieving your goals. As before, the game focuses on resource control via a series of capture points. Artifact points can also be captured to provide you with unique and extremely powerful units. Besides two new races (Sisters of Battle and the Dark Eldar), flying units have been added to the mix. This game will keep you on your toes. Don’t be surprised if your per-battle duration goes up slightly.

On the graphics side of things, Dawn of War doesn’t introduce a lot of new elements other than what I believe to be are some new effects and better shading. The Sisters of Battle and the Dark Eldar each look great (with customizable appearance for armor and weapons). There are a number of people who would state that this engine is dated. Perhaps this is the case, but to me it’s a matter of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” In my opinion, it still holds up. Add to that the fact that you can probably max out effects and amazing animation on some of the newer, cheaper vid cards! Not too shabby.

The score is solid, as are the sound effects. Again, nothing really new here, other than the new tracks for the Sisters and the Dark Eldar. That being said, the voice acting is awesome and the effects are believable for the subject matter. Familiarity, in this case, adds to the comfort factor of the game.

Those who have played the DoW series before will slide into battles with ease. Those who aren’t familiar with the controls don’t need a degree in astrophysics to partake. They are pretty straightforward.

I enjoy the series. The single player campaign is fun (even with the cheesy narrative) and it takes a while to complete so you feel like you get your money’s worth. Realistically the single player campaign is a great testbed for skirmish and multiplayer modes, which are also a great deal of fun. The races are all balanced at the very beginning, but it’s pretty easy to see how this balance can shift more than other RTS games. Half the fun is figuring out what to play and when. Some say that there are too many factions, but I disagree. The more the merrier! The animation and sound combine to create a distinct feel for each faction.

The single player campaign takes a “hella long time” to complete, which is great in my book! As I mentioned before, there are online and skirmish components, so you won’t be bored playing this.

If you’ve never played this series before, try this out! You can even go back and get the original for a pretty low price and see if you like it without risking too much scratch. If you have played the series before, then grab this expansion!

Posted in PC, Reviews |