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et's dispense with the snappy openings. The upside is that Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 universe is one of the best science-fiction gaming universes ever to visit a tabletop full of miniatures. The downside is that, despite several attempts, no one has ever successfully translated that universe to a PC or video game (SSI's Final Liberation aside). Correction: No one has done it until now.
Enter Relic Entertainment's Dawn of War, a real-time strategy game that animates the combatants of the 41st century as they have never been animated before. Orks (yeah, Orcs, but with 41st-century weapons), Space Marines (the good guys), the forces of Chaos (the real bad guys) and Eldar (think elves with blasters and without the wimpy blond hair) participate in the wild melee. The game includes a single-player campaign in which players lead the Space Marines against their three foes, a skirmish mode in which any force can be your own and a complete multiplayer suite in which players can play online, controlling any of the four races.
The game plays from a 3-D perspective that allows gamers to strategize from high above the battlefield or zoom all the way in next to their charges' boots. Combat is joined by simple mouse clicks, and resources are gathered by capturing key locations. Gamers need not detail peasants, workers or whatever, to actually carry something somewhere. The troops include standard Warhammer 40K fare—Lehman Russ battle tanks, bolter pistols, flamers, jet packs and even sergeants and captains, to name but a few of the available troops and weapons.
As beautiful as it is fun
Dawn of War is one of the best production-based real-time strategy games to grace my computer in many years, but that's no surprise. Relic is no stranger to real-time excellence. Its Homeworld was everybody's everything a couple of years ago, and it appears that Dawn of War is no less a game, and captures all the flavor of the universe without overwhelming players. For example, heroes and other significant dudes (and dudettes) are a large part of the 40K universe. Relic lets you train these leaders and then attach them to a squad, significantly increasing the squad's combat ability. You can also equip squads with special weapons, such as flamers and heavy bolters, drastically increasing the squad's firepower, and the new weapons are even drawn in the warriors' hands. It's just so cool.
The game's ambiance is simply enthralling. The opening video, rendered in full-motion animation that would do Square Enix (Final Fantasy) proud, recounts an epic struggle of Blood Raven Space Marines against a rampaging Ork horde. In short, it is riveting, and the in-game visuals are no less. The Space Marines swing to face an onrushing foe and their bolters buck as they fire. By the same token, the Orks shuffle with an almost apelike gait; the Chaos troops sport the runes of their dark lord and the Eldar fire high-tech lasers. It's amazing that with all the battlefield action you can still zoom in until you see the eye slits in a Space Marine's helmet. Incredible.
Incredible. That one word sums the entire game. If you love real-time strategy—heck, if you even have a passing interest in the genre—this is the one game that you should buy this year. Relic's attention to detail, empathy with the universe and real-time strategy design experience combine to make Dawn of War a must-buy.
I don't play many games all the way through. This is one that I will. — Mark
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