Warhammer 40K:
Dawn of War: Winter Assault

War has returned, and fighting side by side with the grunts from the far future is even better than ever

	Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War: Winter Assault
	Relic/THQ
	Windows 98, XP, ME
	MSRP: $29.99

Review by Mark H. Walker

elic's Dawn of War was a breath of fresh air in the stale genre of real-time strategy. It captured the feel of Games Workshop's epic science-fiction universe while introducing imaginative elements drawn from the turn-based gaming world (cover, morale, etc.). The game was as profitable as it was innovative, so it was only a matter of time (a short time, as it turns out) until Relic popped a sequel. It's called Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War: Winter Assault, and despite the overuse of colons, it's as good as its predecessor.

Winter Assault introduces a new star in the Dawn of War lineup, the Imperial Guard. Think of these dudes and dudettes as the grunts of the far future. Whereas the original game's Space Marines were a weird mutation of humans (two hearts), and the other races (Chaos, Orks and Eldar) are just plain weird, the Imperial Guardsmen (and women) are Homo sapiens, pure and simple. The guardsfolk are plentiful, well equipped, but not especially courageous. What they do bring to the table of destruction is an impressive array of artillery and armor to back up their less-than-stellar infantry.

Two campaigns comprise the game, and they play much as the original Dawn of War. Click a squad of soldiers or tank, click again to move them or attack a bad guy. There's no resource-gathering (thank God) per se, but capturing key terrain feeds the coffers, which lets you research new units/technologies and purchase the buildings needed to crank them out. This is a 3-D engine, so you can order your troops from on high, as in the real-time strategy games of old, or zoom in to a first-person-like magnification where you can almost count the beads of sweat on a nervous Imperial Guard sentry's brow. The game includes a robust multiplayer component that allows players to directly connect with each other or find games through the Dawn of War multiplayer lobby.

Relic is two for two

Winter Assault is every bit as good as its predecessor. Few (if any) developers have understood Games Workshop universe as well as Relic. Every detail of Winter War has that "just right" feel. The basic unit of infantry is a squad, not a zillion lame-tailed individual soldiers, each of which needs to be micromanaged by a harried gamer. Commissars and sergeants are a major part of the 40K mythos, and so they are here, bolstering the Guardsmen's weak morale with words of encouragement or—in the case of the Commissars—stronger measures.

Artillery and armored vehicles are also well represented in Winter War. From the Chimera troop carriers and Basilisk self-propelled artillery to the Baneblade heavy tank and Hellhound flamethrower tank, this game includes it all. And a beautiful inclusion it is. Tank turrets spin to engage newfound enemies; the chassis rock as the cannon fires and treads churn up the snow. It's like diving inside a Gaunt's Ghosts novel.

But Winter War isn't just about beauty. The campaigns are intriguing, the interface is truly intuitive, and the atmosphere is immersive. If Winter War isn't one of the best strategy games of 2005, I'll eat my Chimera.

What an enthralling game. Relic is simply the best real-time strategy developer in the business. —Mark

Back to the top.

Home