Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 1 and 2 were seminar in my youth. I played competitively with a friend of mine, sat at the same desk and took it in turn to see who could flex their new RTS skills most while listening to Korns Freak in a leash upon repeating. However, Dawn of War 3 was a bit of a betrayal. Since then, I have mostly forgotten the games. It's a bit of a shame, because this was fantastic RTS games, but it's a genre that has flowed out of Zeitgeist in recent years, at least until now.
My excitement went through the roof when I first heard news about Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 4. Even more when I heard that the units had received individual animations of evil battle. I can tell you now, it has never felt better to be a space marine. These massive, juggernaut units have the type of battlefield that you can expect from a gigantic mech and while Orks will swarm over you, it will take an absolute horde to overwhelm your devices. In short, it's a bloody, gory, chaotic mess.
It also sees the return of Necrons, which was my original Warhammer 40K army back on the day. I used to ask my parents to buy a monolith for me, and while I never got one, the dream has never really disappeared. At least now I get to see my favorite skeleton guys take the battlefield again.
The classic RTS feels with modern prisoners
Dawn of War 4 looks and feels fantastic. The game's atmosphere is dark and dirty, and the weapons sound unreal. It feels like a real sequel, and the adaptation of the 40K universe has been completed with the utmost care.
The preview involved an assignment in which the emperor demanded your help in taking on a horde of invading orcs. I checked Space Marines. It was quickly clear that this meant to control very few but very powerful individual units, including Cyrus, which had its own small upgrade trees – including lots of grenades, of course.
The formula for the screen was played on typical Dow -way. Set a base and then go out to check resources over the map. So the typical tug of war for RTS games begins; Fight for resources, try to build up your base and devices and work for upgrades and build improvements.
Each fraction – the Order, Space Marinas, Nekrones and Adeptus mechanics – have their own individual abilities. Orks, of course, has Waagh, which turns them into a bloodthirsty, unstoppable horde for a short period of time, while the space marina may call in powerful abilities from the sky, as circulation bomber. This was seriously impressive. Looking at Ork's Flying in all directions is the type of 40k -fantasy I live for. We did not see much of the necrons or Adeptus mechanic in this preview, although they also have unique properties and abilities.
Individual unit animations are happy
I just want to touch again what King Art calls its “battle director”, which in principle is the system they have built to allow all individual units to interact with each other at a micro level. This means that when you zoom in all devices handle each other individually. It is fascinating to look at. I love how it all gathers to create these very engrossing battle images. You can only zoom in and look at the chaos.
Micromanagement -aspect felt comfortable, and although I am sure the game becomes more complex the longer you deepen its mechanics, I felt at home with handling upgrades and did not feel that it took too much time away from what I really love most about 40k – look at badass machines and soldiers kick the constant living hell.
This was still a very early building – Space Marine Buildings was all the placeholders – but from what I have seen so far King Art, the developers of Dow4, have potentially got something very special here. We have to endure to see more of the game in the future, but for the first time in a long time I am happy to play an RTS game. It's pretty neat.
