It's nothing revolutionary as far as Dawn of War II goes, but six excellent campaigns and great gameplay make this a must for both Warhammer 40K and RTS fans.
I'm a person who is very picky with my gaming. I for one, absolutely adore this game it's possibly my favourite game of all time, it's set in the fantastic, brutal universe of Warhammer 40k and looks gorgeous despite it being years old now.
It is completely different from Dawn of war 1 which I also adored but for me the intense battling keeps you too preoccupied to worry about base building anyway. The battling is brutal, the balance is pretty good and there is little more satisfying than seeing some Chaos filth turn into a red paste.
I admit that this isn't the most innovative campaign mode that we've ever seen in Dawn of War but the multiplayer is amazingly fun even though the community has dwindled :( Also the last stand is great fun
Please buy and support this game especially now it's cheaper than ever due to it's age! here's to hoping that they make a Dawn of War 3
OK what can I say about this game ->
First I love all Dawn of War series most DC and SS, really was quite fun RTS, many races, all of races was uniq and individual, much skills and many strategic moves, but here all of this was dissapeared it starts from DoW II, no uniq races, no much skill, uniq units, nothing what was making DoW one of great RTS game, but now it's more looks like SC2.
But here are some things why I give this game 10pts ->
1. Co-op champagn, wery good idea for RTS game such is DoW II.
2. More powerfull heros and good your gameplay freedom in Hero choise items for heros that made them better and some kind uniq.
3. Last stand, for me wery good idea and wery fun mode, but one bad thing just 2 maps and wery monotonously game type, I mean they can do it much better.
This 3 thing make this game worst then DoW I or SC I, but much better then DoW II and SC II, so game as DoW II 7pts for Last stand 10pts.
It's hard not to recommend Retribution. You're getting a standalone experience with an exceptionally large amount of replayability, depending on how into Warhammer 40,000 you are. And even if you ultimately only touch one of the campaigns, try out the multiplayer for a bit, and dabble in The Last Stand, it's worth picking up.
But the bottom line is that buying Retribution is just paying for a new faction and not much else. It's a great faction, to be sure, but beyond that, it's a damn shame that Relic squanders their energy on frippery like the silly campaign when important issues like the AI remain unresolved.
Easily the best RTS game out there, even a few years after release (with Retribution expansion pack) compared to it Starcraft 2 feels like it is DoW's **** cousin.
There are 6 factions in multiplayer, each one feels very different from another and each has 3 different commanders which differentiate them further, making it very hard to be bored with it.
There is an incredible amount of unit upgrades, wargear for commanders, abilities and tactics to use. Each race takes a good 30-50 hours to master, there are many people with 1 k hours clocked in and still playing (personally I have about 300 and counting). Larger maps with up to 6 players are even more challenging, with more emphasis on long term strategy rather than micromanagement.
Yet the game is not by any means overwhelming, and it's quite easy to learn the basics.
The only thing that's not done right is too few maps. I'd really like to see some maps coming in DLC format, but since THQ got bankrupt it's very unlikely.
There is also survival horde-mode, where up to three players defend themselves from hordes of incoming enemies, after each game earning experience and wargear to upgrade their heroes. Although not very complex it is very addictive.
As to singleplayer, the base game's singleplayer campaign is pretty good and lasts for a good 15 hours if you do all the side missions. Chaos Rising campaign is shorter but has new interesting features and multiple endings making it also a good chunk of fun. In Retribution, the advantage is that you can play it with any race of your choosing, not just Space Marines, but the disadvantage is worse story and less unit customization options. Personally the base game's campaign is my favorite.
There are still people playing in time I write this review (october 2013), it's very easy to find someone to play with, both newbies and pros with thousands of hours. There are also mods (I recommend Elite mod) that add additional units and maps. Easily one of the best game I've played, and the best RTS.
Get it, it's dirt-cheap these days. No excuses, go to a store
Well worth playing if you enjoyed Dawn of War II and the Chaos Rising expansion.
Again introduces a few new mechanics, but this time they're easily understood.
This felt easier than Chaos Rising and the original (Space Marine Assault Squads with flamers are overpowered against non-boss enemies).
There are a few more cut scenes that move the story along nicely and the space map is better, although I personally didn't like the smaller squad of special characters (mainly because I disliked Cyrus as a character).
Graphics are very good considering the age (although cut scene graphical quality is poor).
Still very much enjoyed playing through this.
Retribution is a huge step-down and while offering a whole new faction to play by it offers nothing new (if not much less) contentwise. Really disappointing but playable title if you are a fan.
Was really hyped to hear about every faction having their own campaign until I started another playthrough with a friend and it turns out each race is just C&P'd into this mostly-boring campaign. There are a few really good missions but most are tedious and/or too easy. Uneven difficulty and a short campaign makes it hard to justify playing on higher difficulties. Besides that, you basically have Chaos Rising's MP modes and units. Unless you are a big IG fan I would recommend getting the original and/or Chaos Rising (which I loved but I'm a huge Chaos fan) instead.
"I'm a bit disappointed with this one. Don't get me wrong it's still good fun and has some good challenges but they have taken away some of the things that made Dawn of War II so brilliant. Instead of just having a few heroes to upgrade (which I loved) you now focus on bigger groups. The upgrading is also changed for the worse in my opinion . For me Dawn of War II was just a bit better." I fully agree with the above comment. Too many changes to a good format. The shift from dedicated characters to basically churning out units like an RTS was a shame.
SummaryIt is ten years since the events of Chaos Rising and Sub-Sector Aurelia has been in a constant state of warfare with the Imperium struggling to retain control. The apparent betrayal of the chapter by Gabriel Angelos and his Space Marines has shaken the Blood Ravens and now the Imperial forces are beset on all sides by hostile aliens. Ret...