Even though this reviewer has played every title in the Dawn of War catalog, Dark Crusade still manages the trick of pulling me back into its world of epic conflict and frenetic combat... with a vengeance.
Dark Crusade can be enjoyed by new and experienced players alike, regardless of whether you own the earlier installments – even if the hefty challenge makes it more appropriate for veterans.
Two new ok races and a new ok-ish campaign. As with BfME’s War of the Rings, War of Kronus feels like a series of random battles rather than actual war. WH40K is still one of the few excellent RTS’s. [Dec 2006]
Dark Crusade isn't just another collection of random missions and some new units; it's an expansion so crammed with new stuff that it's almost an entirely a new game -and not something that Dawn of War fans will want to be without.
It's only masquerading as its own game - really, coming straight to this without having played its predecessors will be frustrating and bewildering, and the inability to play as Space Marines, Orks et al online a real slap in the face.
I enjoyed this game as much as the previous 2. Although at first I missed the lack of story, I then got to play the game with just the races I wanted to - Orcs and Necrons. Both play enjoyably differently and it's unusual for me to enjoy a game enough to effectively play through it twice.
There is a little bit of grind going on, but it's enjoyable all the same.
I didn't have much fun with the main game in this series either, but the linearly chaptered gameplay, for all its unbalance, at least gives you a purpose, even if it's a bad one, to keep going and you can finish it. But In Dark Crusade, it's just a matter of capturing every point on the map to win, and it's not a fun or narrative campaign. It's just a few pages of text and very short, generic cutscenes. It was made for online gameplay in time for those who like the races in 40K. If your goal is the story, there's no reason to continue after a few hours of single player play and not only is there no story, but the gameplay is unbalanced and difficult because of the terrible AI. Compared to the main game of the series and the previous DLC, there have always been suggestions from some players to play Dark Crusade first, but despite all the problems of the other games, at least they have a campaign. This one continues to have problems and limitations with unit controls and doesn't offer a campaign. With such a problematic gameplay, I don't understand why this 40K game is included in the lists of the best RTS games of all time. Those who make such lists probably either don't really play the games or are nostalgia-obsessed fans.
This game ruined what could have been the best RTS game series ever, and is the single most driving reason why I have never bought another THQ/Relic game at full price when it was first released since that time. Having played the original DOW and Winter Assault, I was a die hard DOW fan and supporter; but the play and deviation from the original first person story line of the first two took so much joy out of the game that I never bothered to finish it.
SummaryWarhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Dark Crusade is set in Games Workshop's world of Warhammer 40,000 - a dark, futuristic, fantasy universe where armies of technologically advanced warriors, fighting machines and hordes of implacable aliens wage constant war - and is traveled by millions worldwide. As a hybrid expansion, the game offers a c...