Dawn of War II looks like an RTS game, but actually plays almost more like an RPG.
I started playing Dawn of War II this week, a PC RTS/role playing game hybrid that is turning out to be pretty good. This is the first PC game that I’ve started seriously playing ever since Blizzard’s Warcraft III & World of Warcraft, so it’s actually a little bit jarring coming back to keyboard and mouse after years of using the 360 controller. I mentioned last week that I was having trouble playing Left 4 Dead on the PC using a mouse and keyboard after being so accustomed to the controller, but luckily, Dawn of War II keeps things pretty simple. Read on for my thoughts on this PC game that is the first Windows game that has Achievements and uses the Xbox Live matchmaking servers.
I’m a fan of Relic, but more of a recent fan after having played through the original Company of Heroes game a few years back. I haven’t played it in a long time, but from what I remember, the game really shook up both the RTS and WWII genres. Company of Heroes has gone on to release two more sequels, and Relic is also behind the first Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War. That game was so popular that it had three expansions. I bought the first few Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War games, but never got a chance to really get into them.
Controversy
When I heard that Dawn of War II was going to take the best of Company of Heroes and Dawn of War, plus be a Windows Live game, I decided to pick it up. Dawn of War II has seen a lot of polarizing opinions, mostly due to its implementation logistics and its gameplay changes. The first real issue that people have with it is that it authenticates through Steam. Steam is probably the most popular PC game digital distribution system out these days, and I already have several games on it. I’m a big fan of Steam, since it keeps track of any PC games I’ve purchased on a particular account, and I can log onto that account anywhere and redownload games I’ve already bought like Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress 2. In fact, when I got my retail copy of Dawn of War II, I didn’t have to even put the disc into the PC – I just typed the CD key into Steam and it started downloading the game. Seems almost silly to own the physical copy now, but I guess we are on the cusp of physical to digital gaming. So honestly, the Steam hurdle was no problem to me but for those that aren’t on Steam, I can see it as being annoying since you’d have to sign up an account and download the application just to play the game. But honestly, I would argue that if you’re a PC gamer (you must be if you’re trying to play Dawn of War II) it would be in your best interest to install Steam.
The other big logistical hurdle that is more of a dealbreaker to some than Steam is that it requires you to have an Xbox Live account. Back when Windows was rebranded as a gaming platform, Microsoft decided to try to handle gaming the same way, and charge certain games under the Windows for Gaming platform $50 a year for multiplayer like the Xbox 360. That didn’t fly well at all, and ever since then, the ‘Windows Live’ initiative has killed interest in Live features for PC gaming. Microsoft has had to backpedal and now make Windows Live free, since PC gamers were not prepared to pay for multiplayer when they never have. Fortunately for me, I have an Xbox Live account so being able to log into it on the PC to play the game was really no hassle to me. It’s kind of neat to be on a PC game and access the Xbox dashboard from my game by hitting the Home key. But I can obviously see the problems people may have with it if they’re just PC gamers and don’t want to have to deal with Live features or the matchmaking. Luckily for me, I had no problems with these two hurdles and have actually gotten a chance to play the single player for several hours.
Single-player impressions
Dawn of War II takes a serious departure from the first Dawn of War game (and consequently, practically all other RTS games) by getting rid of base building and unit production. The game focuses solely on you controlling 4 squads consisting of 1-4 men each. The game looks like a RTS game, but plays more like a Diablo/RPG game. It’s almost like playing as solely the heroes in Warcraft III, with sidekicks for each hero as you go from stage to stage killing enemies and bosses to gain experience and loot. Your heroes level up, and you can pick particular skill trees you want them to go down, and enemies randomly drop loot that has different rarity levels. So yeah, it’s a great combination of games that I enjoy, but for fans of the original Dawn of War games, they will obviously be disappointed. There’s not really much strategy behind the gaming now since you’re set with particular heroes, but in a sense, it has more of a tactical perspective due to you focusing on a few smaller squads. It really is Company of Heroes + Dawn of War, or more accurately, Company of Heroes in a Dawn of War skin but with Diablo loot and skill trees. That works for me.
While there are several races in the game, it’s sad that you’re only able to play as the human race (Starcraft II?! Dang it what kind of trend is this…) but the campaign is pretty good. I’m not really a huge fan of the artwork and character models in the Dawn of War universe (too blocky for me), but the storyline and stuff works. It’s pretty cool that you travel to different planets trying to take over areas or defend areas from other races attacking – a lot more indepth than any other RTS campaign I’ve played. The only issue is the level themselves get a bit derivative. Sometimes you’ll be sent back to the same level you beat earlier, but for a different threat, and while the levels themselves are quite big, it seems somewhat cheap. The gameplay itself can sometimes be a bit mundane too, since you’re fighting wave after wave of enemies where you pretty much do the same thing every time – and this is because you don’t have control over what units you’re making.
What you do have control over though, is what skills and items each of your “heroes” can use, which gives it a bit of variety. Units can use skills and items like warcries, deploying turrets, artillery strikes, etc. but most have only limited use so you need to plan when to use them. There’s also a big cover mechanic in the game that seems borrowed from Company of Heroes, and while it worked well in that game, it seems a bit odd in this one to see an insect-like alien race taking cover behind a fence and rocks and shooting you with projectiles. In any case, it works fine from a gameplay standpoint. Being so used to the 360 controller made playing with the keyboard somewhat strange at first with the hotkeys. I remember in Starcraft and Warcraft III there’d be hotkeys to make units, use abilities, etc., and the key itself generally corresponded to a particular word that had to do with the unit/skill. But in Dawn of War II, using a particular item has no relevance to the key, and I’ll find that while the first ability for every unit is the letter Q, the next hotkey for using an item will differ for every hero, whether it’s an M, an I, a P, etc. It would have been much easier if the next items/skills for every hero were simply lined up, like Q, W, E, R, T on the keyboard. Making me look for the right key on the right side of the keyboard when the rest of the left side is completely empty just seems like bad planning, but honestly it’s not a big deal. I just notice it more since I’m used to the 360 controller where everything is mapped so neatly and compactly. Dawn of War II’s keyboard shortcut mapping seems lazy and bloated!
One of the major deals in Dawn of War II, which surprised me at first, is that there’s no saving at all during missions. You can only Save and Quit in between missions, or simply Quit your current mission. Most PC gamers will know that in any FPS or RTS game, you can save before some boss or something and then if you die, you can just reload that save. Not so in Dawn of War II. In this game if you die at a boss or anywhere on the level, you will get an emergency extraction and pulled out of the level, and then you will have to play it again but an in-game day has progressed. I’m not sure how the days work in the game, as I’ve yet to play it to completion, but I actually like that you can’t save in-missions. It makes playing them a bit more skillful, since you need to actually worry about dying and planning accordingly. What sucks is I’m playing it on the most difficult level, and I have to admit that it sometimes is no walk in the park. I have had to restart missions because I have been overwhelmed. But honestly, I’m happy that it’s challenging me so much.
Parting Thoughts
I haven’t had a chance to play the multiplayer yet, but from what I’ve heard, it is a bit derivative since while the campaign is enjoyable, there doesn’t seem to be much depth for online games when you can’t make bases and units. I’ll get to it eventually and hopefully by then I’ll be able to put out a full review on the game. There’s also co-op, and it looks like by playing with someone else each of you gets to control two squads, instead of one player controlling all four.
I like the game a lot though so far, and am actually interested in getting right back into the campaign as soon as possible. For those that enjoy classic PC games like Diablo and Company of Heroes, you should definitely check this game out, provided you are willing to get past the Steam and Windows Live signups. The campaign alone has had me pretty engrossed, and I’ve stayed up late a couple nights already just because I’ve been having so much fun.
Don’t forget that you can do the single player campaign co-op with another person. Splitting up the four squads, two for each player to control, certainly aids in the unit management for advancing on targets and using skills.