First, an apology. I do realise that this game was out about a week ago and really should have been able to review it beforehand. However, I was hindered by what, I think, is the most ridiculously long installation process of any game anywhere. First I put the disc in. Then a list of SEVEN things that would have to happen before I could get near playing it popped up. First, I had to install Steam (even though the game was on disk) then install the game, then wait about two hours for it to update itself, then load it up, then make a Windows Live gamertag… and it also has the most violent intro of any game ever.
But is it any good? Yes. Very. I have never played the original, but I understand that it is based around an Age of Empires style of gameplay, id est build buildings, gather resources, defend your town, create a massive army of one type of unit to see what happens, etc. Dawn of War II is very different. This is all based on squad tactics and movement – like Company of Heroes but more so. Each of your four squads (including you on your own as a commander) has different abilities, and must be used such to gain tactical advantadges. Such as sending Cyrus’ assassin squad up ahead of your small task force of, at most, 11 people, camoflaging him, getting him behind cover in a group of enemies, and lobbing a detpack at a buiding full of guys in cover to BLOW THEM UP. Then, while he is revealed by doing this and your enemies are distracted, you send in the rest of the heavies, all who can be equipped through the breaks between battles with weapons and accessories you find during them. These can be used to great (read “fun”) effect, and gives the game an RPGish feel, especially as your squads level up over time, giving access to even better weaponary and skills
This is called tactics
I do have some criticisms, however. One, this is not “Real Time Strategy”. I know this sounds pedantic but this whole squad based genre is about tactics, not strategy. Oh, sure, you can choose an order to fight the campaign battles in, but it doen’t make much of a difference. If it did, that would be strategy, as the crucial difference between tactics and strategy is that strategy is much more large scale than 11 seemingly invincible soldiers. Another, it is hard, but not that hard. If your men are killed and your squad leaders incapacitated, your hero’s stimulant pack can revive them instantly, and then you just press the “fall back” button on the UI for your units to return to the nearest command point to reorganise and reinforce. This can happen an unlimited number of times. Also, the graphics are nothing to write home about – certainly no better than, say Age of Empires III. Really. However, the units do posess a certain je ne sais croi about them, and really do feel as if you are controlling these metal killing machines.
The campaign, I assume, is VERY long (I have only played “11 days” of it) , and should keep you occupied for a while. There is also a (rather bad) skirmish mode (in multiplayer, just play against CPU 1) and linked in to that, the classic Warhammer “Paint Your Own Armies” thing, so you can show off in multilayer with your gold plated “Costly Marines” or something. And that reminds me – multiplayer. Well, I haven’t actually played it yet, so let’s see…
Paint Your Own Armies!
12 mins later : Hooray! I won (would you expect anything else?). Played a matchmaking “strategic point” battle where when you hold points on the map, the enemy’s counter goes down. When it reaches zero, you win! This is less squad based than the campaign and does involve building units. Kinda fun. Especially as I won. I must say though, it did provide more of a challenge than the campaign, and there was a wider range of units available, though the enemy’s units were seemingly useless and my guys seemingly invincible
Fans of the genre will love it, and perhaps some FPS players who want a challenge will too. In fact, if you like indiscriminately shooting things with the occsional tactical challenge, and your PC isn’t quite good enough for Supreme Commander, go and buy this now.
Nometet.com says: 
+ Machine Guns!
+ Futuristic Stuff!
+ Orks!
+ Monsters!
+ Paint Your Army!
+Multiplayer provides more of a challenge
- Graphics somewhat lacking
- Ridiculous installation time
- Singleplayer somewhat limited
