Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 1 and 2 were seminal games in my youth. I played competitively with a friend of mine, sitting at the same desk, taking it in turns to see who could flex their fledgling RTS skills the most while listening to Korn’s Freak on a Leash on repeat. Dawn of War 3, however, was a bit of a letdown. Since then, I have, for the most part, forgotten about the games. It’s a bit of a shame, as these were fantastic RTS games, but it’s a genre that has sort of flowed out of the zeitgeist in recent years, at least until now.
My excitement went through the roof when I first heard news of Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 4. Even more so when I heard that the units had received individual animations of vicious combat. I can tell you now, it has never felt better to be a Space Marine. These massive, juggernaut units have the sort of battlefield staying power you’d expect of a giant mech and while Orks will swarm over you, it’ll take an absolute horde to overwhelm your units. In short, it’s a bloody, gory, chaotic mess.
It also sees the return of the Necrons, which were my original Warhammer 40K army back in the day. I used to beg my parents to buy me a Monolith, and while I never got one, the dream has never really gone away. At least now I get to see my favourite skeleton lads take to the battlefield again.
That Classic RTS Feel With Modern Trappings
Dawn of War 4 looks and feels fantastic. The atmosphere of the game is dark and gritty, and the weapons sound unreal. It feels like a true sequel, and the adaptation of the 40k universe has been completed with utmost care.
The preview involved a mission where the Imperial Guard called for your assistance in taking on a horde of invading Orks. I controlled the Space Marines. It was quickly evident that this meant controlling very few but very powerful individual units, including Cyrus, who had his own small upgrade tree – including plenty of grenades, of course.
The formula of the skirmish played out in typical DoW fashion. Set up a base, then head out to control resources across the map. So begins the typical tug of war of RTS games; fighting over resources, trying to build up your base and units, and working towards upgrades and building improvements.
Each faction – the Orks, the Space Marines, the Necrons, and the Adeptus Mechanicus – have their own individual abilities. Orks have Waagh, of course, which turns them into a blood-thirsty, unstoppable horde for a short period of time, whereas the Space Marines can call in powerful abilities from the sky, like Orbital Bombardment. This was seriously impressive. Watching Orks go flying in all directions is the sort of 40K fantasy I live for. We didn’t get to see much of the Necrons or Adeptus Mechanicus in this preview, though they do also have unique traits and abilities.
Individual Unit Animations Are Bliss
I just want to touch again on what KING Art is calling its “combat director”, which is basically the system they’ve built to allow all individual units to interact with each other on a micro-level. This means when you zoom in all units are individually tackling each other. It’s mesmerising to watch. I love how it all comes together to create these very immersive battlescapes. You can just zoom in and watch the chaos unfold.
The micromanagement aspect felt comfortable, and while I’m sure the game becomes more complex the further you delve into its mechanics, I felt at home with managing upgrades and didn’t feel like it was taking too much time away from the thing I really love the most about 40k – watching badass machines and soldiers kick the ever-living hell out of each other.
This was still a very early build – the Space Marine buildings were all placeholders – but from what I’ve seen so far, KING Art, the developers of DoW4, has potentially got something very special here. We’ll need to hold out to see more of the game in the future, but for the first time in a long time, I’m excited to play an RTS game. That’s pretty neat.