Sometimes a game comes along that seems to spark something of a cultural chord with a whole group of people. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War was very much one of those games. Other than a brief and disastrous stint with Command & Conquer and then getting waaaay too into Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, Dawn of War was the first RTS game that I played, which felt like it actually got me hooked on the genre for what made it appealing to regular fans. Now, the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War -Definitive Edition release has hit, and I’m trying to see if the game can live up to those heady days of my youth (spoiler alert: yes, it can).
What Is Dawn of War: Definitive Edition?
Dawn of War was one of those RTS games that helped to define a generation. It was heavily marketed to pre-existing fans of Warhammer 40K, giving it a lot of background baggage that you sort of need to get on board for. Personally, while I was a 40K player, I happened to be a T’au collector, and so seeing those grim and growling men on the cover getting ready to…I dunno’, pull angry faces at aliens?, didn’t really sell me on it alone. In the end, not even the Space Marines can put me off of the game (if you felt like pointing out that the faction is specifically the Blood Ravens, then you are the reason people think Space Marine collectors/players are boring).
So, Dawn of War: Definitive Edition is a re-release of the 2004 hit PC RTS that follows the story of a bunch of Blood Angel Space Marines stuck on an alien world fighting against overwhelming odds. Then again, pretty much every Space Marine story features that because if they didn’t, it wouldn’t really be a Space Marine game, now would it? Well, before I reached the end of the story campaign, I had stopped caring about what was happening and mostly focused on splatting all the little green dudes. Luckily, the campaigns are a bit more interesting in the expansion packs, so at least when you get bored of the Blood Ravens, you can check out Soulstorm or Dark Crusade instead.
Gameplay Makes the Game, Aye?
The Dawn of War: Definitive Edition has some pretty solid gameplay, but that’s about all it has going for it in terms of mechanics. Pretty much everything you can do in this game is a textbook example of the sort of things you’re supposed to be doing in an RTS game. You’re capturing resource nodes, you’re building new structures and units, and you’re sending your guys after any enemies that you come across once they’re strong enough to take them down. Basically, it hasn’t evolved much since the days of Warcraft or Command & Conquer, so why is it so beloved? Because it’s just so damn well-done.
These days, it might be harder to see thanks to the insane deluge of RTS titles that we’ve had since 2004. This doesn’t seem like anything special at first glance, but the absolutely stellar way it’s all put together is what clinches the deal; the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The control you have over your squads is up there; all of the factions are well-designed and balanced, and the UI is more intuitive than 99% of other RTS games, even more modern ones. Just don’t expect too much from the single-player campaign alone.
Defining the Game
One of the things that makes this the Dawn of War: Definitive Edition is the inclusion of all the expansion packs, even the two standalone ones. This removes a pretty big limitation that was around in the early versions, namely that you couldn’t mix factions in multiplayer mode from the two standalone expansions. So, if you wanted to play as the Blood Ravens, you had to play against other people who were using the factions from either the base game or the first expansion.
With everything in a single package now, it’s finally possible to have any combination of factions playable against each other in a multiplayer or skirmish game, and that means a huge variety of options available. As a T’au player, I can now have a face-off against those masters of boredom, the Ultramarines, and even paint my own custom faction that I use in real life, because why the hell not?
Graphical Upgrades
As with any re-release of this nature, Dawn of War: Definitive Edition does come with at least some graphical upgrades. It’s mostly about the small details, like an increase to the draw distance and the higher fidelity designs behind the different factions’ units. You can actively see rust lines and other small defects on some pieces of armour, and the features are a bit closer to what you’d expect, though still a far cry from what you’d call ‘photorealistic’
Perhaps it’s just my jaded eye, but the graphical update didn’t really add much. I was playing the game like I always have and enjoying every minute of it, but without a side-by-side comparison, I’d have struggled to say exactly what was different this time around. That’s not to say that the Definitive Edition isn’t doing anything; the gameplay and UI tweaks are nice, and there’s all of that collated content from the different expansions; at this point, the graphical upgrades are just a small amount of icing on an already delicious cake.
The Verdict
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War -Definitive Edition is a fantastic re-release of one of the most enjoyable RTS titles of the mid-2000s. With all of the campaigns, all of the races, and all of the factions in a single package, there’s enough to keep you playing for another two decades when they’ll presumably be releasing the Dawn of War II definitive edition. While the campaigns are a mixed batch, the multiplayer should more than make up for it, if you can get it working, and if not, Skirmish code will let you paint your own armies and have them face-off without you needing real plastic, paint or friends.
Developer: Relic Entetainment
Publisher: Games Workshop
Platforms: PC
Release Date: 14th August 2025