For the Emperor! Or not, the choice is wide. Review of the game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Definitive Edition

Twenty years ago, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War revolutionized the real-time strategy genre. Instead of monotonous resource gathering, the game offered battles for control of territory, and instead of symmetrical armies, four radically different factions with their own playstyles. Subsequent additions brought their number to nine. Now, Relic has released the Definitive Edition - a complete set with the base game and three expansions, adapted for modern PCs.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Definitive Edition is a very "light" remaster, it does not add new content, does not change the balance, and in terms of graphics, the changes are not that radical, glare has been added somewhere, the interface has been slightly updated, old textures have received a higher resolution, the new camera allows you to cover more of the battlefield, pathfinding for units has been improved, and the game itself has received support for 64-bit systems.

That is, the developers simply collected all the content under one cover and made sure that it would work correctly on modern hardware. They promise a more stable and easier-to-connect multiplayer and an official mod manager, but I haven't gotten to them yet, since the campaigns here are lengthy.

As it turned out, this list of updates was enough to sell 150,000 copies of the game in the first 24 hours, and fans were not mistaken, from a game mechanic point of view Dawn of War still works fantastically well. However, the minor facelift was clearly not enough to hide the fact that the character models, which were not considered advanced even at the time of release, look hopelessly outdated today. But twenty years ago, the game was not loved for its graphics.

One of the main differences of Dawn of War was the rejection of the traditional RTS model. There are no workers carrying resources, and the main income comes from controlling strategic points located on the map.

Capture a point - you get a constant flow of requisitions, a resource for which troops are hired and various upgrades are made. The second resource, energy, is produced by generators that can be built on controlled territory or at a special point on the map, and it is spent mainly on heavy equipment and elite units.

Lost a few points? Left without the ability to quickly restore the army, which means it will be harder to repel enemy assaults. This forces you to take care not only of protecting the base, but also of strategic points, but at the same time play aggressively, because passive defense is doomed to defeat. To hint at this, the developers also limited the number of defensive turrets that a player can build.

Originally, the game is suitable not only for the economy, but also for combat simulation. Each unit has its own morale scale, which decreases when fighters suffer losses, come under massive fire or psychological attacks. If it drops to zero, the fighters panic - their accuracy drops sharply, and their movement speed increases slightly. Without intervention, such a unit quickly becomes easy prey.

This adds tactical depth, with a competent approach to the attack you can first break the enemy's spirit, and then finish off the demoralized remnants - it works better than storming head-on. Add to this the system of shelters, map relief, hero abilities and vehicles and you get intense battles, where not only the strength of the army is important, but also the timely use of positions and skills.

Another important element of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, which has a significant impact on the nature of the battles, is the replenishment of units right on the battlefield. There is no need to take fighters to the base, because you can buy reinforcements on the spot and maintain the pace of the offensive, except that sometimes it is still worth taking a battered unit out of enemy fire to recover.

As already noted, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Definitive Edition contains all the additions and it is worth clarifying here that we are not just talking about new sets of missions or a few new units per faction, each addition tried its own gameplay format and changed the rhythm of the game. The basic campaign introduces players to the Order of the Blood Ravens, which protects Tartarus from the orcs and reveals the conspiracy of Chaos around the Maledictum artifact. This is a linear story that lays the foundation of the Dawn of War universe and looks like a standard strategy of its time.

In Winter Assault, the Eldar and Imperial Guard compete against the Orks and Chaos for control of the Dominatus titan. Missions here often deviate from the classic "build a base and crush the enemy" and resemble more of a series of puzzle scenarios. There are assaults on fortifications with limited forces, defending narrow passages, escorting convoys and searching for artifacts under enemy fire.

Dark Crusade completely changed the format, turning the campaign into a strategy with a global map, reminiscent of the tabletop Risk. The player chooses one of seven factions and step by step captures the regions of the planet Kronus. Each province gives bonuses, and the capture of enemy "fortresses" is a unique large-scale battle with traps, defensive perimeters and scenario bosses. During the passage, the hero of the faction receives an honor guard and unique items of equipment that improve his characteristics and add new skills.

Soulstorm expanded the scope to the Kaurava star system with four planets and three moons. Two more factions were added - the Dark Eldar and the Sisters of Battle, as well as aviation for all races. As in Dark Crusade, you will have to level up your commander by unlocking equipment and buying support troops, but in addition, each faction now has a unique feature such as teleportation gates, long-range cannons or rapid deployment bases that affect the entire course of the campaign. On the plus side - by "deleting" a faction from the game, you can take this feature away.

The factions in Dawn of War are not even similar in basic mechanics. The Space Marines are the Empire's versatile army. They are easy-to-learn soldiers with balanced capabilities, orbital reinforcement drops, and the legendary Land Raider tank in the late game.

The Imperial Guard is a classic defensive faction. Its cheap, numerous, and frail Guardsmen infantry units rely on heavy armor, artillery, and commanders to maintain discipline and morale. The Baneblade, the Guardsmen's main tank, can single-handedly hold off a small enemy army when used properly.

Chaos Space Marines reduce enemy morale, speed up construction at the expense of their engineers' health, and can summon demons, the strongest of which is generally summoned at the cost of the commander's life.

The Orks rely on pressure and numbers, their economy tied to WAAAGH! banners, which boost morale and allow them to deploy more troops. The Orks rely on large infantry units, fast jetpack assault teams, and the monstrous Squiggoth in the late game, which can breach even the strongest defenses.

The Eldar rely on cunning and speed: they place hidden portals for maneuver, can teleport their own buildings, and have a fleet of foot mode that increases movement speed at the expense of accuracy. A very dangerous faction, but requires microcontrol.

The Tau rely on accurate long-range fire and high technology. Their Crisis battle suits and Hammerhead tanks destroy the enemy at a distance, while their weakness in close combat is compensated for by positional play and vehicle mobility. They also have a choice between two doctrines: Mont'ka, for early aggression and mobility with a focus on quick strikes, and Kauyon, for a late game with defensive ambushes and controlled offense.

Necrons are unique in that they do not collect requisitions at all: their economy is built on a single resource - energy, and controlled points increase the speed of production of units and structures. Their monolith base in the late stages of the game becomes a mobile combat platform, and infantry often resurrect after death.

Battlesisters rely on their unique resource of faith. Special "acts of faith" grant units temporary invulnerability or increased damage, and their Living Saint can resurrect after death.

The Dark Eldar rely on quick raids and constant pressure: their light troops and fast transports allow them to seize the map and strike by surprise. In addition to requisition and energy, they accumulate soul essence - a resource generated from enemy deaths and spent on destructive abilities and army reinforcements.

So as you can see, each faction is truly different from the others, both in terms of strategy and tactics, and in terms of gameplay. You'll enjoy some campaigns more than others, but every real-time strategy fan will find something here for themselves.

Overall, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Definitive Edition is a perfect way to get acquainted with the legendary strategy for those who missed it, and a comfortable return for veterans. There is no new content or rebalancing, but there is the main thing - technical stability, modern graphics and painless access to the entire history of Dawn of War. The game has not lost its charm, asymmetric factions, territory control instead of resource routine and a morality system have created a formula that still feels fresh, so don't miss this opportunity.