Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II
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Don't knock the hammer
you have to play any game in the dawn of war series to understand the game completely it is a really good game and once you play you will be thinking about the next one nuff said
3/27/12
A new direction!
Unlike the first Dawn of War this game doesnt play like every other RTS with a home base and then building structures to make and even bigger base. Instead this is really down to the squard tactics and manuvering. The awsome thing is that you can customize your squads and characters like an RPG. It arrays from armor to weapons to medals that provide upgrades. The game is a great buy to anyone who likes Warhammer 40k. The only thing is that it isnt like the first Dawn of War, but a new game all together.
6/5/11
A Thinker's Strategy
If you've played the first Dawn of War, this changes things up quite a bit.
Let's start with the single player.
Wars are won by armies, unless you're space marines. Then, all you need is a squad. In DoW2, you play as the Raven Squad. There's no base building, there's no resource gathering. You control select squads you customize between missions - who will level up, and you can specialize them in a number of ways. Each mission gives you gear (weapons, armor, grenades, etc), which you can outfit your squads with.
With no base building, this game is far from the normal of "BUILD BILLIONS OF UNITS, THROW AT ENEMY BASE". Instead, you have to rely on your smarts, your squads, and the environment. You can use cover, destroy cover, blow up buildings, call down bombardments.. The game is rather intense, makes you think, shows you that war can be won with less than 30 units against hundreds. I'd recommend this to anyone and everyone who enjoys strategy games.
Now, for the multiplayer.
While different than DoW, it does give you a base where you can build your squads and heroes, do your research, etc. You gain resources by controlling parts of the map. It still employs the cover from singleplayer and the desire for strategy, although en masse groups can still roll across the map if deployed correctly. A good connection is a must, otherwise you'll be quickly left in the dust or dropped from the game.
However, there is another multiplayer mode called Last Stand, where three players, armed only with a hero they can customize between missions with gear unlocked with every level. Its co-op between the players as they survive waves of enemy forces that only get stronger and stronger each wave, until wave 20, where the 3 players are pitted against AI controlled doppelgangers of themselves - every spell you have, they have. Recently, the Last Stand mode has become so successful its actually available separately without purchasing DoW2, which will put you with both DoW2 owners and those who bought just Last Stand.
Overall, this game is fantastic. The story is great, the graphics are lovely, the gameplay is solid, and the sound.. It really works. Nothing like grenades going off, the sound of heavy machine guns, the shouts, the screams, the grade A voice acting.
6/1/11
Dawn of War II is a mixed bag...
Dawn of War II is one of the oddest mixed bag games in history. When I refer to "oddest mixed bag" it refers to the overall game concept, the execution, and the design flaws.
Pro's:
- Mixes strategy and rpg, isnt a straight up RTS.
- Lots of different strategies and tactics to play as but again very limited if you want to win.
- Several ways to upgrade your character.
- Best Co-operative play in a RTS you can find
Con's:
-Extremely flawed multiplayer
-Worst net code I have ever seen, if one person has a bad connection everyone has a bad connection and everyone suffers for it, pings tend to be 200-400 depending, requires at least a 6 mbps to not lag everyone out.
On top of the bad pings and issues with lag there is also the fact is someone has a computer that runs minimum requirements that can also lag the game out for everyone too, net code is a big issue in any rts game but this is the worst of the worst, definitely one of the two or three biggest issues in gaming and this is the worst one.
- Uses both steam and games for windows live, sadly it uses games for windows live matchmaking which is horrid for peer to peer. (this will be fixed in the expansion coming out on march 1st where they transfer it all to steam)
-Braindead players who do not think before doing anything and cause losses right away, not a problem if you play with friends but a big issue if you intend to play in a pick up group.
-Bad matchmaking a pug gets put up against a pre-made almost every game and it screws the game over.
-Hard for new players to play the versus mode due to lack of wargear and you can count on losing a lot.
-Game is definitely intended for hardcore players who intend to think and win. Recreational players tend to screw the entire game over in versus mode. But the Co-Op game modes are perfect for Recreational game play.
-Horrible Pathfinding logic, there are situations where my character is told to move from the front of cover to the back of cover and my character just sits there looking stupid and dies.
The controls tend to be delayed sometimes as well even in campaign all though they are responsive in many situations, its just the few that tend to screw you over.
All in all, the game is acceptable, if THQ can start thinking and fix these issues and include better matchmaking, netcode, controls, and more new player friendly (higher levels and players who have played multiplayer longer get better wargear and it does make a BIG difference,) the game might be worth playing multiplayer, but for now the co-op modes are the only modes of worth.
This is a highly mixed bag, its fun but it is also flawed.
1/30/11
Change can be good.
I don't know why the rating is so low. especially if you have played the first one. Dawn of war 2 is like saying hey we got new equipment and we are starting the series over. The Tyranids are a great edition and the graphics are fenominal. I play all of the warhammer games including the table top game so I am very picky on how thing look in these games but I have no complaints here. keep it up THQ.
11/13/10
not a rts game
Where to start. Size of army controlled about one tenth the size of most rts games. no base building. whats the first thing we bomb (americans) its warfactories and oil supplies and fuel so there you lose a big part of strategy. no resources collection to control and defend another part of stradegy lost. No war wheres all the units ive played multiplayer game online with more units than this in first person shooter games. I just dont see the strategy in this game is all they have done is totally limit your options to do things all rts have units. but thats just a part of it. controling a basic economy with building and resources is a big part of strategy. i loved dawn of war 1. and am only so mad because they should not have called this a sequel it should have been called dawn of war recon. because thats about the size of your army. i didnt even research the game i bought the game on its release soly on the the first game. a mistake i will not ever make again i may never buy a game again as soon as it comes out. im glad that other people could find enjoyment in this style. i just wish they wouldnt have called it dawn of war 2
3/16/10
Dawn of war 2 only a 6.0!?
I don't understand this game is much better than the first one, better graphics, better gameplay and a better game. It deserves at least an 8.5! I would give it a 9.0. I mean in the fisrt dawn of war the battles get to big too control and I prefer a smaller cap limit, in fact I play this alot more than the first one, but don't get me wrong the orginal dawn of war was a great game, but I just like this one better, with the orginal it's like " I have a special unit, I win." not really that fair this one takes alot more strategy and I will play this game for along time, of course not when Chaos rising comes out, it's going to add a new campaign and a new race. I would strongely reccomend this game to any one thats a fan of rts or strategy games.
1/30/10
Not as bad as most people made it out to be
Well lets see no Dawn of War II is not not like the 1st Dawn of War & that's not a bad thing what Relic & THQ did was took Dawn of War an awesome RTS & Company of Heroes yet another awesome RTS made by Relic & THQ & crossed them to make Dawn of War II there is no more base building like in DoW... You'll get your units now like ya did in CoH which I like cause I loved both game.. Instead of building your base & lots of defenses you just have a few squads that are dropped in & you need to use cover unlike DoW where you just made a bunch of units & overwhelmed your foe now you use tactics & your surroundings to your advantage also they made it more RPG like you level your units & up their stats you also have upgradeable armor & weapons which you find in the different worlds you go to & that you also receive from completing mission/objectives... most people don't like change but I think its a great game & a nice move on THQ/Relics part... I love Warhammer & I look forward to many more DoW/Warhammer games in the future!!
12/27/09
Dawn of War 2: The Real Strategy Game
The previous Dawn of War was well done in the fact that it improved what other RTS's have done but Dawn of War 2 is completely different. However, it is better that way. The first Dawn of War wasn't really similar to the actual thing it was copying which is the tapletop game Warhammer 40,000 and the game is also just another mob army RTS. Whoever builds the biggest army can just walk around with the enormous group and slaughter everything in their way. However, Dawn of War 2 changes that. Dawn of War 2 is very similar to the tabletop game and is very tactical. Mob army RTS games like the original Dawn of War doesn't require any real strategy to play. However, Dawn of War 2 does. The game focuses on a smaller amount of units but with more strategy. It is very comparable to Warcraft 3 in this aspect. Unlike Warcraft 3 and the first Dawn of War, the game has only 1 building and units can only be reinforced in certain areas of the game. This is great in my opinion because a close victory will actually mean a close victory. The person who has injured units or even lost some would have to go back to their base to recover and regroup which adds to the strategy. Cover also plays a HUGE role in the game with the defense bonuses it gives units in the game. I could rant on and on for a while about how much I enjoy this game and that it is the best RTS I have ever played but here is a list of pros and cons of the game.PRO:1. Smaller amounts of units allow in-depth strategies to be played out2. Cover plays a larger role in game3. Buildings play a very little role in the game4. Strategy actually needed to play the game is much greater5. Animations and graphics are beautiful6. Music soundtrack is pretty great7. Challenges is much greater than the first with Insane computers being difficult to face and the Primarch mode in Single Player8. Leveling system9. Customizable hero ( Example: Farseer for eldar or Techmarine for Space Marines)10. Abilities special to every unit11. Customizable wargear in multiplayer for hero unit12. Great single player mode13. Suppress ability 14. NOT a mob army RTS15. It is simply a kickass game16. Destructible cover17. Game looks pretty awsome when all everything is basically destroyed halfway into a battle(List could go on)Cons:1. AI always runs away when suppresed in multiplayer2. Campaign can be slightly lengthy and repetitive3. Only 4 races (Space Marines, Eldar, Orks, and Tyranids)4. Few multiplayer maps
6/11/09
Excellent game!
Im a big fan of the Warhammer 40k series and strategy games. I was hesitant to buy this game seeing the other reviews, but Im glad I did buy it. Its so much more fun when you dont have to micro-manage bases and supplies and research technology. You just get right into the fight and have fun. Pros for me: Customizable squads, squads level and you can choose talents for them, you can choose which squads to bring, you can choose which battle you want to fight on which planet. The environment is destructable, its very fun to blow things up. Tactically you have lots of options for how to complete a mission, if your in a hurry you cna skip objectives, if you have all day to play you can slaughter everthing on the map. The boss fights feel like boss fights, challenging and sometimes long, but rewarding. The storyline went along very well with the 40k universe. Cons for me: You can only do the campaign as space marines, I would have liked to try it as tyranids or orcs. Multiplayer I tried a little and its not as intuitive as single player with its excellent tutorial. It took me a while to figure out the upgrades for my forces in multiplayer. All in all an excellent game, the first time I went through on Sergeant difficulty, now Im trying Captain level and different squads and gear for them.
4/30/09