Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II

Flattery will get you everywhere in this business. Having peeked over my shoulder during a multiplayer session of Dawn of Wor II, lead designer Jonny Ebbert rated me an "advanced player". I perhaps should have reciprocated by complimenting him on his rugged features, but it didn't seem the time or place to say such things given our surroundings inside Relic's Vancouver offices. Instead I calmly accepted the kind words, blushed ever-so-slightly and buried deeper the shameful fact that I'd never actually won a multiplayer game of Dawn of War.

"That guy behind you, with his back to the window,' said my new best friend, referring to a correspondent from a famous European gaming website who had been my teammate in the co-operative battle, "He was struggling. He was barely hanging on."

Ebbert evidently sets a lot of stock in watching people play his games. If he were a film director, he would be freaking people out in movie theatres. Tall and as bald as a Space Marine's genitals, he probably freaks people out regardless. Thankfully as a designer of real-time strategy games he can be afforded the luxury of watching from safe distances. Having cut his teeth on the flawed masterpiece that was Empire Earth, he jumped across to Relic to help design Dawn of War's first expansion.

He's been keeping a close watch on the design team ever since. 2009 will see a fifth Dawn of War release in as many years. But by way of being a direct sequel D0W2 is understandably the most anticipated and, thanks to taking inspiration from Company of Heroes and its own heritage, is easily the most distinct of the series.

"Remember Carentan?" Asks Jonny Ebbert, referring to Company of Heroes' finest hour. "That feeling of having three squads, and that's it and you gotta take a whole town with them? That was the most engaging strategy moment I'd ever seen in my eight years making RTS games. We watched people play that mission and they'd be on the edge of their seat, pupils dilated, every click counts... 'holy shit'..." His arms stop flailing and he retreats from the flashback. "The next mission was make a big base, make lots of guys. You'd see people totally check out."

DOW2 is Carentan extended, extrapolated and transposed onto the Warhammer 40,000 canvas, with four squads in Imperial power armour and bolters ready to do the Emperor's bidding against those dastardly Space Orks and the others in their fragile alliance of futuristic Greenskins. Only now though, the squads have names, they talk to each other between each mission, during missions, and, more importantly, they improve.

Alarm Call

"The core fantasy of the 40,000 universe is few against many," says Ebbert "a small force making a last stand, overcoming impossible odds. If you look through the artwork from the universe, that's all you see: a few Space Marines on a hill against a huge horde. We wanted to recreate that"

Recognising that they must keep the brutality of Warhammer intact and mindful that players weren't going to be happy buying their way through the same series of games played through a new 3D engine, the team considered what had to be changed. "We identified a problem with real-time strategy, that other genres are providing a superior fantasy," says Ebbert "We broke it down to three things: starting over just destroys it for most people, no-one likes it it feels arbitrary, and it ruins any kind of storytelling you are trying to do.

"Secondly the RTS reward structure is awful compared to other genres. They just front-load everything, overwhelm you and there is very little to discover after that Other genres reward you constantly for playing. The final thing is that it's hard to feel attached to the action because everything is disposable. We felt that persistence across missions would provide that attachment" Arguably DOW2 isn't an RTS game at all, as far as the single-player campaign is concerned. Base building has been completely and ruthlessly gutted out The only resource is the humble experience point earned in blood. The faster you complete a mission, the more enemy units you destroy and the fewer you expend in the process, the more experience you will receive to spend on your squads.

As a squad levels up. you can spend points on attributes such as Stamina. Ranged Combat Strength and Will. Depending on the squad you're advancing, different abilities will become available. Over the course of the campaign your heavy weapons Devastator Squad could become, with XP invested in the right areas, an adept close-quarters unit, or simply more proficient with heavier weapons. Your Force Commander, a relentless nutter-bastard with a chainsword, in chaining up 10 points in Ranged, earns the right to wield a heavy weapon. A frightening prospect, if a somewhat distant one. The point is that hybridisation, for years a staple of role-playing, is a central part of strategy in DOW2.

"We wanted a sense of units growing during a campaign," says Ebbert. So then we thought 'how will we going to make them better?' Well they can get stat increases, they can unlock talents, and they have so many different load-outs so, of course, we'll improve their equipment and unlock new types. It just all fitted together extremely nicely."

The W40k Rtsrpg

If the squads were single characters D0W2 would almost be indistinguishable from a role-playing game. Sergeant Tarkus leads your tactical squad; Avitus leads the heavy weapon-wielding Devastator squad; Cyrus heads the scouts as they creep across the map; Thaddeus leads the Assault Squad who jump into battle. You are the Force Commander, a one-man squad - and that already makes five. Your party, or rather, your force, can only contain four.

You unlock new types of squads, but you always have to choose four -we found it's a magic number," says Ebbert, perhaps alluding to the neat synergy between keyboard shortcuts and the sum total of human fingers necessary to reach them. "When you get it down to four you use the squads in their roles. There's at least one mission where you have more - it's a special-circumstance mission - but we've paced out the content in the campaign so that you're always getting cool new surprises." Ebbert won't be drawn on what these new surprises might be, but given their presence in the multiplayer roster and their necessity to any 40,000 game, Terminator squads, Predator tanks and Dreadnoughts are certain to be available units in the fight across the planets of Aerelia and Typhon Primaris.

Although the number of controllable vehicles at any one time will be far fewer, their scale and detail is such that a single tank should be twice as imposing and effective as any armoured rush from Dawn of War. Perhaps more importantly, as much thought will have to be put into spending experience points on vehicles and their crew as on your Marine infantry units.

"It's a much more tactical game, using cover, buildings and shotblocking objects. The abilities you have are usually the tipping point in a battle. Like the Force Commander's charge, Thaddeus' squad jump, Cyrus' sniper shot or Tarkus' grenades, those are usually what will tip the battle."

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs

As was the case in the original Dawn of War campaign, the only playable faction will be the Blood Raven Space Marines, with the opening antagonists being the Space Orks. Rather predictably the Orks have gotten themselves into an uneasy alliance with some Eldar. Then, literally out of the blue, a race appears in orbit that fans have been eager to see for four years. Tyranids! For those not fully up on tyranid anatomy, they are essentially a race of aliens more traditionally set against a team of Colonial Marines led by Sigourney Weaver. Lacking acid for blood, the famous genestealers are no less deadly with their raking claws, hypnotic stare and probing, lashing tongue. Over the years the tyranid race has been expanded to include creatures more inspired by Starship Troopers' insectoid antagonists, but they remain, in short hive-minded and relentless close-quarter specialists that attack in vast numbers.

According to 40,000 doctrine, the first wave of a tyranid attack features fast-moving gaunts, then the more substantial 'stealers turn up ahead of the main attack. With that process so enshrined and so conducive to the RTS mechanic that Dawn of War has fostered, it's still somewhat baffling why it's taken so long for a Hive Fleet to arrive.

"Part of it was that we wanted to avoid Starcraft comparisons," says Ebbert, comparing StarCrafts Protoss with 40,000's Eldar, and Blizzard's Marines with GW's. "StarCraft just lifted the 40,000 universe wholesale and brought it to videogames. Ironically we came out six years later but we had to be careful of looking like a StarCraft clone, even though we were the originals."

Tfie main (and more diplomatic) reason for the delay, is that Relic felt that they couldn't do justice to what is, among Warhammer 40,000 fans, an iconic faction: "Our animation system wasn't nearly as robust as the one we were developing for Company of Heroes. \Ne thought about doing them in an expansion, but then the more we watched how they were developing the Essence Engine, we were like, why don't we just wait for that?"

Ebbert says Essence 2.0 offers more possibilities than were available in DOW. Gaunts will leap over walls, while other tyranids will burrow to ambush the players. "With tyranids we're able to do crazy stuff," he says, "We modelled the gaunts after the little dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. They stay just out of reach, but are always edging in. If you throw a satchel charge over a wall into a bunch of gaunts and they're in synapse, they'll avoid it But if you kill the synapse creature, they'll stare at it until it explodes in their face."

Morning Gory

Tyranids will be available in multiplayer games, as will Eldar, Orks and Marines. Compared to the single-player game, the changes here are less obvious. Base-building is part of the fun, but it has been scaled back: placement of buildings has been eliminated, replaced with upgrading a HQ that deploys units. Where the focus of the multiplayer game has shifted is in allowing players to choose from a variety of Commander units (one a pure combat-focused Force Commander unit, a Techmarine that builds turrets, and the support-focused Medic Commander.) The aim is to create an atmosphere of cooperative play. I'd say Relic have a good chance of furthering their reputation for providing memorable multiplayer experiences. Had we been allowed to field tyranid forces during our time with the game, we might have been able to provide a more glowing report.

As satisfying as winning a multiplayer game against peers is, and as much as Relic really don't have to do much to keep hold of a glowing reputation, there are months until Polyp's release and, therefore, a prime opportunity to make a spectacular cock-up. The swing away from more traditional RTS to a persistent-unit model might upset die-hards, but having played through 10% of the campaign missions, we've no reason to suspect Relic will screw things up, not on Ebbert's watch. ( After all, he knows an advanced player when he sees one.

What's This? It has to be a pricing error, there's no such thing as free downloadable content in the year 2009. There has to be a sneaky text contained in the EULA for There Is Only War to allow THQ to legally pilfer your bank accounts.

Now I've gotten the customary sarcasm out of the way, I can get on with lavishing some praise on Relic. You see, they're a dying breed. They believe in their community and put faith in its ability to help make their games better.

Relic aren't content with shipping Dawn of War II and watching their bank balance fatten. They've been busy since day one: listening to your forum rants.

Tactical Training

The result of all this is Relic's largest update to date. The There Is Only War patch has an unmatchable scope and possibly, the biggest change log I've ever seen. It's balancing is rivalling MMO standards and puts the majority of other developers to shame. Version L4.2 sees every faction painstakingly pampered. Virtually every unit has been meticulously tweaked in an attempt to strengthen the game. Whether its tier-one units or end-game vehicle combat you'll find the game a sharper, more enjoyable experience. The playing ground has been levelled, resulting in a strategic rethink. You no longer have the right to moan about unbalanced units: if you lose a battle, it's firmly down to your lack of skill.

To get around such a problem, Relic have included the Observer feature. It allows you to watch matches, letting you learn from the best Company of Heroes had a similar feature and like the WWII RTS, this slowly but surely improves your game. You pick up the ability to micromanage, putting your units to better use. Add in the ability to stream matches with the option to bring in a third-party referee who can maintain order, and you can see how Relic are aiming to make DOW2s legitimate candidate.

Those who'd rather learn-by-doing will enjoy the eight new maps. More interestingly, the inclusion of four one-on-one arenas implies that Relic are leaning towards the idea of quick multiplayer encounters - something they previously outlined in a video showcase.

You only have to pluck a random statistic from the change log - Scouts now have 40% armour against melee classes for example -and you can see the direction in which they're heading. This isn't a design choice that Relic have taken blindly. Instead it's down to a careful consideration of what the DOW2 community wants and has asked for.

And if that wasn't more than enough DOW2s World Builder is being bundled with the 1.4.2 update. This will mean we'll no longer have to wait for Relic's over-generous updates, but instead enjoy what the internet's mappers have to offer. The developers have gone the distance, putting the game's future firmly its fan's hands. In-game RSS keeps you up to date with all of DOW2s happenings while an updated Army Painter increases customisation options.

This patch contains an astonishing amount of content New war gear for the single-player, engine improvements, changeable victory conditions, and a tweaked UI - the list goes on and on. It's the perfect time to start playing online even if, like me, your arse is consistently handed to you.

There Is Only War makes DOW2 plays like an entirely different game. It's more fluid than it used to be and the update has removed any sense onesidedness. You're no longer punished for preferring a race that's inherently weaker. If you fail, it'll be down to your lack of tactical skill or more than likely, you've simply come up against someone who's better than you. Even when you're losing, it feels as though you can turn the tide of battle with a few thought-out manoeuvres. Your choice of tactics never feel undervalued, just mistaken.

This is war redefined. Let's toast to another 40,000 years of conflict.

Developer's Commentary

Changing a Winning formula isn't always the wisest course of action. It can also sometimes be the best one and evidently something Jeff Lydell believes applies to the Warhammer 40,000 real-time strategy game Dawn of War II. This was Relic's attempt to move the game about men with huge shoulder pads and bigger guns into the modern age. Rather than go for the template used the first game, and its myriad add ons, Relic modelled DOWII on their successful squad-based RTS Company of Heroes.

As we were so impressed by the game, we sent a pack of howling Orks to Relic's office to drag producer Jeff Lydell to Zone Towers for an interrogation. We pumped him for information until he was red, sore and relieved to be alive. These words are the results of that intense session.

Final Fight

"When we had our last team play test for Last Stand, I wasn't working on it but I went to the guy who was the producer at the time (I was an associate producer back then), and I said we need to spend more money on this. Not because it was bad, but because it was really good. "I had incredibly high hopes and a high degree of confidence for that game mode. The thing that makes it compelling is the progression. Each time you play it there's gear that you unlock. And when I say more loot I mean more kinds. So it's less about having 10 different types of shotgun, and more about weapon choices and more options to take for how you want to kit out your guy. "So as an example, we're introducing the melta gun, which is a high-powered anti-vehicle gun for ranged squads. We also have lightning claws, and a few other things that are very satisfying."

"I am a fan of the Lictor and the Warlock for their manipulation. There's something very satisfying about that, and the slap you get to do to somebody with that."

Protect And Serve

"It's funny because there are a lot of different audiences we serve when we release our games, and some of the people who 'got it' the fastest were the diehard Warhammer 40,000 fans. The original Dawn of War players had a big adjustment to make, because if they hadn't played Company of Heroes, they weren't around for that ride, and they were probably the hardest hit. And then the Company of Heroes players were looking for certain features that we hadn't included in exchange for others.

"By and large, we did have a lot of people pick up the product and we've had a bigger audience. It's been a big success and we hope that anybody who didn't like it for what it didn't have starts to identify with what it does.

"Because a lot of the customisation of the campaign has been well received, those are areas we're still expanding on. We're giving you more gear, more loot, more places to customise your guys. That's something that everybody will like. But the only other thing I'll disclose is that the Space Marines are getting a Librarian."

Hand To Hand

"Sometimes you go part of the way with a feature and then it doesn't work out. We had an example with melee combat and buildings in the first one, where we had storming. That is, your units could run in and punch people in the building. But there were a ton of problems with it.

"One was that it almost instantly made the building useless to anyone who had a ranged squad in there, because the melee squad could just run in and kill them. The other thing was that you couldn't see it, so it wasn't satisfying.

"As for Titans, we had to make a map on each one, depending on the class. There's always content that we play with at the concept stage that just stops there. Sometimes we come up with ideas that don't fit with the lore."

Extra Campaigns

"We were originally planning on more. As we did more and more though, the amount of investment that it took to do that progression, war gear, levelling and all that, was high. So rather than make an RTS game that was like every other RTS game that came before, we had to make a choice.

"We narrowed the focus down to the Space Marinecampaign and tried to make that as good as we could. The other reason we went with the Space Marines was the story of Chaos and corruption is more compelling from their point of view, and also for a lot of reasons that are going to be obvious when you play Chaos Rising?

Flesh Hooks

"What I loved about DOW2 was what we did with abilities, especially the manipulation ones, so there are a few heroes in the multiplayer game that are potent Like the Warlock with his warp throw. Another ability that's similar is the Lictor's flesh hooks. Both of those involve manipulation of the enemy, which is a really tactile, tactical thing to do. You basically do the Scorpion "Come here!" fatality. No other RTS thing has that, and it was the one thing that brought the biggest smile to my face.

Deadly Accusations

"Well, it's really kinda Darwinistic out there and the best game survives. So if progression and more focused combat out there is the way other RTS games are going, then that's really based on the merits of what's out there. "I don't think base-building RTS games will ever really die.

It's like saying FPS games will die. It's a core staple of video games. But what the RTS game genre does need to do is to continually evolve, unless it wants to keep selling to the same audience over and over again. So we want to sell to that audience and to more, and continue to grow. Which I think is what we are doing, to be honest."

Total War

"There's a big difference in where you put the camera and what sort of game you end up building, and I personally like the Total War series. Medieval is one of the ones that stands out to me. The RTS games that we make though, I believe, are superior from a competitive point of view when it comes to the multiplayer. And that's really facilitated by that escalation of warfare, where you start out small and then getting out more and more units onto the battlefield until you have a bigger fight happening.

"What happens in Total Wat's scale of warfare is you start of with a large force and whittle it down. What I find, and I have played multiplayer games of Total War, is that you end up with a complex game that becomes less interesting over time."

Friendly Competition

The thousands who play multiplayer, based on what they say on the forums, might not like it, but they keep playing. We invest a lot of effort into making our players happy and a lot of those guys who are loudly complaining are going to buy the expansion.

"What it comes down to is that they're passionate, they really care about the game, and they usually lock onto one or two issues and then zero in on that and they get upset. As aggravating as it can be to read, it does come from a good place for the fans. They supply good and constant feedback. And I do read most of it. As for Games for Windows - LIVE!, the part that's hardest for me to bear is the connectivity problems that stop the playing, and that's something we're fighting to solve.''

Space Marines, The Imperium, Blood Ravens, the Eldar, Dreadnoughts - for the legions of Warhammer 40,000 fans that spend their weekends painting tiny models, planning elaborate table-top battles or playing some of the franchise's numerous game outings from the past two decades, this is the stuff of futuristic legend.

I know the strong pull of Games Workshop's fantasy sci-fi universe personally, having nearly failed my degree because of too many glorious late nights combining Polish vodka with epic sessions of the board game Space Crusade. Four years ago, developer Relic unleashed Dawn of War, a superb, violent and faithful RTS version of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, featuring epic battles between the brave Space Marines, the hideous Orks, the traitorous forces of Chaos and the mysterious alien Eldar. Featuring dozens of powerful fighting units - with fantastic detailed animation - plus a story-driven campaign and strategic gameplay concentrating on delivering raw, bloody action rather than tedious micromanagement, DOW and its expansions are still worthy of any PC gamer's collection.

Gods Of War

However, Dawn of War II looks set to eclipse the success of the previous game, with Relic drawing on the experience gained from the creation of the mighty WWII RTS Company of Heroes, so that you can look forward to greater physics implementation, destructible scenery and real-time lighting, plus a host of other exciting improvements and additions.

Full environmental damage means you can now take your Space Marines into an area and, using heavy weaponry, such as the Dreadnoughts, bring down buildings and other structures on top of startled enemies. The rubble and burnt-out buildings are then automatically used by the Al squads to flank opponents, or as cover to receive defence bonuses. Although you'll have to make sure they don't get trapped or cornered by any foes armed with explosive grenades or flamethrowers.

As with Company of Heroes, DOW2 will have a much tighter focus on five or six squads of an elite strike force - guys with a name, face and speciality that you'll carry with you from mission to mission, rather than anonymous grunts churned out by the Emperor's war machine. However, in a nod to the RPG genre, you'll be able to upgrade your characters with 'wargear' inbetween missions.

These items, such as power armour, are acquired in the form of loot on the battlefield. With much smaller numbers of marines available, the use of the powerful Force Commander characters in your squads will be essential for victory in battles where, most of the time, the Space Marines will be vastly outnumbered by Orks or other nasties.

Worlds-Wide War

Major changes are happening to the Campaign mode too, which will now involve a battle over numerous Imperium worlds, with several missions to choose from, and each having consequences on the storyline depending on how victorious you are: do you leave the planet as a thriving battle-hardened community or a devastated war-torn wasteland?

Also, as with the recently announced Alert 3, you'll be able to enjoy the ntire campaign with a friend in two-piayer co-op and they'll be able to jump in or leave games at any time.

Early gameplay demonstrates hectic, intense firefights featuring the Space Marines attacking an Ork stronghold, with their squads using standard bolters and chainswords. The green menace retaliate with melee attacks and stikbombs, which detonate in a gorgeous shower of pyrotechnics. Other units can be called in using huge Drop Pods, which crash to the ground, crushing any enemies underneath their mighty metal frames and unleashing precious reinforcements such as Imperial Assault Marines, complete with handy jetpacks. A huge, ferocious Ork warboss is one of the larger greenskin foes in DOW II, and can silence whole squads and bring down buildings with one beat of his fists. Fortunately, the marines have commander units to counter, who wield massive melee weapons such as thunderhammers and call on devastating laser strikes from fleets orbiting the planets.

Far-Future War

There's much to look forward to in DOW II - less base-building and resource-gathering in favour of more concentrated RTS squad action, vastly improved troop Al, a story-driven co-op mode, a steady stream of rewards to tool up your squads like an RPG, and blistering graphics built using an enhanced version of the Havok physicsheavy Essence Engine (the powerhouse that drove Company of Heroes).

Much has yet to be revealed (the storyline, how squad member deaths will be handled, multiplayer modes and whether we'll see other Warhammer 40,000 staples such as the elusive alien Tyranids and the terrifying Genestealers) but even at this stage of development, the 41st millennium has never looked so enticing...

Heavy Metal

The Imperial Dreadnought makes a glorious return to battle

There are many classic units in Warhammer 40,000, such as the Chaos Lord and the Force Commander. But one of our particular favourites is the stupidly-powerf ul hulking mechs called Dreadnoughts. Able to cause huge destruction with close-quarter combat, or unleash merry death from ranged weapons, the Dreadnought isn't a robot, but an armoured sarcophagus containing the remains of a fallen Space Marine, kept alive by a sophisticated life-support system until the unit is destroyed. Coming in various sizes and flavours, including the Hellfire Dreadnought armed with an assault cannon and missile launcher, Robocop has nothing on these fellas...

As An Avid and, at times, deranged fan of the original, I approached Dawn of War II with hesitation. And by hesitation, I mean I arched my back and hissed at it as soon as I learned that it was to be something other than that which I was accustomed to. Change scares me. That being said, I'm a complete sucker for Steam's recent splurge of weekend and mid-week sales, so my boycott hasn't lasted.

And I'm somewhat glad that it didn't. I say somewhat, as my experience with the game has settled into an odd Marmite-y mix of love and hate. I love the RPG-style character development - it's a testosterone-driven version of a makeover: "Avitus, trust me, you'll look absolutely fabulous with that new Heavy Bolter. And this cloak? This cloak is so you, Cyrus." I swear I spend more time staring at my deadly (and stylish) arsenal than I do battling xeno scum. It also reminds me of Chaos Gate's squad customisation, which fills me with warm fuzzy waves of nostalgia.

But then there's the hate. While it's customary to hurl buse at your virtual minions n strategy games (generally due to your own tactical inadequacies and inability to accept them), never before have I seen the Emperor's Finest exhibiting such utterly painful levels of stupidity. A grenade lands at their feet, and they do nothing. I'm the commander, not their nanny; do I really have to tell them that explosives are bad?

Meanwhile, movement orders are interpreted liberally, and my happy little Space Marines will often decide to take cover on the wrong side of a wall and so present their metal buttocks to the enemy with great V aplomb. And then there's the lack of mid-mission saves, rendering the greatest penalty for mission failure: the knowledge that you'll have to do it again.

Usually such frustrations might tempt me to cast the game aside, but I've just acquired Dreadnought, and he looks lovely in his golden armour.

When A Man from THQ came into our office to show us the gameplay of Dawn of War II, the sequel to the excellent RTS set in the Warhammer40,000 universe, we were told we couldn't have a copy of the movie. We had to sit there and watch it on a laptop, which we weren't allowed to touch.

DOW2 has already attracted a lot of speculation - if not for the gameplay video (which was finally shown at E3), then for the teaser trailer which alluded to a new, sky-dwelling terror about to infest the world. The current favourite bet is that the hive-mind Tyranids will be swarming across the maps - if you're not up on your Warhammer lore, they're an awesome super-predator with accelerated evolution. This could be good...

The Bigger Picture

• Near-Death Experience

Hero units won't die, they'll be incapacitated until they're rescued by a commander. This has caused a few concerns from people asking how a game will ever end.

• Units

Battling well earns you the power to summon a reinforcements pod from the skies. Getting a pod to land on your enemy will cause massive damage and a gratifying spatter of blood.

• Tyranid Menace?

No-one's confirmed whether the Tyranids are in the game yet. Their similarity to StarCrofts Zerg is obvious, but fans of Warhammer will, tell you that the Tyranids pre-date the Zerg by a good few years.

• Work Together

The environment can be used tactically: if there's a wall in the way, you can either use your commander to jetpack over it to surprise the enemy or blow it up with grenades.

• Accessorise

Before you enter battle, you can load out your characters with items found on the battlefield. Each add-on gives the squad an ability boost, and can make a big difference to a battle.

• Now You See Me...

The races' play styles are hugely distinct: Human squads are small but pack a punch, Eldar have the blink-like ability to warp and disorientate their opponents, while Orks are ruddy big and scary.

• Know Nothing

Flames can be used to flush enemies from buildings. Many found Humans were overpowered in previous DOW games, so we're looking forward to seeing how it all balances. Especially if the Tyranids.

So It Was Tyranids all along. That was the great secret Relic were alluding to in their previous teaser video. Not Ork spores or a new race of Deep Crows, but playable, hive-minded, exo-skeletal Tyranids. An unstoppable force of nature smearing itself across the Imperium, devouring planets, and pushing outwards towards the furthest reaches of the galaxy.

They dissolve into the potent RTS mix of Dawn of War II perfectly, with brood nests acting as spawn points for the insectoid menace, massive Tyrants acting as powerful commanders, and a hive-mind mentality which filters into your military tactics. Tyranids connected to the hive glow green as they channel the thoughts, knowledge and intentions of every tyranid around them. But kill their squad leader and they become bewildered and panicked, having had their bearings violently ravaged. They scuttle madly; still a threat but a mindless one. The Space Marine strike force have a more dynamic single player campaign, one which forces you to choose your fights as they come. Rewards such as powerful new weapons will tempt you away from the more humanitarian rescue missions, as up to three different calls to arms will be demanding your attention at any given moment.

Commander-exclusive items such as jetpacks are also available, liberal use of which was made in the demo we were shown. Not only do the packs launch your men over walls, but they'll come down hard on whatever's on the other side, crushing enemies and deforming the terrain.

With the inclusion of Warhammer 40,000's most terrifying creatures, Dawn of War II's fiendish roster is bound to please fans. And even if you're not a fan, you can't argue that a single-minded bipedal cricket with two-storey scythes for forearms isn't one of the best enemies that could've been included.