Dawn of War II or Starcraft II?

[OutforEC]

I've recently been going over the games that I have, and realized that there was a distinct lack of RTS titles. I've played Warcraft I-III, C&C (pre-Tiberian Sun), Starcraft (pre-Brood Queen), and vanilla Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War, but none of them are currently loaded and I'm not sure I even have the CD keys anymore. Well, I'm looking to rectify that.

Any RTS fans have any input as to which game I should pick up? I'm not looking into multiplayer as much as single-player, do does your choice depend upon DLC, or does it have a good stand-alone single-player campaign right out of the box? How is the learning curve of each, and the replay value? Is there one that you would suggest other then the ones I've mentioned?

Thanks.

 

[Fiend13]

Can give the rundown about Starcraft II as i played that a few hundred hours by now:
Story wise the campagne is pretty weak. The characters (especially Jim Raynor) are unbelievable and inconsistent. Furthermore there are major plotholes. That said the Starcraft II campagne has probably the best gameplay of all time because it is fast paced, diversified and has a decent difficulty curve. It also features minor rpg elements that enrich the gameplay further.

Out of 26 missions (á 20 - 30 minutes each) there are 3 - 4 missions that require you to make a minor choice so that's a little bit of replay value. Also if you are into that stuff each mission has 3 different achievements + about another 25 for the overall campagne (no unlockables here but you can show the internet how awesome you are or something along those lines).

Almost forgot there will be two expansions with another 20 missions each. Considering the story itself is pretty good it could be an epic tale if they fix the writing in the expansions.

Additionally i have to mention the custom maps: Since Starcraft 2 has the best editor ever created there are already alot of these and they get more by the day. Many of them are really fun to play and have only little left from your standard rts. Prime examples are a DOTA mod and a 1v1 or 2v2 game called Starjeweled (go figure).

Finally it has the best multiplayer of all time and even if you are not interested in that you can see it as a bonus.

As for Dawn of War II although i never played the game i could imagine it get's boring really fast because of the somewhat unique (or rather simple) gameplay mechanic. Maybe the story makes it count i won't be the judge of that.

 

[OutforEC]

I know the Starcraft series is unbelievably popular and I enjoyed it when I played, but I don't know if I'd prefer the three-race gameplay when DoW offers so many more choices. However, since I'm not really all that good at RTS gameplay, maybe it would be easier for me to keep track of things when I've only got three things to choose from?

As for Dawn of War II although i never played the game i could imagine it get's boring really fast because of the somewhat unique (or rather simple) gameplay mechanic. Maybe the story makes it count i won't be the judge of that.

When you say 'simple' gamplay, to what do you refer?

 

[KefkaCultist]

I own and really like both games actually. If I had to chose one or the other I'd probably go with Starcraft because I find it a bit more fun for the most part and it holds my attention longer (but I'm a Protoss whore so there's bias there). I only pop in Warhammer for a few games every once in a while. I do enjoy Warhammer, but it doesnt see anywhere near as much play as SCII does from me.

 

[Smooth Operator]

SC2 - extremely hardcore RTS, DW2 - very softcore RTS mixed with RPG elements

It's up to you to choose
Edit: and be sure to check gameplay on youtube because DW2 is very different from the standard

 

[Fiend13]

Standard rts gameplay works like this: Build workers, build buildings then build an army and go kill him.
In Dawn of War II you basically get 1 - 10 Squads at the start of each mission (you can upgrade these individual squads into oblivion; think of it as WC3 heroes) and run around the map to capture points of interest (and also keep your squad alive during the process). And that's it.
This system seemed to be interesting in the professional multiplayer games i watched but i don't think it is enjoyable for a campaign.

 

[YuheJi]

Dawn of War 2 gets fairly repetitive. If given a choice, I would recommend Chaos Rising (the expansion pack for Dawn of War 2) instead. I found the missions in Chaos Rising to be much more varied and interesting than the ones in DoW2.

 

[tombman888]

Ehhhh... i personally prefer the original dawn of wars (winter assault, dark crusade, soulstorm) over the sequel titles. Mainly due to the lack of buildings and base construction in the game.

So out of those two, i'd say Starcraft 2

 

[Waaghpowa]

I've recently been going over the games that I have, and realized that there was a distinct lack of RTS titles. I've played Warcraft I-III, C&C (pre-Tiberian Sun), Starcraft (pre-Brood Queen), and vanilla Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War, but none of them are currently loaded and I'm not sure I even have the CD keys anymore. Well, I'm looking to rectify that.

Any RTS fans have any input as to which game I should pick up? I'm not looking into multiplayer as much as single-player, do does your choice depend upon DLC, or does it have a good stand-alone single-player campaign right out of the box? How is the learning curve of each, and the replay value? Is there one that you would suggest other then the ones I've mentioned?

Thanks.

Both are great RTS's, both offer something different.

Starcraft II is for people who enjoy resource based RTS games.

Dawn of War 2 is more focused on small scale combat, squads and the creative use of elements beyond "shoot them dead". For example, DOW2 has a large emphasis on cover and suppression. Cover obviously reducing incoming fire, while suppressing enemy forces slows their movement and make them more vulnerable to fire. Proper use of cover and suppression makes for interesting games.

Personally, I enjoy both, but I've spent more hours playing DoW2 because you don't have the luxury of replacing units or creating massive armies. Tactically you have to account for your terrain more so in Starcraft. It also has a RPG element to it, swapping out unit weapons an armour, putting skill points into different areas to suit your play style.

When I played, I had a range army. Heavy weapons in back with knock back long range, infantry upfront behind cover suppressing enemy movement, Dreadnaught with an Auto cannon to soak up damage and my commander in terminator armour and a special knock back flame thrower. I was a beast both offensively and defensively.

 

[Harlief]

Dawn of War 2 drops the whole "Zerg Rush" tactic and is pretty damned fun if you're into tactics, Chaos Rising was an OK expansion, I've not even looked at retribution because Games Workshop has gone into money-grabbing mode.

 

[Fiend13]

Oh always forgot to mention: In Wings of Liberty (Starcraft 2 campagne) you only play terran and a little bit of protoss. The expansion Heart of the Swarm (early 2012 as of now) will feature mainly zerg gameplay and the last one called Legacy of the Void will evolve around protoss.
So you only play one race but the way it's done i still enjoyed it more than other games with different races.

Dawn of War 2 is more focused on small scale combat, squads and the creative use of elements beyond "shoot them dead". For example, DOW2 has a large emphasis on cover and suppression. Cover obviously reducing incoming fire, while suppressing enemy forces slows their movement and make them more vulnerable to fire. Proper use of cover and suppression makes for interesting games.

And here i see the problem of DoW2: Starcraft 2 has - as any other rts game does - the same mechanics. Micro (individually positioning you units during fights) will keep your units alive longer or give you an advantage else there. Cover and suppression are equal to terrain mechanics in SC2, meaning your positioning on either the high or the low ground may give the edge or even let you set up a contain.
What im trying to point at is that DoW2 seems to bring nothing to the table while basically keeping half the gameplay (macro, build orders, simcity's; explaining these would take to long) from you.

 

[Waaghpowa]

Dawn of War 2 drops the whole "Zerg Rush" tactic and is pretty damned fun if you're into tactics, Chaos Rising was an OK expansion, I've not even looked at retribution because Games Workshop has gone into money-grabbing mode.

Which is why it's kinda baffling that someone would say that DoW2 is "simple", pretty sure proper set up and efficient use of cover != simple. As far as Retribution goes, it was still good, but they put in the usual unit creation from buildings crap which made it less tactical than the others, but it was 30 bucks so whatever.

 

[SHIFTYMACO]

Dawn of War II's story is great, And the Single player campaign is really long.
Starcraft Looks like a dolled up version of the original!

 

[Waaghpowa]

Dawn of War II's story is great, And the Single player campaign is really long.
Starcraft Looks like a dolled up version of the original!

I blame Activision.

 

[octafish]

Have you considered Company of Heroes? You should be able to pick it up bundled with all of its expansions pretty cheaply. One of the expansions takes the DoW2 approach of hero based campaigns, I think it was called Men of Valour.

 

[Fiend13]

Which is why it's kinda baffling that someone would say that DoW2 is "simple", pretty sure proper set up and efficient use of cover != simple. As far as Retribution goes, it was still good, but they put in the usual unit creation from buildings crap which made it less tactical than the others, but it was 30 bucks so whatever.

It is simple for reasons you can see in the post above yours. I don't mean any ill will here and i by no means wanna state that it isn't as demanding as other games or less fun for all the audience but the problem remains. The only difference between DoW2 and other rts games aside from the fact the first basically is half a game (gameplay wise) lies in the presentation: Activated abilities like the two in question jump at you while in most games these things are barely touched at in the singleplayer and therefor less known to the majority of players.

 

[LoFr3Eq]

Starcraft...

Because Starcraft...

Seriously, it is awesome, it will make you better at every other game.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

Dawn of War II - Retribution lets you play as an Ork freebooter, whose only condition when asked by an agent of the Holy Ordos to act as a hired gun is that he wants her hat ("No hat, no deal!"). It is pretty much made of awesome.

With that said, the storyline is a direct continuation of the Chaos Rising campaign (which was quite interesting and made me REALLY want to see how events played out once I finished it), so I can't necessarily give it an unqualified recommendation if you haven't played Chaos Rising already... because you'll spoil the story, heh.

 

[TriggerOnly]

Starcraft 2 is very very hard and insanely complicated but fun.

Dawn of War 2 is very fun and not to hard to get to a good level.


I have both but I would have to say DOW2 wins it. its just to much fun with out all the hard hard work starcraft makes you put in.

 

[Mr Thin]

Dawn of War II is very, very different to its predecessor; I haven't played Starcraft 2, but it seems like Starcraft 1 with a paint-job.

I've always been more of a WH40K fan, but if you're looking for an RTS, I'd still recommend Starcraft 2, it's probably the better game.

DoW 2 is interesting and fun, I greatly enjoyed it, but it's not really an RTS. You can't really define it in just one genre.