The War hammer 40k games....... some questions

[Vault101]

Hi, I am somwhat unfamiliar with the warhammer 40k universe

I mean theres like space marins and aliens and all that (and violence, yes?)

so anyway theres this space marine game coming out, which Im quite interested in

So I thourght Id get your veiw on the other games, the RTS ones, are they called Dawn of war?

1. how many are there?

2. are they any good?

3. any to avoid? how would it compare to say...starcraft? (never played starcraft but Im in the mood for a sci fi RTS)

 

[ChupathingyX]

There are two Dawn of War games.

Dawn of War has 3 expansion packs; Winter Assault, Dark Crusade and Soulstorm.

Dawn of War II has 2 expansion packs; Chaos Rising and Retribution.

Being the Warhammer 40K fanboy I am I would say play all of them, but...

I suggest you buy Dark Crusade (standalone) and any of the DoW II's. Although if you want to play as all races I suggest you play Soulstorm because that had Sisters of Battle and Dark Eldar, however, Soulstorm is generally considered the worst out of all the DoW expansions, I enjoyed it but the new units aren't that great and the campaign wasn't that much of an improvement over Dark Crusade.

It did, however, have hilarious voice acting!

Dawn of War II has fantastic voice acting.

Dawn of War package
http://www.ozgameshop.com/pc-games/warhammer-dawn-of-war-the-complete-collection-game-pc

Dawn of War II has DoW II, Chaos Rising and Retribution package too. http://www.ozgameshop.com/pc-games/dawn-of-war-2-ii-complete-collection-game-pc

 

[Catalyst6]

They are very good, the game and story both.

As for the games, the original DoW and it's expansions were more of your average large-scale, base-building kind of RTSes while DoW II was far more tactical. As for which is better, well, I'd say that they're both good in their own respects.

However, I'd think that you might get a kick out of reading into the universe before jumping into the games, they don't really give you much of an introductory guide to the world. It's worth it, I swear!

 

[Aeshi]

1. Dawn of War (Expansions: Winter Assault, Dark Crusade & Soulstorm) and Dawn of War II (Expansions: Chaos Rising & Retribution)

2. Both are well worth the money, but I personally prefer the first to the second.

3. There's more emphasis on customization than Starcraft (you can choose what special weapons your squads carry for instance) and the second is essentially an RPG/RTS hybrid.

 

[the_dancy_vagrant]

1. DoW 1 had the main game plus 3 expansions - Winter Assault, Dark Crusade, and Soul Storm. DoW 2 has the vanilla game plus 2 expansions so far - Chaos Rising and Retribution

2. Yes with a but. Both games focus heavily on multiplayer but the single player campaign is kinda meh at the best. DoW 1's last 2 expansions were riddled with issues and didn't have dedicated campaigns per se. You could play as each race, but there's not really a plot aside from 'kill all the enemies and take over the campaign map'. DoW 2 and Chaos Rising both have a campaign (for space marines only), Retribution has a campaign for each race but the differences between each one is fairly minor.

3. Not really. They're all pretty ok when it comes down to the bottom line. The pacing is somewhat slower than SC2. In DoW2 there's no such thing as base building - you don't build anything but units and get into the fight ASAP. The learning curve for both games is very, very steep in multiplayer. Also, I have no idea if there are all that many people still playing the first one or its expansions any longer.

The main difference that the DoW series has compared to many other RTS games is the idea of squads rather than individual units for infantry. You can reinforce squad losses rather than just losing a guy and building another to replace him. So the loss of 1 dude is not a huge deal, but the loss of an entire squad is...like...devastating. Very, very bad. You also have squad upgrades that make said squads better/worse at specific roles, ie for DoW 2 you can equip certain squads with anti-vehicle weapons that make them able to take on tanks and the like but they're then no good at dealing with infantry. It's good stuff and if you've got a hankering for a fairly deep game I recommend the series pretty highly.

 

[Canid117]

2. Both are well worth the money, but I personally prefer the first to the second.

Except soulstorm. Unless you want to laugh at the awful voice acting.

 

[the_dancy_vagrant]

2. Both are well worth the money, but I personally prefer the first to the second.

Except soulstorm. Unless you want to laugh at the awful voice acting.

Part of the charm, really.

No...no. You're right, it was godawful.

 

[Vault101]

just wondering, I mena if the multiplayer is dead is there not much point gettign them?

 

[Canid117]

2. Both are well worth the money, but I personally prefer the first to the second.

Except soulstorm. Unless you want to laugh at the awful voice acting.

Part of the charm, really.

No...no. You're right, it was godawful.

GAH! METAL BAWKSES!

It was cheesy before but Jesus!

 

[the_dancy_vagrant]

just wondering, I mena if the multiplayer is dead is there not much point gettign them?

For the first game it *may* be dead. The 2nd one is still quite active.

ALSO: DoW 2 comes with a kinda-sorta minigame called The Last Stand. It's (apparently) like Defense of the Ancients (which I've never played) and is quite a lot of fun.

 

[ChupathingyX]

just wondering, I mena if the multiplayer is dead is there not much point gettign them?

The first game kinda is, but it's still a hell of a lot of fun to play with friends.

The second one is still going on strong, and the Last stand mode is very fun to play with friends, to win it requires team work and communicaton.

 

[Switchblade1080]

1. Officially there are 3 in the modern era...Dawn of War series as a whole.

Personally, I prefer the Firestorm series at moddb...Mods keep the 1st Dawn of War alive. Unfortunately my ties with Firestorm are SO close that I can't remember most if not all aspects of vanilla Dawn of War were capable of.

The lore might suck you in, and make you know THE TRUTH behind Starcraft!!

2. If you're into it, the Universe's lore is very VERY grimdark. You'll be surprised what Humans are trying to do with aliens nowadays. And Peace Treaties are out of the question.

3. ahem...Dawn of War is more of an Action-RTS. Therefore...

1.) Units will fire their guns while moving.
2.) Units have a melee and a ranged attack. (Though, when one is better than the other depends on the unit)
3.) There is no resource gathering in the game. Your primary resource (Requisition) can only be obtained through a Capture-the-flag like method called "Strategic Points". In case you didn't get it; think of Unreal Tournament 2004's Onslaught while commanding units in an RTS view.
4.) Sync Kills FTW!!
5.) Awesome but nothing special Physics system (Dawn of War 2 will make your saved replay seem more painful.)
6.) Unlike Starcraft II, you will see every scratch of detail in a gritty atmosphere. sawing guts, still living bodies impaled by painful pointy weapons, armies getting bludgeoned by a rampaging giant...

 

[Still Life]

Hi, I am somwhat unfamiliar with the warhammer 40k universe

I mean theres like space marins and aliens and all that (and violence, yes?)

so anyway theres this space marine game coming out, which Im quite interested in

So I thourght Id get your veiw on the other games, the RTS ones, are they called Dawn of war?

1. how many are there?

2. are they any good?

3. any to avoid? how would it compare to say...starcraft? (never played starcraft but Im in the mood for a sci fi RTS)

You can get the box set of the original DOW and its expansions very cheap. Then go into the prolific mod community and check out the insane number of maps and extras (like fully realised factions) to add to the core game. Definitely check out the skirmish AI mod, which is a total blast!

Then, play and watch the epic fights unfold.

DOWII is also great and mixes elements or Company of Heroes with DOW, emphasizing the small scale unit tactics, making for some smaller, but intense games.

You want lore? Check out the Warhammer 40k wiki and start reading up on the factions and races. It's a very deep and rewarding universe of fiction and a favorite of many for good reason.

Looking forward to Space Marine, too

 

[Vault101]

6.) Unlike Starcraft II, you will see every scratch of detail in a gritty atmosphere. sawing guts, still living bodies impaled by painful pointy weapons, armies getting bludgeoned by a rampaging giant...

ohhhhh...now that DOES sound pretty cool

can it stand up without multiplayer?

 

[Hawgh]

There are two Dawn of War games.

Dawn of War has 3 expansion packs; Winter Assault, Dark Crusade and Soulstorm.

Dawn of War II has 2 expansion packs; Chaos Rising and Retribution.

Being the Warhammer 40K fanboy I am I would say play all of them, but...

I suggest you buy Dark Crusade (standalone) and any of the DoW II's. Although if you want to play as all races I suggest you play Soulstorm because that had Sisters of Battle and Dark Eldar, however, Soulstorm is generally considered the worst out of all the DoW expansions, I enjoyed it but the new units aren't that great and the campaign wasn't that much of an improvement over Dark Crusade.

It did, however, have hilarious voice acting!

Dawn of War II has fantastic voice acting.

Dawn of War package
http://www.ozgameshop.com/pc-games/warhammer-dawn-of-war-the-complete-collection-game-pc

Dawn of War II has DoW II, Chaos Rising and Retribution package too. http://www.ozgameshop.com/pc-games/dawn-of-war-2-ii-complete-collection-game-pc

I agree with everything this man says.

 

[ChupathingyX]

ohhhhh...now that DOES sound pretty cool

You probably want to experience that stuff for yourself, but if you can't wait then...

Spoiler: Dawn of War sync kills

Spoiler: Dawn of War II sync kills

That's just a small taste...

 

[the_dancy_vagrant]

Oh and there is a 40K FPS but that was garbage. Even a absolute rabid fanboy like me could not handle it for more than 15 minutes.

Ah, Fire Warrior...I had high hopes right up until the loading screen was done. After that...not so much.

Still interested to see how Spess Mehreen plays, though.