Warhammer 40,000 games have taken many forms over the years, from over-the-top action games to tactical squad-based adventures. However, none are as legendary as the Dawn of War series of games—specifically, the first game and its multiple expansions. This is one trip down memory lane that’s well worth the price of admission, despite several technical and legacy issues that stem from working on a game that’s more than 20 years old.
Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War Definitive Edition is a remaster of the original Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War and its expansions: Winter Assault, Dark Crusade, and Soulstorm. The game introduces quality of life improvements and upscaled visuals on top of making it readily available for a new generation of gamers who might have been put off by any game that looks “dated”. But really, this one’s primarily for us old heads who look fondly at it with nostalgia, and are grateful that we no longer have to jump through loops to be in a decent multiplayer lobby.
Before we get to the review proper, let’s go over what you can expect to see in a normal match of Dawn of War. For those unfamiliar with the gameplay, it differs slightly from many of its RTS contemporaries in certain aspects. You are still expected to gather resources, construct production buildings, and research upgrades, but the pacing is a bit more frantic.
In a typical match of Dawn of War, you are expected to capture several Control Points scattered throughout the map. These points generate a finite resource, called Requisition, that you will spend on squads and upgrades. From this point onward, it is an aggressive dance to control as many points on the map as possible, while preventing the enemy from gaining any sort of advantage. Victory is achieved after destroying most of the enemy’s base structures, or in some maps, taking control of the majority of the Critical Points for a set period of time.
Dawn of War stands out because of its squad configurations. Nothing exemplifies this feature more than the game’s poster child faction: The Space Marines. Space Marine squads can equip various heavy weapons to help them deal with different threats, making them the Swiss Army Knife for every encounter. The other factions specialize much the same way in varying degrees, depending on that faction’s playstyle. Nonetheless, all factions can replenish their squad members for as long as one member still yet lives. This unique aspect goes hand-in-hand with the series’s theme of never ending conflict.
Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War Definitive Edition is by far the best version of the game to ever release. It goes well beyond what was done in the Anniversary Edition by having all the expansions in one location as options alongside the original game. Additionally, the launcher has been rebuilt from the ground up so that it works perfectly on modern hardware. You guys have no idea how much apprehension I’ve felt whenever I accidentally open the army editor window in the original Soulstorm. If it didn’t outright crash the program, everything would slow down to a crawl while loading in color palette swaps for the Sisters of Battle. I am so happy that I don’t have to worry about it too much. Though I do still visit the originals from time to time when the nostalgia hits.
So what’s it like in game now? Well, the widescreen camera rework has made visible more parts of the screen. In contrast, the original’s camera was a little too zoomed in by modern standards. The character details have also seen a bump in detail, showing off more of that glorious execution animation for select units. The best quality of life improvement for me is the reworked shadows and lighting system. In the past, the game relied on spot shadows as a means of bypassing hardware limitations. Modern techniques have it possible for realtime shadows to appear for all units.
Admittedly, there are some issues that still need to be addressed post launched. Despite several improvements last October via the 2.4.0 Update, pathfinding remains a persistent issue for larger units. Some units also still get get stuck behind geometry, for whatever reason. I know the developers are working on fixes and are actively communiting with the community with stuff like modding and improvements to multiplayer, but these issue will take time to be addressed, and I don’t think they’ll be able to fix everything before Dawn of War 4 launches next year.
The biggest drawback I’ve noticed with the game is that the multiplayer only follows the Soulstorm balance ruleset, which in itself isn’t the worst thing. But the community would have liked to the option of choosing their preferred ruleset. Because believe it or not, there are players who prefer the faction balance of Dark Crusade. I may be of the majority who prefer Soulstorm, but I totally get where they’re coming from after playing Guardsmen under both rulesets.
I have to give credit the developers for managing to get everything working to an acceptable degree in multiplayer. It would have been so easy to drop a lazy port and then promise to fix everything post launch. But they didn’t do that. Real effort was put into this remaster and they deserve all the praise for how good it really is. Also, the game is 30% off for players who already own the Anniversary Edition. And that’s on top of any future discounts the game might get down the line. The gesture is very much appreciated.
And finally, let’s take about the story modes. I will be very blunt and let you all know that the lion’s share of effort went to the original Dawn of War campaign (and to a lesser extent, Winter Assault). Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the first game. I do love that the cutscenes give off that Warhammer 3 vibe. But it’s quite telling that the studio goes hard on promoting the first game’s remade cinematic intro, and then only having the 360p intros for both Dark Crusade and Soulstorm. I guess it doesn’t help that Dark Crusade and Soulstorm don’t have linear campaigns, opting instead for conquest grand strategy maps.
On the bright side, the audio and conversations have been cleaned up by a lot in comparison to the original recordings. This mostly applies to the first game and its cinematics. The rest of the titles play the original cinematics and audio. I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon as there are more pressing matters the team is concerned with.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War Definitive Edition is a must play for enjoyers of the original Dawn of War and its expansions. Even if you have a passing interest for the series, you have every reason to pick this game up and then some. It’s not perfect by any means and you can clearly see where the game falls short in some places but it is great in the area that matter most: the gameplay. If anything else, this is by far the best version of the game out currently and will likely continue to receive updates in the near future, at least until Dawn of War 4 comes out.
Dawn of War Definitive Edition (PC)
The Good
- Made a classic more accessible to a lot of gamers
- Retains everything good about the original games
- Numerous visual improvements
- Updated User Interface
The Bad
- If didn't like Dawn of War then, you're not going to like it now
- Multiple legacy issues remain
- Upscaled graphics are hit or miss
