Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War

by THQ

Product Features

• Real-time strategy game based on the popular table-top war game
• Vie for the survival of mankind or its ultimate destruction
• Control 1 of 4 unique races
• Improved resource model makes it easier to focus on frontline action
• Single player campaigns; Multiplayer for up to 8 via LAN or Internet

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000AA5WTY
• Item Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: September 20, 2005
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,265 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: PC | Edition: Game of the Year

From the Manufacturer

This Game of The Year Edition features four new maps unique to this edition, four maps previously only available online and new online features, including Observer Mode, Friends list and Arranged Teams.

Ten thousand years have passed since the treasonous acts of Chaos toppled the Golden Age of mankind. Fires burn brightly throughout the galaxies, illuminating carnage and slaughter as mankind defends itself from ancient enemies. Hardened forces collide with one goal in mind, the complete extermination of their opposition.

Dawn of War's 3-D engine provides close in zooms of frontline battles.

Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War is a revolutionary science fiction real-time strategy (RTS) game set in the violent, post-apocalyptic universe of the 41st Millennium. Utilizing the exceptional game design skills of Relic Entertainment, Dawn of War provides an immersive entertainment experience of epic proportions. Command hardened troops, deadly vehicles and high tech weaponry with one goal in mind, the complete extermination of the opposition.

Whether you lead Humanity's finest - the Space Marines, the diabolic and villainous traitors of man - the Chaos Space Marines, the brutal and savage beasts - the Orks, or the psychic and technologically advanced alien warriors - the Eldar, you control the action and the fate of your race!

With Relic's revolutionary 3D engine and zoom in features, each game is certain to provide awe-inspiring, visceral frontline combat never before depicted in an RTS.

Features

• Visceral cinematic melee and ranged combat - Realistic unit animations provide the most detailed combat depicted in a real-time strategy game
• Four Unique Races - Command the Eldar, Space Marines, Orks or Chaos, each with their own unique tech tree, structures, abilities, and research, in epic battles for control of the universe and the eradication of one's foes
• Cutting Edge 3D Engine - Relic's proprietary, robust 3D engine provides close in zooms of unprecedented detail accentuating the carnage and slaughter of frontline battles. Appropriate scaled terrain, vehicle physics, and dynamic lighting contribute to a level of realism never displayed in an RTS
• Innovative Resource Model - Resource model that emphasizes the capturing and securing of key strategic points throughout a map, focusing action on the frontline
• Pioneering Tactical Gameplay - Tactical features such as cover, squad based gameplay, morale, and hero units, which promotes unit strategy over mass assaults while still allowing for large-scale battles
• Story Driven Single Player Campaign - Epic tale of treason and conspiracy communicated through stunning cut-scenes and in-game dialogue and action
• Multiplay - 2 to 8 player multiplayer via LAN or Internet supporting game matching and tournament options

Product Description

On the frontlines there is but onecommandment...thou shalt killProduct InformationWarhammer 40000: Dawn of War follows the exploits of the Blood Ravens a SpaceMarine chapter whose past is shrouded in mystery. Brother Captain GabrielAngelos and his faithful sub-commander the powerful psyker Librarian IsadorAkios bring the Blood Ravens to bear on a growing Ork threat to the planetTartarus. However things on the battle-scarred planet are not as they seem andsoon our heroes find themselves in the midst of a complex plot involving OrksEldar and the evil forces of Chaos.Welcome to the new generation of real-time strategic warfare. Warhammer 40000:Dawn of War delivers a level of visual detail never before seen in an RTS.Hundreds of units clash on the battlefields of the dark future unleashingmassive destruction through a stunning battery of long-range weaponry beforeclosing in for the finish. Incredible kill animations bring science fictioncombat to life like never before and the gritty future-gothic Warhammer 40000setting provides a striking tableau for the chaos and carnage of this grim darkfuture where there is only war!Product HighlightsSquad-based TacticsCommand squads of units in the white-hot forge of battle. Reinforce squads onthe fly and adapt them on the battlefield to engage specific enemies by addingheavy anti-vehicle weapons rapid-firing anti-personnel armament or wargeardesigned to crush the morale of your opponents. Attach commander units to yoursquads to gain additional offensive and defensive capabilities. Deploy mixedforces of infantry armored vehicles lumbering war machines and daemons inyour struggle for dominance of the battlefield.Four Unique RacesCommand the army of your choice. Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War showcases fourraces from Games Workshop's Warhammer 40000 setting: the tough and austereSpace Marines the raucous and destructive Orks the enigmatic Eldar and themalevolent forces of Chaos. With a

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Glorious animated SF carnage in the Warhammer 40K universe!, February 10, 2006

By 

Valnastar "Man With No Name" (Deep 13, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War Game of the Year (CD-ROM)

This "Game of the Year" edition of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (DoW) contains new battle maps, online features and an observer mode to enhance what was already a terrific RTS computer game. Each of the four races in the game look and behave as one would expect from Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 (aka 40K) universe. The Eldar are graceful and cultured in their speech and appearance (think High Elves in space), performing marvelous acrobatic moves in combat. Orks are brutal, awkward and ramshackle in their appearance and gait, Chaos Marines and their demonic minions are dark, cruel and monstrous while regular Space Marines (enhanced humans) are very industrial and all business. The animations in combat are so good you'll want to play some skirmishes on easy difficulty so that you can take your time looking close up at the individual fighting using the fully moveable 3D camera. There are even special "sync-kill" animations when certain creatures destroy each other. For example, when the Space Marine Commander kills a gigantic Bloodthirster (huge winged demon), the animation sequence is one of the most spectacular in the game!

The skirmish option offers both single and multiplayer modes with many different battle maps from which to choose. This offers near limitless permutations, providing tons of re-playability. The campaign is a wee bit linear and not overly challenging, but is loads of fun, has an entertaining story and can be completed by all players regardless of skill level. Difficulty level settings can be used in both campaign and skirmish play to make the game more or less challenging as desired.

The voice acting and music are quite good in DoW and enhance play enormously. The game is highly evocative of the dark, gothic feel of the 40K miniatures game produced by Games Workshop (GW).

Resource gathering is used as is expected in an RTS game, but it is very simple and does not occupy an enormous amount of game time. The emphasis of DoW is all on the action and combat! Resources are gathered by capturing strategic points and critical locations on the battle map. Capture more territory and more resources will be available to you to complete your research and build your army.

Note that the expansion pack for this game, Winter Assault, will provide players with even more maps and options, as well as a new army, The Imperial Guard. There are also numerous mods available on the Internet providing even more armies from the 40K universe.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In the future there is only war...and Dawn of War sure captures it, April 1, 2007

By 

A. Sandoc "sussarakhen" (San Pablo, California United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War Game of the Year (CD-ROM)

Relic has done something which many Games Workshop fans have been wishing for all these many long years. They finally took the Warhammer 40,000 franchise, with its rich and detailed history and background, and turned it into a fun and rich RTS. Dawn of War brings to the RTS genre of gaming new innovations which gives the game a unique look in terms of gameplay. Relic really brought the grim future of Warhammer 40k and it truly nothing but war.

Dawn of War uses many of the basic concepts of past real-time strategy games like Starcraft (in my opinion a knock-off of Warhammer 40k), Warcraft, Age of Empires and a multitude of RTS clones. The game allows a player to pick from four different races for multiplayer. These races are the bread and butter of the Warhammer 40k mythos. There's the Space Marines of the Imperium who are the humans (genetically-enhanced superhumans) in the game with the Eldar taking the role of the elves if this games was based in a high-fantasy setting. The other two races might be considered the villain races of the game in the form of the brutal and savage Orks (Orcs in space as I like to call them) and the Chaos Space Marines (the darker and evil version of the Space Marines).

Each of the four race follows a tech tree to determine which units become available right from the get-go and what could be requisitioned later on as certain goals are met either through building certain structures and/or taking command of relic items. This is where Dawn of War takes a different path in terms of gameplay mechanics. Instead of farming for energy, gas, crystals or any sort of energy patches around the map, the player can concentrate of just taking control of strategic points which allows for more areas to be used to build structures such as power plants and armories to requisition troops and vehicles. The game breaks away from past RTS by not bogging down the player with building farms an non-combat units to farm resources.

This new way of procuring units and energy to build more structures allows for players to get into the thick of the fight right from the beginning. In fact, creating a fighting squad is the first thing players need to learn to do right from the start in order to capture strategic points to expand a player's space to build power plants and structures on. These units are accurately designed and portrayed both in look and how they move and fight. From the Space Marines and their methodical way of fighting, to the graceful Eldar who speed gives them an advantage over slower opponents and right down to the hardy and brutish Orks who can take more damage than other units. All four races are pretty well-balanced in that no specific army is overpowered over the rest.

The single-player campaign really brings the universe of Warhammer 40k to life with it's brutal story of warfare, conspiracies and epic storytelling. Relic introduces a new Space Marine chapter to the Warhammer 40k canon with the enigmatic Blood Ravens Chapter whose role in Dawn of War brings them into conflict with not just the Orks but also with the Eldar and their twisted and debased battle-brothers, the Chaos Space Marines. I thoroughly enjoyed playing through the single-player campaign. It's quite a change to actually have an engaging campaign to play through which most RTS games don't have.

Overall, Relic did a fine job in translating the grim future of Warhammer 40K into an innovating real-time strategy game. Dawn of War takes what's very good of past RTS games while bringing in something new to the table which gives the game its own unique-style of gameplay. Finally, Games Workshop has a hit on their hands and something that brings the world they've created and cultivated for the past 25 years to new fans. Dawn of War is a game worthy of being called a Warhammer 40k game.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Warcraft, but different, January 30, 2006

By 

S. Shapero (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War Game of the Year (CD-ROM)

I am a long time fan of the WH40k world, and the game faithfully re-creates the art and atmosphere of the original tabletop game. The game play itself is almost exactly like warcraft, with a few twists and turns that make it better. Probably the best improvement is that you can click on any squad member, and the entire squad will be selected, making it much easier to move large numbers of units around at a time.

I haven't tried the online mode, but that's because I am a high school graduate (and then some) and am assuming that some enterprising 13 year old will trounce me in under 30 seconds. I didn't find the game compelling enough to invest the effort to get good at it. The single player missions are easy enough that you can get through them even if you aren't that great at the game. Which is a good thing if you're like me and you're just looking to have some fun.

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