Review: Dawn of War II

It is a good game.

I mean its not the greatest game under the sun but if you like strategy games then there's not much reason you won't enjoy it. Now saying that I don't think its a game I can play over and over again, because it suffers from repetition after awhile. So good for a play through, if your too used to the first games multiplayer you might not like the new one.

Now onto what i actually want to discuss about the game. I enjoyed the story, it wasn't very deep and as story's goes its more of a shell to cover the gameplay with. But what relic did they did do right. The banter between the captains after a mission was enjoyable, and if your familiar with 40K you'd know they were space marines right off the bat. They even add a little intrigue to make things a little more interesting and mysterious (Namely the story about Thule finding information about the chapters birth, then immediately burning them... suspicious much? Hmm?).

However, I did not like the ending.

Once you've gathered all the tools you need you go off for one last mission against the endless horde. The last level opens up with two defending missions alongside the imperial guard(Your meat shields) where you must finish your duty before the aliens kill you. Once the job is finally complete one of the captains is like "Well, job done, lets go home for tea and crumpets gents?" and the others have to brake it to him that while crippled the aliens are still here and are going to murder them.

Your last objective is to kill as many of them as possible before they rip you into tiny pieces. Unleashing all I have left onto the terrible xenos my men are cut down one after the other, but this day they die in glory and have truly earned their place at the right side of emperor. I am not sad for them, for they are space marines and they know their duty.

Then your rescued.

This, this is what made me sad. For some reason relic decided to trade in what could have been an epic ending for a sort of happy ending where evil totally loses and all the good guys have a party (Not really of course, but at this point I wouldn't have been surprised). They were so close, but they messed it up. After your rescued right your joined by other space marines to fight against the dreaded last boss, who by now is easy to beat cause your familiar with this game. So the game ends on a sort of whimper rather then a stunning crescendo.

If it were my ending I would have probably done this:

"We have done it, the xeno's have lost"
"Not quite my brother, for the great beast still lives, and so long as it does they have a chance to recover from this blow"

"Our last transmission pinpointed its location at the heart of the swarm..."

"What should we do then? There could still be time to fall back and regroup"

"No brother there is not, our duty is before us and so is the emperors mercy, I will go to it gladly"

And so the Blood Ravens marched on into the very heart of their enemy. One by one they leave there brothers behind, one more valiant soul left behind to keep the majority of the swarm from reaching his companions.

A silence descends on the commander as he realises he has made it, but his brothers are no where to be found. He looks up at the terrible monster that would devour his world and grips his weapon tightly, for space marines know no fear.

The xeno's never did recover from the blows dealt to them, and when the Blood Ravens fleet finally arrived none could say how the battle ended. Did the commander land a killing blow on the great beast? Did it best him? Or did the swarm finally reach him to tear him asunder?

What happened dear reader would be up to the player. The bosses in this game should have been much easier then they were (On hard they were lessons in frustration and cheapness). My last boss would have to balanced to at least go toe to toe with a powerful force commander. If he did win in the end then his last duty would be to kill as much as the horde as he could... There would be no escaping death, but he would not care.

For he was a space marine.