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Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War Dark Crusade Expansion Pack DVD-Rom Review (continued)
More User Submitted Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War Dark Crusade Expansion Pack DVD-Rom Reviews
Date: 2007-01-24
Fantastic!
This is a great game. The graphics are wonderful, the controls are easy to get used to, and the gameplay is exciting. I really enjoy the customized mini-movie you see when you defeat an enemy. It changes based on who you defeated and who you're playing as!
Date: 2007-01-13
Definite Expansion
Adds much to the Dawn of War Game. Two new races, Tau and Necron, and a Risk-style campaign game. Excellent as a standalone game or expansion to the original Dawn of War and Winter Assault. Note: you can play any of the previous races in the campaign mode, but can only play the factions in multiplayer that come with the module. So Dawn of War owners can play as Chaos, Space Marines, Eldar, and Orks. Winter Assault owners can play as the Imperial Guard in addition to the above. You can only play as the Tau and Necron in multiplayer if you have just Dark Crusade, but can play as them all if you have the previous expansions.
Date: 2007-01-12
RTS plus F-U-N
Wow! Relic took a great formula that the Dawn of War and Dawn of War: Winter Assault releases had crafted to a fine edge and sharpened it to exquisiteness. This is one slick presentation of a dark, gritty universe and subject. Relic is at the top of their game with this "expansion". It is not an expansion in the true sense, because it does not require the original to play (you don't have access to all seven races on-line). It is stand-alone, but I highly recommend getting the previous two offerings just for the amount of fun to be had. If you play on-line, you will want at least DoW just to allow for greater variety. If you have only Dark Crusade, you can only play the Tau and Necron on-line (not that that's bad). If you have DoW, you also can play Orks, Chaos, Space Marines, and Eldar. DoW:WA adds Imperial Guard into the fray. Single player is not affected and has all the races as playable.
Technically it could be said the game has seven campaigns, one for each race. If you've ever played Risk, you will be familiar with the concept. You start out with just your stronghold and must conquer the other strongholds of the other races. Along the way territories grant resources and various bonuses. You can get honor guard units whom travel with your commander (persistent armies) or abilities such as the ability to construct a forward base or attack twice per turn. Your commander unit can also get wargear upgrades to make them stronger for certain achievments such as 3 to 1 kill ratio or 3 defenses. You choose what upgrades when you are awarded wargear, so your choice can be tailored to your play style. A fully upgraded commander looks wicked cool and can romp and stomp.
Strategy really comes into play in deciding what objectives you want, how to allocate resources towards defense or offense, and purchasing honor guard units or territory upgrades and troops. Once you attack a territory, the game switches to the more familiar DoW and DoW:WA gameplay with squad level action. The addition of the heavy firepower Tau and really creepy but awesome Necrons adds another layer of complexity to the mix.
Some missions will even find you fighting several other races, such as the Eldar, Orcs, and Chaos Space Marines. The usual "Wow, I survived!!!" feeling is there for many of the missions, and many times the enemy has two bases with their own unit caps. You can't turtle or you will die. You must come out swinging and keep on the offensive. Once you have conquered the territory, any buildings and many upgrades (such as upgraded listening posts) are saved for that map. Also, units that are purchased on the campaign map start every battle in that province, even if they were killed in a previouse defensive action. You can over time build a province into a strategic fortress with a decent starting army. Couple that with your commander and his honor guard and you can get a pretty sizable jump on an opponent in the single player mode who attacks your territories.
If you are attacked, your base(s) is already there along with your captured strategic, relic, and critical points. No need to rebuild every time from scratch. You do have the option of allowing the computer to decide the fight if you feel you would overwhelmingly crush the opponent. You can get an unpleasant surprise occasionally if you do this, though. Caution is advised; just like in war, a smaller force can occasionally carry the day. If in doubt, play it out, especially for an area with an ability you would hate to lose such as the spaceport.
Gameplay balance is amazing. Each of the races tends to have a focus, such as sheer numbers and toughness with the Orks or ranged firepower with the Tau, but have counter units even in their weak areas. This expansion adds two new races to the Dawn of War series, but each of the other races also get one or two units also. For example, the Space Marines get the Grey Knights, a heavy melee unit with the ability to cast Psychic Inquisition, a burst of psychic energy that can damage units for a time in the area of effect. Their speed can also be upgraded with research. Each unit adds some nifty capabilities and can really change the way you play a race or complement your strategy. No one race is the best because the others can prevail, although the Necrons can give you a run for your money at the higher AI levels.
Graphics are superb. If you have at least a 128Mb DirectX compatible video card, you will be happy. Set the gore options to max, and bodies and terrain scarring to persistent, and you might even find yourself getting a little queasy when surveying the carnage after a particulary hard-fought battle. Unit animations are awesome. Watch Kroot Carnivores chow down on Eldar chunks or Necron units dragging themselves across the battlefield to reassemble themselves. The commander units reflect wargear choices you have made previously. The "kill" moves for units, especially commanders, are highly entertaining as well.
Sound is great. Units let you know when under attack or morale is broken so you can take appropriate actions. Artillery rounds whistle and boom, lasers and machine guns fire, and units scream. What more do you want, really? Even the cutscenes are enjoyable, with the same atmospheric tone for races (ie. Orks) as established in other DoW entries.
Okay, so what is the dingy side of the silver lining? Well, sometimes the game can get a little repetitious. A territory may get attacked two or three times in a turn. Once you have finished building your bases and defenses on a map, it can get old going to the point where you know an enemy will start and blowing them up. After the tenth time it can get tiresome. You can always choose to let the computer resolve the fight automatically, but see my caveat mentioned above about that.
Also, the campaign map could have been laid out a little better in my opinion. You can be next to a territory but not able to attack it because of an obstacle such as a wall. It would have also been nice if I could pick my defense forces for an area based on my play preferences instead of being told I could have x of unit a, y of unit b, and z of unit c, period. I would have liked to had more of one unit at times and none of another. Each of the units count though towards the Military Strength of a province, and I assume is used in calculating the defense of that area when allowing the computer to resolve the fight.
Other than these few quibbles, there is little to dislike and a whole lot to love about this game. Warhammer 40k fan? Get it. RTS grognard? What are you waiting for? Liked or loved DoW and DoW:WA? No brainer. Like fun? You get the idea. This expansion just shows that things keep getting better and better in mankind's fight for survival in the Warhammer 40k universe.
Date: 2007-01-11
Best Game Ever
Even with only a standard graphics card this game looks great! The game play keeps it exciting with different modes of play, including online play with out a subscription. Great game!
Date: 2007-01-11
Dark Crusade is a hit
I like this latest expansion to the warhammer 40K series.If you played winter assault,then you should enjoy dark crusade.
Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War Dark Crusade Expansion Pack DVD-Rom Reviews Page: 4 of 10 Prev<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next>>
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