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Warhammer 40, 000: Dawn of War II - Chaos Rising

Score: 87%
ESRB: Mature
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Relic Entertainment
Media: Download/1
Players: 1; 2 - 6 (Online)
Genre: Real-Time Strategy/ Action

Graphics & Sound:

Warhammer 40, 000: Dawn of War II - Chaos Rising is a standalone expansion, meaning you don't have to own the core game to play. You can buy this and jump right in, but why would you want to?

Dawn of War II set a high water mark for RTS games, and Warhammer 40, 000: Dawn of War II - Chaos Rising is happy to follow suit. Even on lower settings the game looks great, thanks in large part to the amount of detail showered on every character, item and set piece in the game. Everything is true to the Warhammer style, but with an added level of grit and realism. The real kicker is the ability to add your own personal touch to your squad. Every piece of equipment alters their look and you can even paint their armor, giving Chaos Rising an authentic Warhammer touch.

Sound was a bit of an issue with Dawn of War II; Chaos Rising fixes it. Voice acting is great and gives your squad its own unique personality. Toss in the ominous echo of Chaos and, well, it's worth turning up the speakers. The rest of the soundscape is filled out with weapon fire, explosions and the grinding sounds of battle.


Gameplay:

For players just joining the series, Dawn of War II introduced a completely new approach to the typical RTS experience. There's no base building, resource gathering or, well, anything that would identify it as a traditional RTS. But that's what made it such a great experience. Instead of worrying about the front office stuff, you're able to jump right into the fray, commanding a small platoon of troops for the glory of the Empire.

Warhammer 40, 000: Dawn of War II - Chaos Rising is identical to Dawn of War II. You can choose to bring your army from the core game into the expansion, giving you another opportunity to level your crew and equip them with new items. If this is your first foray into the Dawn of War II universe, you're given a sturdy level 17 group the minute you touch down. The pre-made group is great, but removes some of the game's appeal. Leveling and looting is a major part of the gameplay, so just jumping in with an already-leveled group cheapens the experience a bit. Combat is fun, looting is great, but it's the bond you create with your squad that makes the game worthwhile.

Regardless how you enter the battlefield, Chaos Rising offers a lot to do. The adventure isn't nearly as long as the main game, but brevity has its benefits. There's more variety in the types of missions you encounter, and the ones you repeat are spaced apart just enough that they don't drag.

The limitations of going with just the expansion show up in multiplayer. Nothing changes with Chaos Rising other than the addition of a few new maps, a new game type and new hero units. However, the expansion limits you to only playing as Chaos rather than the original four sides. If you like Chaos it isn't a big limitation, but the new hero units for other sides are really nice. Besides, no matter how much you like Chaos, you're going to want to switch at some point.


Difficulty:

Warhammer 40, 000: Dawn of War II - Chaos Rising places more emphasis on efficiently commanding small squads rather than a huge army. Oh, there's also the leveling and loot mechanics, which will keep you playing long after you decided to quit for the day. Leveling and loot also plays into difficulty. You'll have to make a number of tough decisions about what to equip and who to give it to. There's also the matter of knowing when to use abilities, setting up the best formations possible... for such a small squad, there are a lot of decisions to make.

Seasoned vets will have an easier time jumping in, while newcomers will have to learn how their squad works before they can learn to play with it. Mission objectives are flexible, usually with multiple "end games," so there's room for newcomers to make mistakes, though the climb may be a little harder.


Game Mechanics:

Warhammer 40, 000: Dawn of War II - Chaos Rising's short campaign will give you more than enough experience to level your squad to the new cap of 30, but you'll also have to manage your squad's corruption points. Like experience, corruption points offer access to abilities and equipment and are earned by wearing corrupted gear, using Chaos abilities or betraying the Empire.

It sounds tempting, but corruption will lead to your squad's eventual downfall... or at least the game makes it seem that way. The problem with the corruption system is there's really no incentive to play as a "pure" team. You're limited to one special ability and there are fewer pieces of really cool gear. Chaos powers are also more powerful. I imagine this is by design and meant to really tempt players, but without a reason to not go to the dark side, going evil seems like a no brainer. There are in-game consequences, but they felt insignificant next to the power Chaos offers. It only really matters during the ending, which is a bit of a letdown.

Even with the new system's lack of balance, Warhammer 40, 000: Dawn of War II - Chaos Rising is a fantastic purchase, though only if you intend to buy it as an expansion and not a full game. It offers replay value, but the shorter campaign and limited multiplayer doesn't justify the $30 price tag.


-Starscream, GameVortex Communications
AKA Ricky Tucker

Minimum System Requirements:



Windows Vista/ XP; P4 3.2 GHz (single core) or any Dual Core processor; 1.0 GB (Windows XP) 1.5 GB (Windows Vista); 128 MB Nvidia GeForce 6600 GT / 128 MB ATI X1600, or equivalent (must have Shader Model 3.0 to run the game)
 

Test System:



Windows Vista; 1.6 GHz Dual-Core processor; 2 Gig RAM; DVD drive; 120 GB HDD; GeForce Go7600

Related Links:



Sony PlayStation 3 God of War III Microsoft Xbox 360 Final Fantasy XIII

 
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