Rating: 
Summary: Just when you thought you had seen it all
Review: After Homeworld, I figured the RTS genre was finished being defined (I've played them all going clear back to the original C&C). I had resigned myself to playing the same games on into the future with the main differences from generation to generation being graphic and AI improvements and larger and larger battles with more units and bigger maps. What a wonderful surprise Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is!
The campaign is ok, but I really enjoy the skirmish maps. Someone posted that this game isn't challenging?!? Set the difficulty on Hard+ (never play below HARD or you are wasting the game) and play a map against 3 enemies. Still not difficult enough? Put the other 3 computer controlled players on the same team! I have spent probably more than 80 hours just on a few of the skirmish maps that I really like. Someone else said there is an over-emphasis on action and not enough strategy? No way! This game can really push you to think. Maybe they say that because things tend to happen so quickly that it can feel like you are going all helter-skelter until you get a good, solid control on the quick keys and other interface items. Once you get it all under control, this is one of the most mentally demanding games I have ever played. It just depends on how you set up the skirmishes. There are seemingly endless ways of going about the missions. Sometimes your strategies work, sometimes you get steamrolled before you realize what hit you. The AI adapts and no two games are ever alike (outside the campaign). AND I have played all this time only as the Space Marines (I'm a hard-core Star Wars Stormtrooper and USMC aficionado, so this game is perfect for me!). I have yet to dive into the other 3 races. Talk about your replay value!
The one gripe I have is that you seemingly cannot turn off Commanders (Supermen) or Mechanized units for skirmish maps. I would like to have the option to play with a technology cap with only infantry and infantry based weapons. Maybe in an expansion pack?
Rating:
Summary: In the near future there is only gaming goodness!
Review: Even if you're unfamiliar with Games Workshop, miniatures games in general or the Warhammer 40,000 universe (sometimes simply and affectionately called "40K") this game should knock your socks off. The graphics are stupendous and the action during the battles is absolutely visceral and spectacular. PC Gamer magazine has given this game three highly favorable preview reviews so far this year and the 17-minute video shown at E3 and at Games Workshop's Games Day has amazed all who gazed upon it. When I watched the video at Games Day in May 2004 people actually responded audibly to the scene of the Bloodthirster (huge winged demon) taking possession of a Chaos Space Marine and then cheered at the spectacular scene of the Space Marine Captain leaping upon the Bloodthirster's shoulders and taking him down with his huge power hammer.The game designers are so good that each of the "races" in Dawn of War have their own "feel" based on the Games Workshop mythology of the tabletop game, and not just in combat either. Even the gait of the soldiers is different from race to race: the Orks lope brutishly, the Eldar run in a graceful disciplined way and the Space Marines and Chaos Marines fall somewhere in between, marching in a forceful and orderly manner. It's the same in combat where the Orks thump and pound, the Eldar perform amazingly graceful and lethal martial arts moves and the Marines are powerful and straightforward. Even the fighting machines of each race follow this careful design and are amazing to see; Eldar Wraithlords, Space Marine Dreadnoughts, Land Raiders, Rhinos, Chaos Defilers, they are all here and behave in a manner consistent with the other troops in their army. Even if you're unfamiliar with 40K, you're in for a treat. Dawn of War promises to be one of the best RTS computer games ever regardless of whether or not you are into the Games Workshop tabletop miniatures hobby. Dawn of War stands on its own as an amazing and exciting science fiction/fantasy battle game like no other before it. If you are familiar with 40K, be prepared to see the 40K universe spring to life before your eyes like never before. (...)
Rating:
Summary: Hot metal on target on time!
Review: I just finished WH40000, and albeit a tad bit short (about 10-12 hours for the main campaign) this is the first RTS since the good ole' days of RTS action (Dune II, Command & Conquer, etc.) that not only held my attention but riveted me to my computer for hours at a time! First off, the opening animated sequence for the opening is worth the money alone (on par with the first Mech Warrior opening movie). It is the absolute jaw droppingly coolest and most violent game opening sequence ever, period. I watched it 50 times and still could watch it another 50. The interface of WH40000 is really simple and easy to learn. The units and unit animations, sound, AI, path finding, special effects are all excellent, very cool, and well done. The missions are interesting and the story (with numerous lengthy between-mission animated plot hooks and twists) draws you into the story. My only complaints about the game are:
1.) Changing the view is a bit awkward compared to a lot of similar type games (Homeworld, Ground Control II, etc)
2.) Once you build up 3 or 4 groups of your Blood Ravens, they are virtually unstoppable, so some missions are a bit of a cake walk
3.) It is a short campaign, and unlike most RTS games, you don't have the option to play the other races
The good news is this is an excellent, well done, and virtually bug-free game, and it provides a great platform for future add-ons and expansion packs. The game ends with a total plot twist and invitation to many more missions for the Blood Ravens to come! I give this game 5 stars and fully recommend it. As soon as you see your Ravens enter combat against overwhelming odds and the thunder of the auto-cannons and bolter guns opens up, and the Ork meat starts flying through the air, you will see what I mean.
Rating: 
Summary: It has its flaws, but it's a good (very short) RTS
Review: I was anticipating this game after playing the beta, it's got awesome graphics, a nice assortment of races with differing units, and the sound is pretty good as well.
After having made the purchase, I don't think it was worth the price. It's a great game, no doubt - but there is nothing "epic" about the story. In a universe where these races have access to a great deal of planets, this is a twelve mission campaign set over the course of under three days.
The single player skirmish is fun though, and multiplayer may boost the play time for this game if you can get past the childish players that can't say anything but "i pwned u loserz ha".
A few other issues I found in this game seem to be cloned from Starcraft. If you have too many units in a squad, and too many squads in the same general location, some units will:
a) never stop moving, which can be an issue if they wander too close to the enemy while they try to find the rest of their squad
b) cease to move completely, and will not catch up with the rest of the squad when the squad engages or moves.
Another issue I found is that of the "attack move". Most of us know what that is, for those that don't - you select a location you want your units to go to, but you want them to stop and engage all enemies along the way. When sending a great deal of squads/units on an "attack move" it is very likely that some of the squads at the back of the group will simply stop moving.
If you want an epic story, get Starcraft if you don't have it - or Warcraft 3 (not the expansion, it gets too fruity). If you absolutely must get this game, either make sure you have mature friends (or that you are the "omg loserz11!!one1" type) to play this multiplayer with.
Oddly enough, something I heard a lot in the campain by way of unit voice, rings true for this game as a whole: "Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment."
Rating:
Summary: THE WarHammer 40k game to buy!!!
Review: I was fortunately very lucky to participate in the beta for this game. At first, I was very skeptical about it. The previous WarHammer PC games were terrible. Just plainly terrible. But I must say that after playing this game, I am in awe. We have finally made a WarHammer 40k PC game that is worth its price tag! The graphics are amazing on both my machines (both 3.0 P4, 1 gig RAM, one with a nVidia geForce 4 Ti4200 and one with an ATi Radeon 9800, both running 1280x960 pumping about 40-50 fps), and the gameplay is spectacular. The one thing that really got me, however, were the models: they're amazing. In fact, they're beyond amazing. They look so much like the table-top pieces it is not even funny. The game does have just about every aspect of the 40k game world in it, so everybody from the novice to the hardcore players will be satisfied. All in all, this game is definately worth buying...I know I've already reserved my copy!
Rating:
Summary: September can't get here fast enough!
Review: I was lucky enough to be picked to be one of the beta testers for this incredible game and I can tell you that this is a "Must Have" title for me. The first and most noticible thing for me is that the combat animations for the units are not what most people are used to in RTS game with one a few frames of unit animation making the units fight the same way. When your units are in combat they fight with different moves instead of attacking the same way. The Marines will shoot with their bolters while at range but when an enemy gets too close they'll whip out their combat knives and leap into the fray. The Eldar Banshees slash with their swords, do backflips, and all sorts of other maneuvers. Another plus is that when you create a unit you get a unit of multiple troops (normally 3 or 4 except for special units). This is great for those who hate getting rewarded with only one troop per purchase like in other RTS games. I will warn everyone that it is a VERY bloody game... the Eldar Avatar will impale enemies on his sword before slinging them away and the Bloodthirster will crush his enemies to pieces in his hand. There are only two resources in this game... requisition and energy. You get energy from building reactors but you get requisition by taking and holding strategic points. If you put a listening post on the strategic point you get more requisition. By upgrading your listening posts you get even more. The individual squads are customizable too. You can create a hero (sergant for the Marines) for each squad and you can also buy heavy weapons for each squad to better let them deal with buildings, infantry, or vehicles. A nice bonus feature is that you can create a custom paint scheme for your units for when you play online so that your units have a very specific look. With the palate of colors available you can make sure that your troops look like nobody elses.
So far I've only played the beta but I'd buy it as is. I absolutely can not wait for the official release.
Rating: 
Summary: Multiplayer Review
Review: I'll keep this short and sweet because I'm not a big writer. The game has lots of minor and a few major bugs and imbalances that make the game not suitable for "pro" level play. If you want to be one of the top players of this game you will find yourself very frustrated. The developers of the game have been very slow to make any improvements or fixes and have actually *lied* (about two things) saying they had made a fix when they didn't. Instead they just turned features off, thinking people wouldn't notice. You will not see a lot of negative comment on the official forums because such comments are deleted or the threads are closed. The on-line "system" for the game is a complete joke, if Armies of Exigo (AoX) is a 10, this is a 5-6. Both are based on GameSpy, if I were to compare it to BattleNet, which is a bit unfair, it would be a 3 or 4.
Anyway the game has lots of potential, but it is far from realizing it. I'm not sure the developers intend to take the game much further through patches either.
Rating:
Summary: Visceral?
Review: If you like ridiculously proportioned cartoon characters getting blown around by explosions, this is your game. When I think of visceral, I think of the original Myth from about 6 years ago. That had body parts getting torn off and flipping through the air while blood sprayed from the severed limbs. Now that was visceral and entertaining. This is nerfed violence with hackneyed character actions, voices and dialogue. The actors are hacks, but they're professional hacks so they follow the formula in a very professional way. Unfortunately, I'm not particularly attracted to the WWF style of acting.
The game also reminds me too much of the very childish Warcraft in the way characters are drawn and the way people go flying. Nice effect, but it's been done. At least this game isn't all blue.
The gameplay if fun, but there's a lot of mouse clicking and scrolling around to be done. Pretty cool the way you can reinforce your teams right on the field. It doesn't make much sense, but it beats having to tell some clown to go from way back in the beginning to wherever your team is now. I will admit I enjoyed the demo and played it several times. The battles are a blast and like I said, it's easier to stay near the front and in the action.
If you want more realism and historical accuracy, you might want to get Rome Total War. You can set live pigs on fire and send their squealing, flaming selves into the war elephants and troops in the hopes of causing panic and carnage. They also let you use dogs to tear the arms off opponents. It just doesn't get more "historical" than that.
Rating:
Summary: More warrg!!
Review: Take the best of the StarCraft crew, team them up with Games Workshop and have them make a 40k game? Results: The best RTS this planet has ever seen. The only downside that I can find is that I can only play a Space Marine campaign. Maybe we'll get lucky and get expansions for other races. Besides, with 4 vs 4 multiplayer, you won't get tired of it until then. Overall, this game was well worth the wait and is worth every penny.
Rating:
Summary: Nearly Perfect Warhammer RTS
Review: teamwork is stressed in this game, no simple massive troop can win the war anymore.
the good:
diversity of troop/upgrade/strategy shall rule the day.
deep depth in units.
very good visual if your computer can handle it.
the bad:
short single player campaign, though the story is ok.
not too many maps for you to play with.
ultimately this game encourages multiplaying and cooperation, which is "Strategy" should be about, in the real world. when you play rts by yourself, that's kind of like playing in a cocoon, you won't ever know the challenges out there. so I feel that the short single player campaign is acceptable. good game good price by amazon, referred by www.whosave.com. in war there is always a loser, just play again.
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