Last year, THQ released their great RTS based in the Warhammer 40K tabletop game universe, and the game instantly garnered some critical acclaim. Even earning a few PC Game of the Year awards, Dawn of War was a brutal and intense strategy game that translated its subject matter very well to the PC gaming medium. Now, the game is receiving a proper expansion pack in the form of Winter Assault. Winter Assault improves upon the already solid original game, offering up improved multiplayer, a great new campaign and a brand new faction to play as. All things considered, Winter Assault is a great addition to Dawn of War, and fans of the original shouldn’t be disappointed.

The new faction introduced in Winter Assault is the Imperial Guard, who takes a pretty different route compared to the other factions in the game. Instead of focusing on all-out offense and attacking, the Imperial Guard is instead a slower, more deliberate faction that requires you to stockpile and research before making the big plunge. While some may argue that the calculated pace of the Imperial Guard detracts from the game’s feel, the slower gameplay is a nice break in the intensity and this should be a good multiplayer faction for those who like to wait a bit before whipping out the big guns.

The main campaign splits between the two sides of the conflict, the “order” and the “disorder”, with two factions on each side. As you progress through each side’s five-mission scenario, the game will split between the Imperial Guard and the Eldar (if you are on the order side) or the Orks and the Chaos (for the disorder side). This does become a little disjointed after a while, as the gameplay changes pretty dynamically between each faction and does interrupt the campaign’s pace. Aside from those issues, the single-player aspect of Winter Assault is still a great journey that adds about another 12 or so hours to your Dawn of War experience.

Winter Assault has made the multiplayer elements in Dawn of War even more fast-paced and intense. There are cheaper and easier building units, meaning that beefing up your units and your colonies move quicker than ever. This gives you more opportunities and options in multiplayer matches, and makes the whole experience a lot more interesting.

Winter Assault holds up very well, graphically, even a year after the original game was released. Units look great and stay true to the Warhammer 40000 universe. The new imperial guard units sport a very unique aesthetic that sets them apart from the other factions in the game. Plus, the battles are very intense and look amazing, making for some of the coolest looking firefights to hit an RTS.

The sound in Winter Assault is also pretty awesome. The voice acting is very good, with only a few spells of corniness. The sound effects, like popping gunfire, explosions and battlefield ambience, all sound fantastic. The soundtrack is in the same vein as Dawn of War, so if you enjoyed that music, you’ll get more to love here.

Winter Assault is a solid expansion pack to a great game, and will definitely please fans of the original game that’ve been clamoring for a follow-up for some time now. While there are some issues, like a disjointed campaign, this is still a great expansion that comes wholeheartedly recommended. 

Gameplay: 8.9
The new Imperial Guard faction adds a great new element to the game, focusing on building technology and research above rushing out to fight. While the new campaign might feel a little disjointed given the constant shifting between factions as you play, this feels like a minor gripe once you get into the thick of battle.

Graphics: 9.0
Even though it came out a year ago, Dawn of War’s graphics still hold up quite nicely. The character models are great and sport a ton of details that give them the look of the Warhammer tabletop figurines on which they’re based, and battles are great.

Sound: 9.0
The sound effects are all quite well done, with intense battle noises, good voice acting, and some great music.

Difficulty:  Medium
 

Concept: 9.0 
Winter Assault is a great storyline that serves as a proper continuation of the original game.

Multiplayer: 9.0
The addition of easier/cheaper units really streamlines the multiplayer elements of the game, and adds a new level of variety to the formula.

Overall: 9.0
A great expansion that delivers some great new elements.