Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade

When Dawn of War released for the PC a few years back I officially hung up my paintbrush. The instant gratification of being able to build a digital Warhammer 40K army in minutes versus the months of gluing and painting was enough to make me forsake the miniatures world for good. While it captured the tabletop game quite well it was still missing some of my favorite factions and the linear story was quickly over. Enter the Dark Crusade "expansion." It's hard to call it an expansion because it includes a entirely new single-player mode along with new multiplayer maps and new playable races you'd expect from a normal RTS expansion.

Dark Crusade's basic gameplay works just like Dawn of War. Unlike other RTS titles, Dawn of War doesn't require insane amounts of micromanagement. There are strategic areas scattered around each map that must be captured to gain requisition points.  Requistion points are then used to fund the new additions to your army. Battles against a good opponent are a constant tug of war battle of attack and defense to take and hold the various strategic points. The other big difference is that you command squads instead of individual units. A squad usually consists of three or four units when first created. You can then have the unit reinforce with additional units, better weapons, and leaders. It's much easier to manage than trying to corral a whole bunch of individual warriors.

As an expansion Dark Crusade is even better than the previous expansion, Winter Assault. Where Winter Assault only had one new playable race, and a rather boring one at that, Dark Crusade brings two great new factions to the Dawn of War series. The Tau Empire is an alien race that uses battle suits while the Necron are undead cyborg that look similar to Terminator robots. There are also new multiplayer maps and new single-player mode that is light years ahead of the original single player.

Instead of a linear sequences of battles, single player now consists of a turn-based strategy game with each individual battle determining the fate of region on the world map. In single player you'll be able to lead an of the seven factions into battle. Each faction has a unique hero character that represents your army on the world map. Each turn you'll get to reinforce areas, allowing you to start a fight with troops already on the ground, and attack regions that the other races control. Whenever a region is contested a battle ensues and you play what amounts to a skirmish with various special rules depending on the region the battle takes place in. Whenever you win you get to upgrade your hero, making him an incredible force towards the end of the game. It's a great combination of RPG elements and turn-based strategy coupled with an already almost flawless RTS system.

Gameplay: 9.1
The squad-based gameplay of the Dawn of War series is one of my favorite RTS game engines. The lack of micromanagement along with the ability to improve and reinforce existing squads on the fly makes it one of the most intuitive RTS titles I've ever played.

Graphics: 8.3
The graphics haven't change a whole lot from the original Dawn of War's. Dark Crusade still looks great but the Dawn of War graphics are starting to show their age. Both new races are modeled perfectly after their miniature brethren and the customizable heroes look great!

Sound: 7.5
The games soundtrack is a decent sci-fi sounding orchestral score that is just too generic to be memorable. Voice acting on the other hand is quite good, especially the orcs. As is the case in all all RTS games though, the phrases get old quickly.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Like any RTS the difficulty depends on what level you set the CPU to or how crafty your human opponent is. The AI does a good job of emulating humans and will use rush, turtle and other strategies common in RTS games.

Concept: 8.0
Take one of the best RTS titles that's based on one of the most popular tabletop miniatures games and make it better. Dark Crusade adds new playable races and a single-player campaign that makes Dawn of War jealous.

Multiplayer: 8.1
While the Tau and the Necron factions are a nice addition to multiplayer, you'll need the original Dawn of War to have access to the four original races in online play. You can also add Winter Assault to have seven available races. It's still fun on it's own, but only two selectable groups gets old after a while.

Overall: 8.8
I wish PC expansion packs had always this much bang for the buck! Dark Crusade is a great entry point into the Dawn of War series for newcomers. It has an incredibly robust single-player experience and you also get a good taste of the online play. It's more fun when combined with the original game and first expansion, but it can be enjoyed quite well on it's own as well.