Warhammer 40K: Dawn Of War II

By Yusuf M.
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Grand Master

Yusuf M. Veteran

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As I said on the last page, I'm on 64 bit so - So it's definitely not only 32 Bit.

D'oh! I meant to say the issue largely affects 32-bit users.

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Grand Master

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So, Dawn of War II looks good and it plays good. The only thing that's really drawn our ire so far has been the surprisingly shallow boss fights and the unexpected development that this RTS is actually more RPG than anything else, for the first half of the game anyway.

As you might be expecting though, Dawn of War II isn't perfect and it does have a handful of issues that can really start to grate after a while.

For a start, the singleplayer levels can be a tad samey after a while. Nearly all the levels on any given planets have an identical colour planet and set of level features, so that the dusty canyons and crumbling jungle ruins quickly start to run together. It's not a big problem, but when you quit the game it does strike you how indistinct some of the missions can be.

Controlling your squad's ever-expanding arsenal of unique abilities and learning to distinguish between different units can be tricky in the middle of a fire-fight too. It's here that the keyboard shortcuts and UI come to the rescue for players who just want to focus on the action.

Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II - Conclusions

Those of us who like the different unit personalities would love to see alternate uniforms though. It'd just make it easier to tell the Avitus' Devastators from Cyrus' Scouts at a glance, though again that's more of a niggle than a legitimate problem.

One thing that's definitely a more pressing problem as far as we're concerned though is how fiddly the cover system can be. Units can be moved to cover behind objects to gain tactical advantages over enemies and you can easily gauge where cover can be found by rolling your mouse over items on the battlefield. Yellow dots will crop up around barricades that you can hide behind.

The issue is though that mouse position can make a huge difference. If you quickly click on a barricade at one point then you'll have all three Jetpack Troopers safely behind a wall, ready to skyrocket into the hordes of Eldar.

If you move that mouse a little to the right though then you'll only have one unit in cover and the other two waiting in the open, meaning you have to move the mouse around to check possible formations. It's just not an ideal way to control even small squads when there are Orks crushing you like clowns stomping on a sandcastle. I hate clowns.

Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II - Conclusions

That last point is something that sounds like a small irritation, but in reality it can hugely affect how you play the game. Certain units, like Devastators, are slow-moving but powerful, so they work best Focus-Firing from behind cover. Actually getting them into cover wasn't usually worth the effort though so, as time went on, I found myself favouring units that don't need such fiddly mechanics. Jetpack Troopers to the rescue!

It has to be said though that, no matter how annoying some of the game's quirks can be, Dawn of War II still rises above these issues as a whole. The game is wonderful fun and the way that Relic has sought to do something new with the arguably stagnant RTS genre is commendable. It's something that can't be dragged down by the few flaws that the game does have, especially when it's pleasantly rounded out by co-op and online modes.

Dawn of War II isn't revolutionary and anyone who's expecting as much will likely be a little disappointed. What it is is the logical next step of Relic's continuing experiments in the strategy genre and it's damned good. If the end result could be smoothed out and spiced up in the future (and if GFWL could be improved or done away with) then this could be the start of something truly excellent.

Source

Thoughts?

Oh, okay!

Changing subject, anyone know where to find the savegames, for backup purposes?

Yea man, here 

Documents\My Games\Dawn of War 2\Saved Games

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Sethos

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Yeah, just found the save folder through a quick windows search - Just used to everything being tucked away in hidden folders etc. Thanks though (Y)

As for the conclusion, everything sounds about right. What bothers me the most is how everything seems like 3 steps back from what made Company of Heroes a success. Especially this new cover system is really getting on my nerves, in Company of Heroes you had a nice green dot for every group member, telling you where they'll go and how much cover there is - Here you get like one green dot and they barely even comply with the order? They just mount up on each side of the wall. Then when you do decide to move them into open terrain they move into cover themselves? The missions are extremely repetitive from what I've played so far, you only have those 4-5 commanders plus their soldiers to move around with, some desert, some jungle, cover up, throw some grenades and next mission.

Boss fights are quite tame, requires you to move units around but no thinking, just shooting. Multiplayer is also a huge letdown, by removing the ability to construct bases and defence, it's so tame and boring imo.

It's so hard to put a finger on this game but the game just feels completely watered down.

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Mike Coscia

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As I said on the last page, I'm on 64 bit so - So it's definitely not only 32 Bit.

Yah I running Vista 64-bit and getting alot of random crashes. I can play for a good hour or two without an issue or can crash in 15 min. Really frustrating. Hopefully they fix it soon.

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Grand Master

Yusuf M. Veteran

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My campaign is buged :(

After i cleaned Typhon and Calderis there wasnt Meridian on star map or any aveilable quests on first two planets...

If you look at the update section in my original post, you'll see that I included information on a patch that fixes your issue. :)

Why do game companies still release buggy games?

There's no such thing as the perfect game. They can only encounter so many bugs. The rest is left to the vast number of people that bought the game. But hey, at least Relic Entertainment is hard at work fixing the bugs. Unlike some developers...

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clx

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Right, so many negative posters here!

Time to set some things straight

Guy complaining about the not being able to move on in missions, It was fixed within 24 hours, if you havent got the patch yet your doing it wrong. not sure what your doing... but what ever it is, your doing it wrong.

Sethos. A friend of mine was having the same prob, all he did was lower his gfx settings, and it was rock stead ever since. (made co-op games faster when he didnt crash out all the time :p)

The bit tech review was a supprise, they loved the beta (hated the match up in multiplayer, but who doesnt? LONG LIVE STEAM!)

The devastator squad gets a specific upgrade which "greatly" increases their damage when in cover, so why the hell wouldn't you try to put them in cover? they are also one of the strongest squads in game for holding back enemys/ tank/dred crushing (when equipped with the right weapons)

On a related note there was some one complaining about cover.

yes, if you click and area the units will run there and stay, possibly on each side of the wall. thats because you didn't tell them which way to face. to use cover properly left click the unit, right click and hold the right mouse button down where you want them to take cover, and move the arrow to the direction you want them to look/shoot. Its not hard, its one of the fundamental parts of the game really. As for units finding cover by themselves. well of course they will. If you are in a WAR, and currently don't have any orders apart from "stand in the middle of this street" you would probably move to the side and find cover as well wouldn't you?

As for the repetitiveness of the campaigns, yes, you do play some maps again, though you always start from a new locations and have vastly different squads you will face. read the briefings properly they will give you hints if you have enough coms stations on the planet. it will tell you if its a defence mission, what sort of squads you will face (melee heavy? rocket squads? anti-armor? heavy weapons? ranged? stealth? do they have a base with respawning mobs? will they re-group if they run off? what sort of boss?) there are lots of different things to look out for, especially if you actually play it on a challenging difficulty where you really are tested. and based on this info you can take the right squads with the right kit for the job.

right, enough ranting, as you can probably tell i enjoyed the game. Co-op is a lot of fun. but yes, Multiplayer match up sucks, it sucked during beta, it sucks now. It has been complained about constantly on the relic forums, but i believe their hands are tied because of THQ going with Games for Windows Live.

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+longgonebn Subscriber²

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I haven't had much time to play the game, had some time with the beta, but I ain't much of a co-op online dude anymore these days. So hopefully this weekend or sometime coming up and I can get some time in and beat the SP of the game. Of what I have played of it, I really enjoy, its amazing looking and fun.

My main issue is that I have no local peeps to play it with :(

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AgEnTsMiTh

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I have been enjoying co-op with my son. Honestly is a very fun game. Nice to see things changed up and not the same as the first with just updated graphics. Give it a chance, it really is a fun game.

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(Spork)

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i have to say im shocked with this game it's a lot different than the others . im use to building bases massing armies and go out and killing anything that moves :D but i like the new style of play .

im in 32 bit vista bi ctd's running on max setting 1680x1050

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Sethos

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After a re-install of my OS, it seems my random CTD's under 64 Bit are gone, could have been conflicting drivers / codec / software?

Though I still say Company of Heroes kicks this games ass any day of the week, can't believe they create such a masterpiece and the exact same developers release this watered down RTS.

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Grand Master

Yusuf M. Veteran

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After a re-install of my OS, it seems my random CTD's under 64 Bit are gone, could have been conflicting drivers / codec / software?

Though I still say Company of Heroes kicks this games ass any day of the week, can't believe they create such a masterpiece and the exact same developers release this watered down RTS.

After playing the DoW II MP beta and all the Company of Heroes demos, I must say that I enjoyed playing the latter more-so than the former.

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Sethos

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When / How do you get the dreadnought walker? Been doing a ton of missions and currently chasing a lot of Tyranid samples, some dataslates etc. and I've gathered Dreadnought armour and now a Dreadnought assault cannon but I have yet to get the damn thing - When do we receive it and can add it to our squad roster?

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