Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Winter Assault
![Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Winter Assault](/i/pc/warhammer-40000-dawn-of-war-winter-assault.png)
a game by | THQ |
Platform: | PC |
Editor Rating: | 9.3/10, based on 2 reviews, 3 reviews are shown |
User Rating: | 7.7/10 - 7 votes |
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See also: | Best RTS Games, Warhammer 40,000 Series |
It's Argued By many that Dawn Of War was the finest RTS of 2004. We'd prefer to bestow that honour on Rome, but DOW was (and is) a cracking game nonetheless; full of visceral excitement, frenetic action and steeped in all the iconic imagery that the 40K universe has been hoarding for the last 20 years.
With Winter Assault, developer Relic has followed the add-on formula to the letter. One new unit for each of the four established races, two six-mission campaigns (same story played out by the two sides), and one new race, the Imperial Guard.
But to reduce Winter Assault to a feature list is to do it a great disservice, because while the campaigns do add more of the same, albeit across a snow-covered landscape, by their very appearance the Imperial Guard almost change the strategic make-up the game.
You see, the Guard are merely weak-willed conscripts; the poor lowly scum of the Earth (and a million other worlds), whose nature is to wall in, defend, build up and break out. DOW's established races instead prefer to dive into combat from the get-go, and so multiplayer games are now way more interesting and can last - gasp - long as half an hour.
But what does all this mean? In a nutshell, if you're a Dawn Of War fan, Winter Assault is absolutely essential.
Download Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Winter Assault
![](/i/pc/warhammer-40000-dawn-of-war-winter-assault.png)
System requirements:
- PC compatible
- Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
Game Reviews
Mindscape's second title based on the popular Warhammer board games departs from the realms of swords and sorcery. transporting you far into the future for "ores in space" Doom-style shooting. The age-old war between ores and humans continues when the ores capture a human outpost. Fighting from a first-person perspective, you lead four warriors into combat. Like Space Hulk on the 3DO. you can command your squadmates to back you up. guard a certain position, explore, and so on. which adds another level of strategy to the action. War-hammer's 16 levels are portrayed in rendered 3D graphics and full-motion-video cut scenes .
In the grim future, there is only war. War that is fought by many races wielding unusual power and incredibly abilities. And in all of this, the Imperial Guard is a fighting force of simple men, conscripts and volunteers from their homeworlds, set against alien horrors to protect their home and people. Winter Assault is a new expansion pack for Dawn of War, bringing the desperate heroes of the Imperium to the battlefield, fully fleshed out as a playable army, unlike their mere 'guest appearance' in the original Dawn of War game.
An army that relies heavily on special morale boosting units, and a large collection of heavily armored vehicles, the Imperial Guard is a wonderful force that can wield the mighty Baneblade, a massive tank capable of defeating whole armies in and of itself. The new campaign mode that allows you to play the Imperial Guard is a near sight shorter than the campaign from the original game, but ultimately, is sufficient if brutal at teaching one how to wield the IG with proper efficiency.
With five armies in total, each possessed of relatively unique abilities, Winter Assault should prove to be a boon for multiplayer games. Although I haven't been able to test it fully enough myself, I find that the Imperial Guard appear to be suitably balanced with the other armies to make the game quite fun, and given that they've got an ability to quickly move between any buildings they've built on the map, they appear to have the speed and versatility of the Eldar, without the overspecialization or fragility.
Plus, the Baneblade rocks. There's precious little to be said about an expansion pack, but I was really happy with Dawn of War, and I'm really happy with Winter Assault as well.