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Posted on Feb 28, 2011 in Electronic Games

Dawn of War II: Retribution PC Game Preview

By Jim Zabek

Dawn of War II: Retribution.  PC Game Preview.  Pubisher: THQ.  Developer: Relic Entertainment.  $29.99

Like the previous expansion for Dawn of War II, Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising, Dawn of War II: Retribution also promises to bring some new units and game play possibilities to the PC for hungry Warhammer 40k RTS gaming enthusiasts.

The last time out, the Chaos-themed expansion pack, Chaos Rising, brought the Chaos Space Marines into the game for some multiplayer mayhem. They also played a role in the single-player campaign as well. This time out the Imperial Guard are being added and given the spotlight.

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In the way of single-player action the story is said to continue on where it left off in Chaos Rising. So you can still play the role of Blood Ravens chapter Space Marines, if you choose. However they plan to shake things up a little in Retribution, as it promises to allow you to play out a single-player campaign based on the race you select from the start.

Therefore it’s not just about the Blood Ravens Space Marines anymore. The options to choose from include Orks, Space Marines, Eldar, Tyranid, Imperial Guard and Chaos Space Marines, all of which are available for multiplayer action too.

The beta only gave us a glimpse at the multiplayer side of things, so I can’t fully comment on how well the single player side of things actually plays out. However the multiplayer game is as fast and furious as ever before. Graphically speaking DOW II: Retribution looks amazing, too. Seeing a ton of Imperial Guard mechanized units in action versus any race is pretty impressive.

Just as they’ve done in the past with previous expansions, Retribution also expands some of the existing factions’ armories a little bit by adding new units for multiplayer action as well. For instance the Space Marines now have the Land Raider Redeemer at their disposal, which is outfitted with a variety of flamers and a multi-melta for some real infantry barbequing action.

The Orks are given their answer to the Land Raider in the form of the Mad-Max-esq-looking BattleWagon vehicle. The Chaos Space Marines now have the extremely disorienting and very lethal Noise Marines to deploy. The Eldar are given the Autarch, and the Tyranid infestation now has the Swarmlord to deploy on the battlefield.

Since much of the focus is on the Imperial Guard, you can expect lots of the trademark IG units too. The Inquisitor, Commissar Lord, and Lord General are the Hero options given for the Imperial Guard army. These will be the units that you can level up and improve as you play them. Grunt level units include the Catachan Devils (Jungle Fighters to 40k tabletop gamers), Stormtroopers, Ogryn Squad, Heavy Weapons Squad, and the standard Infantry Squads.

As most tabletop 40k players know, the Imperial Guard is a very tank-heavy faction. It’s all about the tanks with these guys. Therefore it’s no surprise that the Imperial Guard are given the super-heavy options like the Baneblade and Banewolf tanks. The backbone of any IG army is the Leman Russ Battle Tank, and it’s modeled in stunning detail too. Chimera transports and Manticore missile carriers are also present, and the Sentinel walker unit also rounds out the IG army list for Retribution.

Best of all, by the time you read this Dawn of War II: Retribution should be available (it releases March 1) for the same price as Chaos Rising before it, which is just $29.99 USD. As it stands Retribution looks like it has shaped up to be a really solid expansion pack for what’s already an absolutely amazing RTS game.

About the Author

Rod White is a veteran writer with almost two decades’ experience covering games, hardware, military aviation and combat simulations for the PC, as well as diecast collectibles and various tabletop miniatures war games. Formerly co-founder and owner of PC Multimedia & Entertainment Magazine, one of the Internet’s first true online gaming publications to cover PC games, simulations and hardware, he also hosted the ground-breaking RealVideo/RealAudio show called CombatReporterLive! for the AllGamesNetwork/Pseudo, Inc.

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