Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War E3 2004 Impressions

It’s almost strange to see Relic Entertainment developing a traditional real-time strategy game, but the proof is there to see in Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, a very fast-paced and action-packed real-time strategy game based on the popular Warhammer 40,000 miniatures series.

For those unfamiliar with Warhammer 40,000, it’s set in a future where orks (the Warhammer version of traditional orcs), humans, and other races battle each other on alien worlds. But instead of using axes and swords like they would in a traditional fantasy game, they use lasers and flamethrowers, wear power armor, and drive around in fearsome tanks. And from what we saw of the game, Dawn of War captures the look and feel of the miniatures game, and it feels like a massive tabletop battle come to life.

Relic’s previous credits include Homeworld, Homeworld 2, and Impossible Creatures, and the company was recently acquired by THQ, which is publishing Dawn of War. And though all three of Relic’s previous games can be considered real-time strategy, they were hardly conventional in any way. So it’s interesting to see how Relic tackles Dawn of War.

The first thing you notice about Dawn of War is the look of the game. Relic is using an enhanced version of the graphics engine used in Impossible Creatures, and it can deliver an impressive amount of detail to the buildings and units in the game. You also notice that there’s a lot of action on the screen; Relic is aiming to render up to 100 units at a time on the screen.

The combat is fast-paced and almost chaotic. One thing that Relic wants to do is really capture the size difference between units. So in addition to infantry-sized cultists and power armor-clad marines, you’ll have a large variety of massive tanks and even stranger units at your disposal.

Dawn of War will feature four playable sides: the space marines, the orks, the eldar, and the chaos space marines. Naturally, each side has its own unique units and buildings. They even have unique ways of how buildings are delivered. For example, the orks drop their buildings via fighter bomber, while the space marines rely on orbital insertion. It’s kind of jarring to sit there and watch as these giant steel balls rain down from the sky and plant themselves in the ground.

As you can probably tell, you will have to do resource gathering in the game, as well as base construction. The goal, like in other real-time strategy games, is to build up your forces. But it’ll be worth it, because of the sheer amount of action in the game. Units don’t just shoot at each other; they really light each other up with everything in their arsenals, and the results are glorious streams of fire everywhere you look. Other units charge right into the enemy, creating gigantic melee brawls.

Perhaps the best moment is when the really big units plunge into the fray. For example, the gigantic crablike defilers wade into the infantry and pick them up one by one, squeezing them to death in their claws until the blood pops out. They then toss the bodies aside and pick up new victims. And the devastating Chaos Lord can be possessed by a giant winged demon who sweeps away marines with his giant axe (and occasionally needs to shake off a dead marine impaled on the axe). The Chaos Lord is so powerful that he scared away the surviving marines until a giant flaming avatar approached and slew him with a flaming sword.

The combat is definitely thick and heavy, and it looks good. The graphics engine is capable of all the latest lighting effects, including dynamic lighting on buildings and units, which means you can see the burst of muzzle fire illuminate the scene, among other things. The graphics engine also supports self-shadowing. And because it's a Relic game, you have full control of the camera, so you can zoom in really close to the action if you want.

Dawn of War looks like it’ll be a smash with Warhammer fans, but the question is whether it can reach out to real-time strategy fans unfamiliar with Warhammer. The game does have a great pedigree though, as Relic is known for developing some highly original and exciting real-time strategy games. We’ll keep you up to date with developments on Dawn of War.