Lots of Glory for the Emperor to be found here.
Gameplay 9.5/10 - This particular game uses a squad based unit system. The game strays away from base building RTS games like its predecessor and games similar to Starcraft, and exchanges it for a focus on action and over exaggerated combat sequences on the front lines.While this is a sci-fi themed game, it is still satisfying to see your commander unit to strike a mighty wave of pure manliness to eradicate and devastate the enemy, and only making you realize that you are fighting in the Warhammer Universe of course. If you played games like Dawn of War 2 and Company of heroes, then you will be familiar with the capture point strategy involved in DoW 2. There are 3 main types of capture points. Two are Requisition and Power Nodes. These act as currency to buy new units, upgrades, fortifications, and to advance to the next tier of units, 3 tiers in total. The third, and most important point, is the victory points. There are usually three on a standard skirmish map. Controlling two or all of these points take away the other players' "tickets". When the opposing player runs out of tickets, they lose. Standard game have 500, but it can be reduced to 250, and increased to 1000. Your one building, your Headquarters, acts as a resting, reloading, and spawning point. The different unit types include the specific Commander unit, light and heavy infantry, vehicles and heavier infantry. Each unit has a specific number of squadmates within it. When the unit runs out of these squadmates, the unit is lost. You can replenish squadmates by retreating back to your HQ and buying reinforcements. The Commander unit cannot be permanently killed. DoW 2 has a great emphasis on taking cover and flanking your opponent. Charging full force will get you killed 9/10 times, and only by overwhelming your opponent can you be successful. There are 4 races to choose with 3 different commander types. the Races are Space Marine, Tyranid, Eldar, and Orkz. Each race has their own army painter to make custom skin colors. You can have skirmishes online and off.
Co-Op/Single Campaign 8.5/10 - Warhammer 40k Dawn of War 2 (DoW 2 for short) features an open ended campaign experience. The plot revolves around Ork and Eldar threats to the star system, and a new threat, the Tyranid. This is a very general overview of the total game's plot leaving many twists, challenges, and story to unfold as you play. The story is told through mission chatter between you squadmates and by dialogue scenes in between missions. The Campaign has some differences from the skirmish gameplay as above. There is no HQ to heal or get reinforcements. To reinforce your squads you must capture special points on the map and stay there for a certain amount of time. There are 6 different squads in total, and 4 per mission. You can only select three other squads because the Commander unit must be played in all missions. Each squad differs from ranged, balanced, stealth, offense, and tank. Each mission has primary and sometimes secondary objectives to carry out. Doing all objectives makes the campaign easier in the long run. each mission is graded on how well you did with your time, efficiency, and brutality. These earn you points which add up to your overall ranking at the end of the Campaign. As you play through the Campaign you find treasure dropped items which have affect on your squad. there are several kinds of rifles, flamers, machine guns, armors, and little goodies to play with. Also your squad levels as the Campaign goes on. This creates a very open ended play style along with choosing each new mission. The Campaign missions are designed around killing enemy bosses or defending a certain point. You are never in a Victory Point condition like in skirmish battles, during the Campaign. friends can connect through Games for Windows LIVE to play co-op with.
Multiplayer 8.5/10 - The multiplayer is basically skirmish mode online. You can always choose a custom, unranked game through the server lists, but ranked games are hampered by GFWL matchmaking. The community can sometimes be a little too good for new players leaving you with many defeats before glory on the battlefield. There are many maps to choose from and a map editor to make your own. The maps are for 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3.
The Last Stand 10/10 - This is the pinnacle of the game. This game mode involves being locked inside this arena being swarmed by enemy waves. There are 20 levels although not many have even made it past level 16. Having friends to play with create many "Wow" moments that have a fun and lasting effect. This mode is all about just going at the enemy. You can only be Space Marine, Eldar, and Orkz, no Tyranid to play as. After many rounds, you level up each individual character, gaining new items and abilities. This gives the player a total of 20 levels per character, 60 in all. The best action moments are found in Last Stand mode. It is very challenging in mid and upper levels so veteran strategy players will have a tough time.
Overall 9/10 - Dawn of War 2 is hampered by some issues, but overall it is a very satisfying game and is one of, if not the best, PC exclusive of 2009.