Choice is the name of the game in Retribution. And boy does it make for an amazing experience!
The single player campaign throws you into the boots of any of the six races. Each race has four hero units that can be leveled up in the style of an RPG, improving their attack, health, or energy and unlocking passive bonus's or new abilities with each point spent. However, once you reach the third mission of the campaign, you unlock the ability to swap out your hero's with Honor guard squads. Honor Guard units are tougher then they're basic counterparts and can be replaced for free anytime they are lost at a rally point or stronghold.
One major departure from the Single Player of Chaos Rising or its predecessor is the inclusion of capturable rally points or strongholds on each map. These structures allow you to spend requisition you gather from supply crates to provide support for that mission. And on many missions you'll need the help. The enemy is much smarter this time around, fielding a wide variety of armor, infantry, and heavy weapons to break you. Micro managing your squads, utilizing grenades to clear buildings or jump troops to break an enemy formation while you move squads into cover can be all that stands between a victory and crushing defeat. But is INCREDIBLY satisfying when you pull off a brilliant victory by careful control and coordination.
At the end of every mission, you are given either a piece of wargear or a global ability unlock as a reward, along with the choice to unlock one of three other items. This is usually either a piece of wargear, an upgrade for an existing squad, or a new unit you can produce. These can prove to be tough choices, as your never sure if that upgrade will show up again down the road or if you'll need that particular unit later and wargear drops are MUCH rarer this time around, meaning your hero's may not have that heavy weapon or anti-armor gear to make your life easier later on.
The missions themselves are great fun, each one feeling much larger and with more tense then those of earlier games. Each one also has a gimmick or trick to it that makes it more fun. For example, one mission has you rushing to an extraction point through waves of various enemies as the Inquisition bombs the planet around you, constantly watching the timer to see if your going to make it. Another has you fighting a massive super tank created by the Orks (Amusingly called Daisy), that cannot be damaged by any of your weapons, forcing you to rely on the enviorment to trick and destroy it. But as great as these missions are, they are also the one flaw in the campaign. Each race shares the exact same missions, with only minor differences such as what enemies you fight between them. They're still good missions and the story is unique for each one, but your still playing the exact same fights out.
Speaking of story, Retribution features probably the single most amusing campaign ever in the Ork campaign. The hero's of that campaign are all members of an Orkish Freebooter crew, making them basically Ork Pirates. And they have the outfits and accents to go with that. Until you see an Ork Warboss running around in a pirates hat or telling his crew that if they have a problem, they can take it up with the Complaints Department, which just so happens to be his gun, you haven't really lived.
Multiplayer brings in the Imperial Guard as a new race to fight as. Unlike any other army, the Guard is focused on defense rather then offense. Their basic unit, the Imperial Guardsmen, is the only standard infantry unit that can both build cover and turrets, along with repair. They can also upgrade to include two commander units that cause the squad to go from nine to twelve units AND allow them to reinforce three units for the price and speed of one. This means a squad behind cover next to a transport or other structure that allow reinforcements can last almost indefinetly. Unfortunatly, the guard HAS to be in cover at almost all times. They have ridiculously weak armor and seem to drop from a stern look at times.
The guard DOES however bring the earliest and probably best armor in game. They bring the best tanks and transports in the game to the field, with the Leman Russ dominating against most any other armor with ease. The Lord General, one of the commanders of the Guard, even has the ability to have one air dropped onto the field anywhere he chooses. And they posses the mother of all tanks, the Baneblade Super Heavy Tank. 12 guns, two of which are so powerful they have to be tied to abilites, and a buttload of health make this tank a true monster.
However, the other armies didn't get left out. Orks, Space Marines, and Tyranids all get a Super Heavy unit of their own, while Chaos and Eldar (Who already had superunits of their own) get Noise Marines and the Autarch respectivly. Noise Marines are unique in that there weapons force other units out of ranged combat and make them engage in melee combat. They can also be upgraded into a long range artillery unit, something Chaos has been lacking. The Autarch is also a unique unit in that is it tied in to the ability bar. It can be summoned anywhere on the field and comes from the heavens after dropping a volley of grenades onto its enemies. Its a powerful melee unit and can be returned to the ability bar anytime you choose and called down again for a much reduced cost with yet another grenade volley.
Finally, we have Last Stand, the cooperative arena game added as DLC back with they original Dawn of War II. Last Stand has you and two friends each commanding a hero unit against waves of enemies of ever increasing difficulty. The longer you last, the more points you recieve. At the end of the match, you are awarded experience based on how you preformed. Experience allows you to level up your hero, unlocking new wargear which grants you hero new abilites.
Retribution adds the Lord General to the list of hero's. The Lord General is a rather fragile hero best used as ranged support. But his true strength comes later, when he gains the ability to call in turrets and infantry squads seemingly at will.
At thirty dollars and acting as a stand alone, there is little reason for anyone NOT to get this game. If your a fan of Warhammer, the Dawn of War franchise, or just looking for a fun game over the summer, this is it.