And you get an unlock, and you get an unlock...

For as extensive as the campaign modes might be, the Dawn of War games have lived on thanks to their extensive multiplayer support. The different combinations of units you can take into battle makes for some incredibly deep strategy and has kept players coming back for more. Dawn of War III, though, was met with a lot of fan trepidation and hasn't necessarily gained the same fol??????????????????????????lowing as its predeces?sors.

For one reason or another, the game launched with an unlock currency (skulls) for different multiplayer units. While ?the intention was to progressively let players experience different builds for battle, it ended up turning the game into a massive grind to get more expensive units and build a team that might work better for you. Plain and simple, it sucked.

That is all gone now. With last week's patch, the entire unlock system has been removed from Dawn of War III. Now, all players (whether old or new) will have basically every unit from the get go. A few of the "Elite" units will still be locked behind a progression system, but at least it won't keep playe?rs from experiencing the fu??ll range of options.

Maybe this will be enough to turn Dawn of War III around with the public, but a quick glance at the comments from Relic's Steam forum post doesn't seem to indicate that. Pe?ople are definitely hard to please, it seems.

Patch Notes: September 26, 2017 [Steam Community]

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Orks charge!

Dawn of War III didn't have the best fan reception at launch. While I thought it was actually a pretty solid campaign, the multiplayer drew too many comparisons to MOBAs and the lack of mod support put a lot of people in a sour mood. While the multiplayer eventually received an update to include a different mode, the eventual Steam Workshop integration was never really dated. T?hankfully, the wait is over and modding tools are in.

Available starting today, you can now mod the game to your heart's content and then upload your creations directly to Steam. The new update for Dawn of War III (which launched yesterday without mod tools) also includes a lot of balance tweaks and includes an autosave feature for the ?campaign mode. I definitely could have used t??hat at launch.

You can read the rather extensive tweaks done to specific units over on the official website, but I?'ll include the more pertinent patch notes below.

Patch Overview

• Modding tools added
• Steam Workshop support added for new mod tools
• Autosave added to campaign
• Balance update (multiplayer only, balance change?s do not apply to the campaign)

General Updates

• Vehicle health upgrades will now apply to player-made structures
• Buildable turrets for all factions have had their Power cost decreased from 60 to 50
• Diomedes, Terminators, Mad Dread, and Wraithblades no longer gain Fury while attacking neutral objects
• The slowing effect from Devastators, upgraded Lootas, Terminators, and Dark Reapers are now classed as a new status effect: suppression
• Suppression does not stack with other sources of suppression, but the highest value of suppression will override the other sources
• Power Generator initial Requisition cost increased from 80 to 100
• Power Generator scaling Requisition cost increased from 16 to 50
• Power rate per generator decreased from 25 to 20
• Power reward from killing enemy Shield Generators decreased from 100 Power to 50 Power
• Phase 2: Power generator bonus increased from 50% to 87.5%
• Phase 3: Power generator bonus increased from 50% to 62.5%
• Phase 4: Power generator bonus increased from 25% to 30%

Patch Notes: August 29, 2017 [Dawn of War]

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Surrender or die!

Relic isn't done with supporting Dawn of War III just yet. While there aren't many issues with the final version, some annoying little bugs have reared their heads for players and Relic is hot on the case. For the first patch, coming this Mond?ay, Relic is going to be tackling issues with units being invisible as well as including a surrender option for when the battle is basically lost. I know that would be my most used button, overall.

On the following day, Relic will be looking at server issues that have been plagui??ng users. For some, the game ha?s been pairing them up with servers that aren't close to them, resulting in a lot of input lag. Relic states they are going to refine which servers specific regions utilize based on latency data from the first week of play, so hopefully that issue will be an easy fix.

Finally, sometime later in the month, Relic will be releasing a balance update. They are looking at data on least used units and looking over rep??orts of unit abilities that are overpowered (they mention, specifically, Zapnoggin's teleport). They will also be looking into how escalation phases work in multiplayer to see if the buff tiers are scaled correctly.

All in all, it sounds like the multiplayer portion of Dawn of War III should become a bit more balanced. I haven't played much of the mul?tiplayer ?since release, but I wasn't particularly excited about it in beta. Maybe balance issues really were to blame, but either way the game should be getting better going forward.

Community Update: May 4, 2017 [Steam Community]

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Waaagh to the future

I've been playing Warhammer tabletop for nearly 20 years, and I've seen what feels like hundreds of games based on the property come and go. Some stick with me, like Total War: Warhammer. Others fall by the wayside and are forgotten like Fire Warrior.

But the Dawn of War series has been one of the most consistent sub-franchises of all. Even with some of the missteps in the third iteration, it's still rele??vant.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III (PC)
Developer: Relic Entertainment
Publisher: Sega
Released: April 27, 2017
MSRP: $59.99

Since there's been a lot of confusion as to whether or not Dawn of War III multiplayer has shifted into a MOBA, let's clear that bit up -- it's not, and I say this as someone who plays a MOBA match nearly every day. But seeing as the developers even stated in the past it is "in??spired" by them, you're g?oing to see some similarities.

Sure there's a core to destroy now in multiplayer matches, but first and foremost, the modus operandi is that of an RTS. There's base building, point capturing, and plenty of micromanaging and control group creation. It's more like the first Dawn of War really, with a few streamlined concepts like enhanced heroes (elites) and stealth brush thrown in -- things that have been done in plenty of RTS games before it, from Command & Conquer: Red Alert??'s Tanya and beyond.?? Elites need to be paid for with elite points, which you speed up by capturing points and building generators on top of said points, which you'll need to constantly defend. There's walkers as well, but their existence feels somewhat cheapened by elites (they can share the same category), as they have less abilities to work with and mechanically provide a lot of the same support.

That's forgivable though as each and every elite is formidable, yet sports f??ew enough skill shots to make them impactful without providing an overwhelming presence like MOBA heroes. It's a delicate balance, but I like having elites, especially some of the more lore-heavy ones, in tandem with the base buil??ding system. With that in mind, the lack of variable win conditions in multiplayer (it's always "blow up the core") is something I'd love to see altered in a patch.

Mechanics like mass recalling, interconnected teleporation webways, and timed core invulnerability make for some cool comebacks, but ultimately they just filter back into the idea of destroying the core instead of tactically cutting off each building one by one (which you can still do, but if you're in their territory, you may as well go for the win). I tested out some AI matches in addition to multiplayer pre-launch, across the 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3 modes. Eight maps is just enough to get me by, bu?t after enough time has passed I can see myself wanting more.

Taking a closer look at the armies -- Marines, Eldar, and Orks -- Relic is basically riffing off of the launch choices from Dawn of War II, minus the Tyranids. Stylistically they're very different, a??nd if you were going to go with three choices, these are probably the ones you want. As per the actual lore Marines are basically 'roided-up assholes that rely on functional tech, Orks operate with horde-like mentality with shoddy weaponry, and the Eldar are prim and proper mystics.

Mechanical differences range from the subtle (a few elites share the same abilities with only slight nuances) to drastic (Orks need to build towers to upgrade their army, and Eldar can warp buildings around at will). All three armies are wonderfully animated, which is a feat given the enhanced unit count. It's always a treat to see the detail that goes into something ??as basic as summoning grunts?, though I do wish you could zoom in a bit more.

Proper cover is gone (it's relegated to a shield buff in certain locations now, though the Eldar can call upon their own version of it), but there's still plenty of micro opportunities for each and every unit. You can toggle stances for melee and ranged attacks, use unique abilities like grenades or jump jets, queue up defensive or hold formations, and issue sequential commands for individual units -- typical RTS staples. Every squad is also explained with a helpful series of tooltips, so even if you don't partake in the 40K universe you can tell the difference between a heavy bolter and a lascannon. The unit build queue is also easy to read, as is creating multiple control groups. Dawn of War III is more accessible than past entries, but?? it doesn't sacrifice its in??tegrity to get there.

Multiplayer isn't the only thing on offer, as there's still a campaign mode that sprawls across the three aforementioned factions. You'll jump from mission to mission as it follows the core narrative, spurred by the Eldar's obsession with the Spear of Khaine, a "divine" weapon. Some are elite-centric and that's fine (I liked the Nova missions in StarCraft II for the same reason), bu??t because of that laser focus, you could argue tha??t it takes multiple levels until it really ramps up into something exciting.

When it does get good, it can also get frustrating. Some later missions feel cheap in the sense that the CPU is kind of just throwing insurmountable odds your way without the level of tactical depth you'd expect from an RTS campaign. It's also worth noting that when playing through the story mode I experienced some light glitches -- things like units moving through walls even though they lacked an ability like jump jets -- but nothing ga?me-breaking or critical like crashes.

As far as long term goals go, playing just about any mode will earn you skulls to unlock more elites, which is all part of the rat race. It rubs me the wrong way that some of the more iconic characters are gated behind skulls, as are some individual abilities, but these gates never felt like they were outright ruining the game or even slowing the pace of any individual match since their base kits are well designed. As is the case with any Warhammer strategy fantasy there's always more ??rac??es and factions on my wishlist, but the deep faction/army painter is a good concession for now.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III takes a few steps back in time to make one step forward. It hearkens back to a lot of older design choices from the first game, and attempts to build upon other RTS conventions in the process. Not everything works (especially the strict adherence to the core conceit), but it's still very much both a Warhammer and a Dawn of War joint.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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Time for Waaagh!

I get the feeling that Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III is going to be divisive to the fan base. A lot of people seem to be complaini??ng about a supposed "dumbing down" of mechanics or how there isn't anything new on offer. I don't necessarily agree, but I also wasn't too impressed with the closed beta I play??ed.

If you're still interested, despite the negative fan feedback, Relic has released a developer diary behind the multiplayer design. I don't know how many people will be willing to tolerate a 40 minute video of a match, but it does explain the choices made behind new aspects in Dawn of War III. If nothing else, you will get an unadulterated look at ??the game.

Dawn of War III will be getting an open multiplayer beta this weekend. Running from April 21 to April 24, the beta will feature the same content as what I experienced with the closed beta. That is to say, it will have all three armi??es and three maps.

If you're keen to jump in on this, just head over to Relic's website to sign up. Relic has also posted "Six Tips to Help You Survive the Open Beta," but I don't know how?? helpful "Play The Tutorials" is. I su?ppose if you've never played an RTS before, then that might be a good first stop.

Dawn of War 3 dev dia??ry talks tactics ahead ??of this weekend's open beta [PC Gamer]

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Dawn of Meh

I can’t say I’ve ever been a particularly big fan of real-time strategy games' multiplayer portions. I know that sounds crazy (seeing as how StarCraft is almost a national sport in Kore??a), but I like devising tactics and executing them against AI more than other humans. When playing agai?nst living beings, I typically don’t think as fast due to my lack of ability in the genre. I don’t do well with micromanaging or base building.

So Dawn of War II was more my speed when it came to exhibition matches. I liked that the game put a stronger emphasis on the action elements while relegating traditional-style RTS staples to specific game modes. The same as the campaign, you had a few "Champion" units and small squads ??that could be recovered from capture points, putting an emphasis on pushing forwa??rd and bringing the fight to the enemy instead of meticulously researching upgrades, placing buildings, and managing resources.

Still, I understand the appeal behind that style of gameplay. It rewards more careful thinking and cautious play. It doesn’t even slow down the pace of the game, if you’re able to quickly grasp the mechanics. That being said, Dawn of War III’s clos??ed multiplayer beta showed me very little that I particularly find interesting about ??strategy games.

The basic concept is kind of a mash-up between the original Dawn of War and its sequel along with elements also seen in MOBAs (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena). You get some simple base building, basic unit training, "Elite Heroes," and a central power core for each team that is the main objective. Capture points around the map help you pus??h forward and gain resources for building more stuff, but the bulk of the action is seemingly meant to come from the "Elite" units and their constant threat.

You’ll have access to these Elite units once you gain enough of a specific resource. This resource can be sped up through the acquisition of capture points around the map, but you’ll also be given them over time. Once you have enough points, you? can summon your Elite units into battle and plop ??them close to any of your captured points.

Different and stronger units have higher or lower costs, so the theory is that early game Elites are cheaper and are supposed to be leading small squads while the later-game units are expensive and can deal greater damage. I rarely called in more than the basic unit because he got wrecked pretty damn fast. Maybe I just used him wrong, but it’s the same sensation I’ve had in the few MOBAs I’ve played in the past (League of Legends and Heroes of the Storm).

I never understood how this supposedly battle-hardened warrior gets taken out so quickly by simple units. With three small squads, your standard Elite unit is toast. You might as well save the Elite Points and spend them on either a stronger unit down the line or your faction specific ability. While it made more sense with how Dawn of War II handled the Champions (basically regular units with special abilities), this just feels like taking elements from a popular sub-genre and shoving them in to differentiate DoW III from its predecessors.

The general pace of battles is also on the s??luggish side. Despite steamrolling the opposition in my first match, it took around 30 minutes to reach the conclusion. Everyone else seemed more focused on going through the middle of the map, so I stuck to the outskirts and spent time gathering resources and buying some upgrades for my units.

I only got to try out the Spa??ce Marines, but I was really in love with their Orbital Drop ability. I’m not sure what the official name was, but you can call in an orbital drop of any unlocked unit and have them quickly ready for battle with the click of a button. The drop, itself, also acts as an attack and can catch enemies off guard. If you have a lot of requisition points, you can just order a few tanks, drop them directly where they ne?ed to be, and have at it. Each faction has a specific ability, so that is pretty interesting.

This led to the end of my first match where I had an Elite unit, six small squads, one specialty squad, and four tanks all blasting away at the opposing team?’s power core. Having an abundance of resources definitely helps in this regard. Team games have a shared pool of resources, so you can potentially focus more on army building while your team captures points. 1V1 requires you to do everything.

Before each match, you can customize a loadout for battle that has specific Elites and passive buffs. Your Elite units can be leveled up after repeated use and you can unlock different abilities and buffs to try out. That aspect I strongly dislike, eve??n if I was partial to the specific abilities I had chosen. The whole idea behind RTS games is that the battlefield is level and players are building armies to assault each other, not picking buffs to gain an advantage. You win because you were better at resource management, not because you’ve leveled up your Elite and he has “better” powers.

The closed beta had access to one map for each team variation. There was a map for 1V1, 2V2 and ??3V3 play. While that is technically three maps, each one followed the same standard structure of three lanes. There was nothing different going on, aesthetically, between the maps I played.

From my experience as the Space Marines, cover was also massively scaled back from DoW II. There weren't buildings to garrison my units or even tren?ches ??to hide in. For that matter, there was nothing unique to explore on any of the maps. It feels like most of the window dressing was axed for the sake of playability, leaving you with only the units you've selected beforehand and basic ground to walk on.

As for how the main game will turn out, I don’t really know. The multiplayer portion in the final Dawn of War II expansion was basically a regular RT??S game, so who’s to say if other options won’t be available in post-release patches. The campaign could also be radically different from anything I played here, which might placate my indifference to the mult??iplayer portion. At least there was no lag during the match and the performance was fine in this beta (though I am on a GTX 1060).

We’ll find out when the final game launches. I’m sure there are going to be people who immediately take to the changes found in DoW III, but it wasn’t my cup of tea. I’m glad som??e of the base building is back, but this feels more like a compromise in an attempt to please everyone instead of trying to achieve a unique vision.

_{[I apologize for factual inaccuracies in the original write-up. This hands-on preview of the closed beta has been amended.]}

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Sign up now and play on April 21

Juuust ahead of launch on April 27, Relic is holding a beta for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III.

You'll be able to test out the game's multiplayer from April 21 at 10:00am Pacific to April 24 at 10:00am Pacific. Not every aspect from the full game will be accessible here, but with all three factions, 15 elite units, and three maps available, you should get a sense for Dawn of War III's multiplayer. It's less of an all-out war, and more about taking down key structures to work your way into you??r opponen??t's base.

If this sounds worth your time, register for the beta right here. Pre-loading begins on April 18.

Open Beta FAQ [Dawn of War]

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WAAAGH!

It won't be much longer now before we'll be sending our dispensable [Space Marine / Ork / Eldar] fodder into battle with reckless abandon. Relic Entertainment is prepping Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III for a ??worldwide PC release on Monday, April 27. That's one way to start your week off.

Unsurprisingly, Sega is holding back? some stuff for pre-orders, as depicted in this trailer:

To recap: you can use the Super Walker Elites even if you don't pre-purchase Dawn of War III, but you'll be missing out on these cosmetics: "the Dark Queen skin for Lady Solaria (Imperial Knight??), the Ghost Seer skin for Far??seer Taldeer (Wraithknight), and the Big Kustom skin for Beauty (Morkanaut)."

There's als?o a limited edition ($65) with the soundtrack and lenticular art, and a collector's edition ($130) with cloth faction banners and a 14.2" replica of Gabriel Angelos' Godsplitter Daemon Hammer.

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Slowly but surely

Enough of the single-faction drip-fed trailers: this latest video for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War pits the Eldar against the Space Marines and the Orks in large-scale skirm??ishes, and the end result just plain looks cool. I'm no Eldar ??player, but that Wraithknight slide at 1:03 is a standout moment.

I'm also reminded that the marketing rollout for this game has been going on for quite a while now -- at least it sure feels that way at the current pace -- and we're still only on for an indeterminate "2017" release on PC. ????It'll be some time yet before any prophecies come to pass.

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...I want to play as them!

To date, Relic has focused on the Space Marine side of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III, but that's only one of the playable factions in the campaign. We'll also get to command the resourceful Orks and the oh-so-pesky Eldar. It's now the latter's turn in the spotlight.

Farseer Macha is returning for Dawn of War III and, um, are you awake enough for a lore dump? Here ya go! In this game's story, she's trying to preserve her kind, and that will once again put her up ??against Gabriel Angelos. That said, I won't be surprised when a greater threat leads to a short-live alliance.

I'm not much of an Eldar player, but the Wraithknight Taldeer (the badass counterpart to the Space Marine's Imperial Knight Solaria) has me strongly reconsidering this stance. Other?? confirmed units include Dire Avengers, Howling Bansh??ees, Dark Reapers, Rangers, Shadow Spectres, and the Fire Prism.

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An intriguing mix of the first two games

It's no secret that I've been happy about Relic's revival of the Dawn of War series amid the countless other Warhammer 40,000 video game adaptations materializing on a now-yearly basis. There's so gosh darn many of 'em! And, aside from a dream sequel to the well-liked but still underrated Space Marine, there's nothing I want from this densely-packed property more than Relic-made strategy titles.

This past weekend at PAX West, I was able to spend 45 minutes with the base-building, big-army ways of Dawn of War III, a sort of fusion of the first game's design philosophy with t?he more recent titles' focus on managing fewer, more pow?erful characters in and outside of cover.

I don't have a definite "take" on the game yet -- it was only a single mission's worth of hands-on ti??me, leaving lots of room to speculate and extrapolate -- but my appointment sure did go by quickly.

The demo was a later-game mission, according to Relic, and it sure felt like one given ho?w many units I had access to (most of which I ignored in favor of producing waves of Dreadnoughts because it seemed like a good idea at the time) and also conside??ring the complete lack of tutorialization.

Go in, fight the Eldar troops, destroy their warp points, and you're done for the day. That was the idea, anyway! But as anyone who has attempted to d??o well at a strategy game on a convention floor will tell you, it's not always so easy getting start?ed. You're not always in your right mind.

Touching down on the frozen planet of Acheron, I lead our good pal Gabriel Angelos into battle against Eldar forces alongside the towering Imperial Knight, Solaria. These two characters -- and a third, a squad of teleporting Terminators I unlocked later in the mission but kept neglecting -- represent the Dawn of War II side of this game. They all have their distinct roles to play, with Gabriel hopping about and smashing troops on the ground, and Solaria painting the ice a nice misty red with her missile barrages and sweeping Gatling spray that you manually aim and initiate. These heroes are powerful, but not invincible. If they die, it isn't exactly the end, ??but you will have to wait for a lengthy-f??eeling revive.

Going back to the Warcraft III days, I've always loved this sort of design where, sure, you're having to juggle troops, but most of your attention is set on keeping track of a few priority characters and their ability cooldowns. It was micro-managing these units where I felt most at home with Dawn of War III.

The vision for this installment, according to game designer Carolina Mastretta, is to "Synergize how those two [types of units] work together. How big and small heroes with epic possibilities can synergize very well with the rest of your army. What's inspired us from both [Dawn of War and Dawn of War II] is the strategic depth, and that's some?thing we want to take ev?en further."

During our brief chat, we also got to talking about the rise of MOBAs over RTS titles and how their market domination may or may not be affecting Relic's design choices. "I think the strategy genre has absolutely evolved in the past year," she told me, "which is fantastic for every one of us making this game. Yes, there is inspiration, but DoW III is an RTS through and through."

It has been years since I've played the original Dawn of War but, to my eyes, its b??asic version of base building has gone largely unchanged here. You can gain resources by capturing control-point-type nodes on the map and then upgrade them for better, faster resource-point generation. With the necessary funding in place, you can then plop down? buildings and start calling in reinforcements. Again, I was all about the Dreadnoughts, with a mix of Space Marines and Snipers lending a muscular hand. Truthfully, my macro-level play was too groggy to handle much more complexity than that.

Nearing the end of the demo with about a minute left to go before I had to pull off my headphones and stop playing, a single objective remained in the mission. The final push. I decided to pit what remained of my army, a mostly-dead ragtag group, against a sprawling Eldar army led by a massive Wraithknight -- the bad-guy equivalent of my up-until-then nigh-unstoppable mech. It was as intimidating to fight?? as it looked and, yup, it sure tore my my little army to pieces. Might as well go out guns blazing, right?

It's like I said before: one mission isn't enough to wholly form an opinion about a game like this, particularly given how the single-player campaign is split between two other playable factions (Eldar and Orks). And that's to say nothin?g of the multiplayer mode, which Relic isn't discussing yet. Did I enjoy this 45-minute slice? Heck yes. Will I enjoy the remaining however many hours? That's hard to say for certain, but it'll depend on how varied the missions are in terms of objectives, setting, and scale.

I asked if my favorite part of this series, the Last Stand co-op survival mode, would return. "At launch, we're focused on getting [the best RTS we've made] into people's hands and then we'll see what's next," said Mastretta. As for other potential post-release support, "If you look at Relic's history both with Dawn of War and Company of Heroes, the DLC and expansion strategy has always worked for us. So maybe that's something that we focus on." Until then, we wait. Dawn of War III isn't out until 2017.

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That new cover mechanic is, uh, interesting

We've had some clips here and there, but this narrated mission (an extension of what was shown at E3) is our first proper look at the gameplay of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III.

Watching this 12 minutes or so of footage, it's apparent Relic has largely moved away from the Dawn of War II design of smaller-scale, cover-centric skirmishes toward base-building and all-out spectacle. That'll make cert?ain fans very happy, but as someone who preferred the former approach, I'm torn for the time being. Elite units ?like the Imperial Knight razing the battlefield, though? Hell yes!

This will probably be what gets me to upgrade my PC. I've been put??ting it off for too long.

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Debut E3 trailer

Today at the PC Gaming Show, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III kicked things off with a gameplay trailer. Planet Acheron is in, as well as an appearance from Gabriel Angelos and Lady Soleria. Space Marines can also utilize drop pods as well as orbital b??ombardments.

Get a look at the game for yourself. The footage, according to the developer, is part of the E3 mission. More gameplay is coming on June 24. I mean, it's Dawn of War, so I'm in? But I'd like to see more, and some more factions to boo?t.

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That should make some of you very pleased

Not only was that teaser building up to Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III as many of us had hoped, but the reveal trailer itself was badass. I'm so happy. Even if it is Space Marines, Orks, and Eldar again for the three-sided story campaign (pending inevitable DLC), I ??need this!

Picking up from the basics shared this morning, PC Gamer has extra details about Relic's real-time strategy game. Bases, and larger-scale skirmishes, are back. I always preferred Dawn of War II's tactical squad-based style over the original game's more traditional battles, but there's certainly room to reach more of a middle ground, and it sounds like that's the plan. For players like me, there will still? be special elite units to micro-manage in addition to the hordes of cannon fodder.

Another point of contention has been the recent games' cover system. According to PC Gamer, Relic is taking a "simplified" approach here. "The change makes Dawn of War III's big, c?haotic battlefields easier to parse, and gives melee units an important rol??e as siege-breakers."

Exciting stuff. I can'??t wait to see some Imperial Knights, Gorkanauts, and Wr??aithknights clash.

Dawn of War 3: inside Relic's biggest RTS yet [PC Gamer]

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New trailer

It's been almost five years since we've heard any real rumblings of a new Dawn of War game (and almost seven since we've had a proper entry), but that teaser yesterday was spot on -- indeed, we're getting a Dawn of War III.

As confirmed by a new video on the official channel, Space Marines, Eldar, and Ork (and presumably other races) are at it again, struggling in the eternal grimdar?k conflict of war. No platforms have been confirmed as of yet, but ?PC is a safe bet.

I may need to bus?t out my Blood Angels and Ork tabletop armies again to celebrate (my Dark Eldar and Chaos are waiting in the wings too).

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THQ core games emperor Danny Bilson has confirmed that Relic Entertainment is working on the next major stage of the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War series, and that it's looking pretty sweet.

"We’re working on the next-generation of that franchise right now," he said. "I feel like an ass saying it’s fantastic, but it is. And we’re going to do something with it you haven’t seen before. Preserving some things that have always been great about the first two generations of it, goin?g back to 1 on some things, 2 on some things, and 3 will bring us some new things."

Bilson states that the game is on track to release 18-24 months after Dawn of War II, which gives us a late 2012/early 2013 window.

"Now Dawn of War III, either way, is going to have a much larger strategic component to it, more of a global battle? going on with little tactical?? things, sort of MMO-like," he added. 

Bilson has promised a major?? game reveal so??on, and this may be it. Stay tuned!

Dawn of War III: first details [Eurogamer]

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