Warhammer: 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade (PC)

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Editorial reviews

Computer Shopper
One of the best and most accessible RTS games of recent years

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Manufacturer's Description
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade will feature two new playable races, the Tau Empire and the Necrons, bringing the number of totally unique races to an unprecedented seven. In addition to the two new playable races, Dark Crusade will feature an all-new single player campaign centering on the conquest of a "meta-map," with each territory captured giving tangible rewards to the occupying force. A greatly expanded multiplayer component and a completely unique economy model for the Necrons will present gamers with the most compelling Dawn of War game to-date.

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-08-12 rating:
Dark Crusade
I'd just like to start by saying that they should have had a story based campaign. I really don't think the whole non-linear thing works at all. There's just no variation in the battles at all. It's just skirmish after skirmish until you reach an enemy stronghold where you'll have to kill someone instead of blowing up their headquarters. You don't "customise" your commander, you just give him some new bits of equipment when you unlock them. Also, the reasons they give for the Space Marines fighting the Imperial Guard are rubbish. Admittedly, they needed to think of something, but they could have, and should have, come up with something better than "they fought them because they wouldn't leave the planet".

Sloppy if you ask me. They don't really have their own unique storylines either. Each one wants to take Kronus, basically. They're not there for any special reason other than killing everyone else.

However, the two new races, necrons and tau, are good choices. The tau are excellent at long range and the necrons can just absorb tonnes of firepower. Both are fun to play.

Each existing race also gets a new unit. I think they should have given the Space Marines something else other than the Grey Knights (who, in Warhammer 40,000, are of a completely different chapter and even organisation altogether). Still, they're quite good. The Guard get a heavy weapons team, which are useful for defending and mowing down enemy troops. The eldar get the harlequin, which I think was a bad choice. They should have got other aspect warriors, like the striking scorpions or something. Still, the harlequin's good at disrupting infantry and can be quite irritating if you're on the recieving end of her blades. The orks get the flash gitz, which I think are just too good. If you combine them with a big mek or mad dok, they pretty much become unstoppable and can take down anything. Chaos get the daemon prince, which is a good choice.

There aren't really any new maps as such, they've just put all the campaign maps (minus the stronghold levels) into the skirmish and online multiplayer. Still, some of them are pretty fun and can make for some exciting battles.

Again, like Dawn of War and Winter Assault, the unit pathing is still terrible.

I found it a little disappointing, and to me it seemed like there was even less effort than in Winter Assault. Parts of it were just sloppy and could have been made better. It had the potential to be a really great game, but to me Dark Crusade just didn't really make the grade.

But if you've bought the others, you should still get this.

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review by: date: 2007-11-11 rating:
Brilliant!
This is a brilliant game for all those of you that loved the last two 'Dawn of War' games. The two new races (Necrons and Tau) are very fun to play as well as the new things added to the other races. There is one slight problem though. There is now a limited number of each structure and unit that can be built. But this is not too much of a problem. I would recomend you buy this game.

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review by: Aberdeen's Only Superhero date: 2007-08-15 rating:
War is Hell, But This Is Fun
Being a fan of the other two games I bought this one hoping for something new to add something new to the other games.

It was just as I expected, new races, new additions to the existing races (still no Bikers for the Space Mariens though) More campaigns.

The ever expanding Warhammer 40,000 game universe has a grat new addition with fingers crossed for a fourth.

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review by: Digital Jester/ Rising Tiger date: 2007-05-01 rating:
Great Game, Great Visuals, Great Buy
Okay, so, heres the deal.

I bought the DOW + WA dual pack a while back, had a great time playing on it. It was just, fun. Hard, evil, blood-spurting fun, but nevertheless, it had some areas to improve on.

Next, comes a long Dark Crusade. Now, i wait for a bit before buying becuase im a bit dubious of how good its going to be - then a few friends bought it and i succumbed to peer pressure...

So, after playing the originals with friends, Dark Crusade was like trying a new game! Its been a while since i've been so slow to tech up with a new race - it improves the game so much over its predecessor, immersis you in so much more, i can't imagine why you haven't bought it.

The two new races are different and diverse - the Tau favour long ranged assualts (INSANE firepower btw) while the Necrons, slow to develop, are immensly hard to stop once they get going (their robotic warriors pull themselves back together in battle). It just adds more depth to the game, especially if Space Marines was too in your face, Chaos too clichéd (see that? aliteration that is), Eldar just too, well, ethereal (and again! im on a role!) and orks just too....well....unskilled mobbing is a good tactic...

The single player campaign, while not brilliant, IS more diverse than the scripted versions, insofar is it follows a Total War set up - choosing what to conquer on a planet size scale. Its not brilliantly executed but it IS going down the right track.

The AI is good, but i have to say, nothing will beat playing with other people - first time i did it, it was so much more intense than an AI battle - nothing like watching your army decimate someone else's while they are powerless to stop you!

To conclude - your getting a great add-on, or stand alone game (i would recommend getting the first 2 parts first though) for a low price in todays market - if its not your thing, its not a huge deal - but i garuntee you will enjoy watching your enemies splat across the landscape.




review by: Jack date: 2007-04-03 rating:
Brilliant add-on, but....
This is the best "add-on" for Dawn of War yet. Even if it can be a stand-alone game, it is still an "add-on". The Tau and the Necrons are excellent, even if I'm rubbish with them both (I prefer Eldar). Everything is brilliant, espically the campaign. I like the way they made it into a Risk-style battlefield. But it does get repetitive, destroying the HQ all the time. Good thing they brought in new objectives for Stronghold battles and several other battles!

One flaw however... the Al is not that good. At one time, the Necron Monolith can be really powerful. The next time, it's being easily destroyed by Fire Prisms or Hammerhead Gunships. And sometimes, when I attack the enemy, they don't retaliate. Let's hope they fix it in a patch soon.

But apart from that, brilliant "add-on". Well done THQ and Relic. Without them, I wouldn't of even heard of Warhammer 40,000.

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Accessories

Saitek Cyborg EVO Joystick (PC)
Logitech Cordless Rumblepad II Vibration Feedback Gamepad (PC)
Extreme 3D Pro Joystick (PC)
Logic3 Rumble Pad - USB Game Pad (PC)
Joytech USB Neo S Controller (PC)

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