Dawn of War 2 Co-Op Review

Review System(s): PC

Nicholas "bapenguin" Puleo Tuesday 03rd of March 2009 05:48 PM

I'll admit I'm a latecomer to the Warhammer 40k Universe, as such, I don't know every intricate detail regarding the humans epic battle against Orks and the various other races that litter the game. But it wasn't long into Dawn of War 2's campaign for me to become completely invested in the game's story, and find myself fully invested into the well being of my squads. You see, Dawn of War 2 isn't your traditional RTS - in fact I'd say it shares more in common with an Action RPG like Diablo, and just like any solid action RPG Dawn of War 2 offers a co-op experience.

Dawn of War 2 has you creating a hero to lead three squads of space marines into battle. Each squad is led by a hero unit who has their own unique personality and part in the story. Some squads are better at carrying heavy weapons and laying down cover fire, others are assault marines capable of using jet packs to launch into battle. Your hero, like these squads, is also flexible with his type. He can be ranged with heavy guns, or up close and personal with a chainsaw. Whatever your squads speciality is, you'll find yourself with a choice of deciding which ones to bring into a particular mission. The missions are launched from a strategic map which players pick and choose battles. These battles are time sensitive, meaning that choosing one battle over another may cause you to miss a unique item or resource.

Coordination is key to any attack in Co-Op

Speaking of items, RPG nuts are going to have a field day with Dawn of War 2. While every mission rewards you with items like weapons, armor and secondary attacks; you'll also find random drops of items from enemies. Anyone familiar with an MMORPG will be right at home with rare, unique and regular items colored to designate just how cool they are. Between missions you'll be able to load out your squad with what you picked up, cash out useless items for experience and level up your characters. Leveling up will unlock new abilities for your heroes as well as increasing traits like damage, health, rate of fire.

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Tags: pc 2 player co-op dawn of war 2 reviews

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Reader Comments

Kradath at 06:14 PM on 3.3.2009

One of the best coop games I played so far. I already played about 60hours with my girlfriend and we are in our third campaign, you just have to swap the squads and the new campaign plays totally different.

roland at 08:30 PM on 3.3.2009

Sounds awesome, I can't wait to give this a try. I tend to be of the purist set when it comes to RTS's, but I can always go back to DoW 1 if I really want that experience.

Kradath at 02:33 AM on 3.4.2009

It's good that they changed the gameplay. To be honest, if they made a remake of DoW1 I would have liked it of course, but we got enough base building games and in the end I would have been less satisfied .

COG_Network at 05:13 PM on 3.4.2009

sly marbo says...
Great review. This is the most unique Co-Op experience I think I've ever had. Now, let's hope there's a timely expansion. )

COG_Network at 01:55 AM on 3.5.2009

Quinefer says...
One of the more interesting things about the RPG aspects of DoW2 is that your choices actually matter from a strategic point of view. Your squads can be customised to fulfil very different roles depending on what items you decide to gear them with, and what skill tree you decide to specialise in.

Total Comments: 5

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