For the past half a decade, if you wanted to play a Warhammer based RTS game, Dawn of War has been the best and only choice. The franchise started in 2004 with Dawn of War, got a few expansions, and then a sequel, Dawn of War 2 came. Now it’s getting its own sequels, with Dawn of War 2 Retribution being the second one. And we can safely say that it’ll more than please Dawn of War fans.

Dawn of War 2 Retribution is a standalone expansion, so you don’t need the original game to play it, which is always a plus. Retribution follows the same gameplay style as its predecessors, and is more of a Real Time Tactical game than a strategy game, as the focus is more on commanding your forces and less on buildings an infrastructure. And that’s actually a good thing, because the battles in Retribution (and its predecessors) is intense and will demand your attention 100% of the time. Multiplayer wise, there’s regular multiplayer where you can play as six factions, and there’s even a co-op mode as well. If you’ve played Dawn of War multiplayer before, you’ll know that Retribution follows the tried and tested formula. Sadly however, there isn’t much new in the offerings, both singleplayer and multiplayer gameplay wise.

The story in retribution is wider than in the previous titles, where you only got the story of the Space Marines, the de facto good guys in 40K. In retribution, you can command other factions as well throughout the campaign and get their point of view. This of course means the campaign is somewhat diluted, since it has to fit the other races as well — all six of them. The story in the previous games was tighter and more focused, but then again, in Retribution, you get the story from six point of views, which gives the campaign a lot of replayability.

Visually, Retribution is built on the same engine, which means its one of the best looking RTS games out there. The player models have lots of detail, the effects are great and the camera and motions are fluent. Overall, Retribution, as an expansion and standalone game, is a great addition to Dawn of War fans and those looking to get into the series.

The Good:
Tried and tested Dawn of War gameplay
Tense action
Great visuals

The Bad:
Story is weak
No much new

Overall score: 8/10

Valve has recently announced their latest weekend deal and next in line in the THQ Collector Pack. This weekend, Steam will cut a full 25% off the pack bringing the price from $99.99 to $74.99.

This pack includes games such as Company of Heroes, Dawn of War II, Warhammer 40,000, Frontlines and more.

Peep the full list of games after the break.

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The new Dawn of War II patch ‘There is Only War’, which has been in beta testing recently, now has a definite release date. Relic Entertainment posted on the official community site that the patch will be available starting tomorrow.

The developers also released a very extensive changelog, listing all of the improvements the patch has to offer. This changelog details numerous bug fixes and balance changes. These improvements differ from what you’ve seen in the beta, so it’s well worth a look.

Make the jump for the full changelog.

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The “There is Only War” beta period for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II officially ended yesterday night. Although the beta was scheduled to end on the 14th, Relic Entertainment decided to extend the beta to keep it playable for a bit longer, even though no more feedback would be accepted.

The developers mention that the beta was a success, receiving an “overwhelming amount of community feedback and support.” That being said, the retail launch of the patch will be rolling out soon, except this time with even more bug fixes and balance changes unseen in the beta.

“There is Only War” includes eight unreleased multiplayer maps, balance changes, bug fixes, and a map editor.

Read (Dawn of War 2 Community Site)

Relic has announced a huge update for the RTS Dawn of War 2. The update will bring new features, gameplay tweaks and new content, which is said to be a whopping 8 new maps, ranging from 1v1 to 3v3 player sizes. An open beta will be held for the patch early next month

THQ announces today that a new single player demo has been released for Dawn of War II. It clocks in at around a hefty 3.8GB.

In celebration of the new demo, Steam has also given the real-time-strategy game a 25% discount if you buy the game before Monday, which makes the price at $37.49.

Read (Steam)

Relic has updated their blog with information regarding the next patch for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II. The patch, 1.2.1, is scheduled to go live on the 13th, which is tomorrow. Content in the patch includes a new six-player Team Battle map known as Tiber Outpost, along with PVP gameplay changes, matchmaking fixes, etc.

All of the patch notes can be viewed after the jump.

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Relic’s real time strategy game Dawn of War 2, or rather, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2, once again tops the PC sales charts in the US, in addition to already being at the top of the charts all over Europe. NPD’s sales chart for the week of February 22-28 in the US:

1. Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II
2. World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
3. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe
4. The Sims 2 Deluxe
5. World Of Warcraft
6. World Of Warcraft Battle Chest
7. Spore
8. The Sims Carnival: SnapCity
9. The Sims 2 Apartment Life
10. World Of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

It’s surprising that out of the ten best selling games, 4 are World of Warcraft titles and 4 are The Sims titles.

The first Dawn of War wasn’t up to expectations, admits Relic Entertainment in their interview with Strategy Informer, noting that they believe they have overcome those problems in the upcoming sequel.

Lead designer Jonny Ebbert explained that it took months for them to get patches out to the player, thus creating long waiting times and not enough interaction with the community. Their online play was also flawed, which they hope will be fixed in the sequel due to Games for Windows Live being integrated.

Most interesting, however, is the revelation that the studio plans on releasing a steady stream of free downloadable content for legitimate buyers.

“Free downloadable, regularly accessible stuff that enhances the game and then that’s an incentive for the people who didn’t buy the game to buy it,” he said. “So we’ve got a really bold, robust strategy for that and we’re going to be revealing more details in about a month, but I think players are going to like it.”

The action-strategy sequel is due out soon.