Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV was originally on my Gamescom schedule as “Unannounced RTS game,” and I took the appointment out of pure curiosity. I haven’t played an RTS game in ages, save for the excellent Pikmin games, and I wanted to know what “unannounced” was – when I saw Dawn of War IV announced during Opening Night Live earlier this week, I immediately knew it was the game I had an appointment booked for.
I’ll be honest: my excitement for this appointment was quickly dampened when I saw the reveal trailer for Dawn of War IV. I’m not super familiar with the Warhammer 40,000 franchise, save for last year’s great Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, and, as I already mentioned, RTS games aren’t really for me. Fast forward two days later and I’m sitting on a bench in Cologne, Germany, an hour separated from my hour-long Dawn of War IV hands-on preview, eating those words (or thoughts, rather – I promise I didn’t talk out loud while sitting surrounded by strangers during Opening Night Live).
Now, let me preface this: I didn’t do well during my hands-on preview of the game. In fact, I struggled to make any forward progress as the Blood Ravens (Space Marine) faction against the Orks. Sitting in a room surrounded by other members of the press who clearly live and breathe RTS games, I knew I was doing terribly. However, it’s how poorly I was doing that has me wanting to play this game more; I’m even considering giving the older Dawn of War games a try, though it’s clear based on the in-room sentiment that I should avoid Dawn of War III.
Not only did I have a good time tinkering with Dawn of War IV’s many, many, many systems, units, buildings, and more, but I feel compelled to learn how this RTS series works, if only, at least, to go back and defeat the Orks in that single mission. It wasn’t like playing a Soulslike or another challenging type of game where I just need to keep practicing; I need to learn Dawn of War IV’s systems, understand how different combos work best together, and learn the strategy behind gaining ground, winning and holding control points, and ultimately, defeating the enemy.
The single pre-alpha mission I played was simple: defeat the Ork base. I began at the bottom of the map and that base was at the top. Dotted in between their base and mine were various neutral control points. Taking them over allows me to build various buildings where I can deploy more troops, elite soldiers, vehicles, and more. You absolutely cannot win without winning these control points, as they effectively allow you to move your base of operations and army manufacturing sites forward. Other than that, I needed to direct my soldiers and vehicles to hordes of enemies to defeat. It’s all simple on paper, but much harder in execution.
I sucked at it. I don’t want to suck at it. My desire to play more is rooted in beating this mission one day. I suppose this is a roundabout way of saying I think Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV is going to be a hit because if it has me wanting more, I can only imagine what those who already love these games are going to feel. And let’s be real: this all might be a way for me to justify the horrid RTS performance I turned in today.
If you’re already a Dawn of War fan and are not enthused reading an amateur’s thoughts on the newly announced entry in the long-running hardcore RTS series, don’t worry – I’m a much better notetaker than I am a Blood Raven commander and I have plenty to share about what to expect in Dawn of War IV when it launches next year. I’ve listed them below in bullet form for easy digestion:
- There are over 10,000 permutations for combat, thanks to different factions, all the units, abilities, and more.
- Developer King Art Games says this is going to be the biggest Dawn of War game in series history in terms of content and game modes that will be available at launch.
- Dawn of War IV will launch with Skirmish, Multiplayer (co-op for Skirmish and Campaign), and Last Stand.
- There are four playable factions, and each has its own Campaign:
- Space Marine: the Blood Ravens
- Adeptus Mechanicus: this is their debut as a playable faction; they are zealous tech priests that use data and connectivity to augment forces and overcome foes.
- Necrons: one of the biggest factions; originally promised for Dawn of War III, but wasn’t delivered.
- Orks: They rely on brute force and overwhelming numbers to beat enemies to a pulp.
- Each faction has well over a dozen missions to its name:
- Not every mission will be playable in your first playthrough, as critical narrative choices will change how your Campaign plays out.
- Dawn of War IV will feature a “flagship story campaign” with a narrative written by Black Library author John French, who has written various books set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
- Dawn of War IV marks a return to the planet Kronus, last seen in the first Dawn of War game.
- Three returning characters (so far, at least):
- Cyrus, Chief Librarian Jonah Orion, and Ork boss Gorgutz
- There are over 40 minutes of “gorgeous” cinematics in the game.
For more about Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV, check out the reveal trailer.
