UGO writes: "Empathy. It's something a player rarely feels for their troops in an RTS, but Relic Entertainment is going to show that it can be done. At least, that's what they're claiming their progressive unit structure is going to accomplish in Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War II. Troops in DoW II are in limited supply. You don't have a Barracks, or any other type of building that will create units, you just have what you're given… which isn't much. And the troops you do have, you'll want to hold on to, because they're the guys you'll be ferrying over to your next area of operations.
Every unit has a name, has a voice. Like a movie, when that lovable sniper that was carrying the team passes on, both the team and the audience feel that loss. What's more, as you progress through DoW II those units you've come to know level up. Every single shot fired from a unit's weapon makes that troop stronger. It's readily apparent how the combination of limited troops and troop progression will affect the way you feel about the game. This is the kind of RTS that I fear I'll be starting a mission over just because I lost that one unit that I grew attached to."
VGChatz's Taneli Palola: "There's no question that during these years the overall popularity of the genre took a significant hit, as most games within it specialized even further by adding new elements from other types of games into their gameplay loops and consequently became increasingly niche as the years wore on.
However, this doesn't in any way mean that the period was devoid of great games. Quite the contrary, in fact. Arguably some of the greatest RTS titles ever made came out around this time, and much of this was because many developers were increasingly familiar and comfortable with adding new twists and gameplay elements to the familiar formula. As such, even when the genre's popularity dwindled, many studios were still creating excellent and groundbreaking titles almost every year, just for a smaller audience than in years past."
those were fun years red alert star craft command and conquer well when westwood studio made good games before EA brought them like bioware...
Aside from C&C 4, the other C&C's from EA were all good/great. The genre nose dived once Moba's rose in popularity, even Petroglyph Games (ex-Westwood employees) haven't had a hit since Star Wars: Empire at War (2006), all there games got abandoned after launch.
"This week when I was scrolling through my Steam library for a game to play I was stumped, until I found a mod which brought fresh air to an old classic. The game was the legendary Dawn of War series by Relic. The Dawn of War expansions; Winter Assault, Dark Crusade and Soulstorm along with other stand-alone titles like Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, give the universe the justice it rightly deserved."
Sega wants to give you even more free games.
