Anyone who has ever played Warhammer 40,000 the table top game knows that the Imperial Guard is rarely played by anyone. So you can imagine my surprise when I found out that they would be the one and only new race added to the DoW expansion. It is because of this reason that I held out so long to play this expansion. Sure I had a fun time with the original game but I wasn't about to shell out a lot of money to play a "race" almost no one likes. Anyways fast forward to me buying this expansion for dirt cheap and finding it to be just about as exciting Dawn of War.
In this expansion you'll play six levels as either the forces of good or evil for a total of twelve levels. On several occasions you will be able to switch between races and make a judgment call as to which objectives you wish to achieve. To be more specific, while you play as the good side you can either choose to be the Imperial Guard or the Eldar. Your choice then dictates which set of objectives you are to achieve. Once you select a race you can switch back without any penalties. However, once you attack or complete an objective that is detrimental to the other "good" team you will become their enemy.
While I found this gameplay mechanic interesting and a great way of creating replay value it doesn't really make the game exciting. You'll often just stay with the race you started the map with and there is no incentive to really switch teams. Also this option only shows up a few times through the entire game so it feels more or less tacked on.
Of course like any strategy expansion you get more units, upgrades, campaign levels, scenario maps and a whole pile of gameplay tweaks. This is all of course good with the exception of the race. Only one new race is available and it is a very uninteresting one at that. Maybe it is just my personal tastes but the Imperial Guard is like the weak little brothers of the Space Marines.
Enough bashing on this expansion, it is still a great looking and sounding strategy game. The scenario maps are fun, the AI is tough and basically if you liked Dawn of War you'll like this expansion. Just don't expect a lot from either the new race or campaign.
Create an Account
Member Login
