The remaster of the classic returns the beloved strategy series to a grim universe where war never ends. The player will once again be able to control diverse armies to achieve dominance over other factions — now in 4K resolution and with many modern improvements. Or not? A little late, we figure out how good the Dawn of War remaster is.
New Saddle for an Old Horse
When Relic Entertainment came out from under SEGA's control, fans once again gained hope for the revival of the legendary Dawn of War series. This led to the announcement of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV — a direct sequel to the series. For advertising purposes, the developers also created a remaster of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Definitive Edition, which will be discussed in this material.
In the Dawn of War game series, the player took command of one of the various factions, which he had to lead to victory. The essence of the game was to capture key points and build generators. The resources obtained from them were used to build buildings and armies, which snatched victory with their teeth in bloody battles.
In the Definitive Edition, the developers did cosmetic work:
- The game engine was rewritten for 64-bit systems, but it still runs on a single core. Because of this, you will have to endure drawdowns during large battles;
- Textures have been updated, shadows and highlights have been added – in some cases, they overdid it with the latter;
- All existing games have been combined into one, and now they can be launched from the main menu. Let's talk about them
Dawn of War
The first game, which is a great option for getting acquainted with the series. It marks the debut of the Space Marines from the Blood Ravens Order, who arrived to help the Imperial Guards, who were under attack by orcs. During the confrontation, it becomes clear that the greens are just a cover for much more sinister events. The Blood Ravens decide to find the main source of the problem and deal with it — once and for all.
In Dawn of War, the player can control only one faction — the Space Marines. These are powerful fighters who are able to land behind enemy lines. The Space Marines are opposed by the forces of Chaos, Eldar and Orcs.
The game has retained all the flaws and roughness in the cutscenes of the original. In the updated version, due to the increased viewing distance, it became noticeable that the characters are simply standing in the distance, and not acting — it's just ridiculous to see this in 2025.
Winter Assault
The best game in terms of role-playing. Pursuing their own goals, the forces of order and chaos clashed in a fierce conflict. For the sake of victory, the warring parties declared a truce, but only one will manage to live to the end – the winner depends on the player's choice.
Four factions are participating in the conflict:
- Imperial Guard — ordinary people who fight against horrors from space. The infantry of the guard is the weakest, but after improvements it will have to be reckoned with;
- Eldar — space elves. They prefer to hide, use specialized units and attack at the most inopportune moment;
- Orcs — a crowd of green-skinned barbarians who like to fight in close combat;
- Chaos — the same Space Marines, but evil and able to summon demons to their side.
The game does an excellent job of depicting the plot and mechanical features of the factions involved in the conflict. It's most fun to play as orcs and fight for dominance among the orc clans. And it's more exciting for the Eldar, who can teleport their own buildings — to avoid destruction.
Dark Crusade
A bloody war broke out on Kronus. Different factions built bases and will not stop attacking until they destroy their rivals. It is on Kronus that the events of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 will take place — 200 years after the events of Dark Crusade.
The Blood Ravens, Imperial Guards, Chaos forces, Eldar and Orcs, who have already distinguished themselves earlier, are taking part in the conflict. But there was an opportunity to control two additional factions:
- Necrons: slow and tenacious metal skeletons. If they manage to get to the enemy, then it will not seem enough to him;
- Tau: space communists. In battle, they like to use combat suits and rely on ranged combat. In close combat, they prefer to use more primitive allied forces.
After choosing a participant in the conflict, it's time for a war of conquest.
For the resource "influence" you can buy additional troops to defend the controlled lands. Capturing provinces increases the supply of resources, and also rewards an improved version of standard units — sometimes it is profitable to take risks. A successful siege of an enemy stronghold removes the faction from the game, and the remaining sides will be able to continue capturing its territories.
Already at the beginning of the campaign, I encountered a bug when the training text plates were superimposed on the training voice acting of other factions. Also, the shadows went crazy – displaying at the wrong angle and size. The quality of the remaster's elaboration is immediately clear.
Soulstorm
Soulstorm continues the tradition of the series and makes the new conflict bigger, more epic. The game works according to the rules of Dark Crusade, but the factions are fighting not for one planet, but for four – including three satellites, which will have to be captured gradually.
Two more factions have been added:
- Sisters of Battle — have powerful fighters who prefer to burn everything around;
- Dark Eldar — evil brethren of ordinary Eldar, strong in the early stages of battles and weaker in the final stages.
Increasing the number of provinces to capture has also increased the number of bonuses received. Also in Soulstorm, they additionally reward for the destruction of factions. If you manage to destroy your neighbors, then the bonuses received will help you quickly and easily roll out the remaining enemies, which is logical.
It is gratifying that the developers unhesitatingly transferred the legendary Russian translation in its crookedness. There are enough shortcomings in the translation, both in the text and in the voice acting. Also, Soulstorm was the only game that crashed twice during the passage — most likely due to the single-threaded process of the game.
Diagnosis
The Dawn of War game series definitely deserved, albeit such, but an update. The main merit of the Definitive Edition is the ability to run all four games in one place, and the improved graphics are more of a nice bonus.
On this, the positive moments, as it turned out with a close acquaintance, end. The developers did not fix most of the shortcomings of twenty years ago, to which they added several new ones. They didn't even bother to add achievements and collectible cards to Steam, which is simply unforgivable in 2025!
There is hope that future patches will fix the situation. Now, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Definitive Edition looks like a mediocre advertisement for the sequel and an attempt to collect money from indifferent fans, and not a return of the legendary strategy series.
