Mike Bantick
Saturday, 14 March 2009 06:42
Entertainment
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Along for the ride are the enigmatic Eldar and the crude Space Orks. The former in a desperate bid to protect their own fragile Craftworlds, the latter more as a blunt instrument of opportunity and destruction.
The campaign layout presents a number of primary and optional missions on different planets, players must decide which missions to take on given the factors of Tyranid infestation, limited deployment’s per cycle and the personal or squads at hand.
Fooling around with equipment, traits and personal has a very Dungeon Siege feel to the game, but the choices, though varied, are never overwhelming and commanders can forge their own style of force, with ease.
If there is one drawback, it is probably that the stealth system in the campaign is too easy to spam, making destruction of enemy vital targets a no-brainer with an undetectable and Demolition Charge armed scout squad. In fact the whole single player campaign may be a tad too easy for DOW vets.
It is probably sacrilege to say it, but this design lends itself well to a more console platform style of strategy game-play. It is rare to have a need to click on the mini-map during the single player missions, though this changes when players go online.
The multiplayer aspect branches far from the campaign. Players select a hero from their chosen race, each with differing special abilities, and then armed with a very low unit cap it is onward to battle.
Multiplayer and skirmish battles are all about ground control or annihilation of the enemy. It is something that should be accessible to players of all vintage, and though it takes a little practice to understand the different control points and their affect on the game, everybody understands “annihilate”.
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