The identity of the unit could have been easily established just by putting a book shaped design on the soldier's armor. Librarians are powerful psychic soldiers that also serve as Space Marine archivists. One particular example of this really brought home how much effort Relic put into essentially bringing the miniature figures of the tabletop game to life - the Librarian unit.

Space Marine battle armor bears a variety of insignia, ribbons, medals, and battle standards that, while not affecting the gameplay directly, serve wonderfully to pull the player into the world. Zooming in any unit or building in the game reveals a wealth of fascinating detail that's been included on the game's models. The game's art design is simply stunning. The beauty is more than just a powerful 3D engine, though.

That's the world 40,000 years in the future where the human Imperium, a brutal religious dictatorship, battles for the survival of the race against a universe filled with hostile aliens bent on its destruction.ĭawn of War's strongest point is immediately obvious the moment the game begins - sheer graphic beauty. Now drop them into a science fiction universe so that the Orks and Eldar and the forces of Chaos battle it out using depleted uranium shells, spaceships, and laser weapons.

Imagine standard fantasy tropes like orcs and elves and wizards and demons. If you're unfamiliar with the Warhammer 40,000 universe, here's a quick-and-dirty summary.

While Dawn of War doesn't break any new ground for the RTS genre, it is, nonetheless, a supremely polished and well-balanced example of it, a credit to both the development team, and a laurel wreath for the license it bears. Relic Entertainment is known for its original Homeworld, a fully 3D, deep-space real-time strategy game, as well as its more traditional RTS, Impossible Creatures. Like all Warhammer 40,000 games, Dawn of War is set in the futuristic fantasy universe of Game Workshop's tabletop war game, which first became popular in the late 1980s. Following Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior, this is the second game based on the franchise to be published by THQ. Visit a dark, distant, gothic future and take real-time command of powerful armies to wage intense, tactical battles in the name of freedom or justice.

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