Warhammer 40,000 - Dawn of War II

In the 41st century everything is nothing but war. Orcs, Eldar and countless other races fight against the Human Imperium with the sole goal to annihilate and eradicate them from the face of the galaxy. One of those many battles is fought by the Space Marines Order "Blood Raven" that has begun to cleanse the planets of subsector Aurelia from Orcs, Eldars and Tyranids.

The single player campaign, which can also be played cooperative with a friend, consists of two parts. The first part is the planet overview. Here the player sees which territories he has already conquered, the ones currently threatened and from where emergency signals are sent. From that screen he also selects skills and equips his heroes, sees the messages of the day and ultimately decides to which battlefield he turns his attention next.

When the territory has been decided upon, the player needs to choose from his available squads a maximum of four to send into battle. As opposed to multiplayer, new units cannot be built during the battles and there is only access to a very limited amount of reinforcements. Each squad is led by a hero who gains experience in battle, levels up and can equip so-called war gear like better armor, dropped by boss enemies or awarded at the end of a mission. At each level-up his stats also improve and he gets two skill points that can be allocated to the heroes four main characteristics including strength or stamina. When the player invests enough points into one element, a new ability for the hero is unlocked and it can be used on the battlefield.

In multiplayer the player needs not only choose which of the four races he wants to play but he can also decide on one of three heroes that are roughly categorized based on offensive, defensive and support skill. During the skirmishes the hero again gains experience, levels up and can then decide on the fly which upgrade to install. And while in single player the hero can only be revived by other heroes once he dies, in multiplayer the player can revive him instantly for a price. The longer he waits with the revive order, the less it costs.

The resources needed to pay the price and build new units in the army headquarters are automatically collected every few seconds once the player has conquered a requisite point on the map. In addition, the player needs to conquer energy points to get the energy required to upgrade his units. All these efforts are ultimately needed to either destroy up to five enemies or conquer and hold enough victory points until the enemies points' account has reached zero.