I don't always play RTS games, but when I do, I prefer Dawn of War 2: Retribution.

I may not be the most interesting man in the world, but here's an interesting fact: For this weekend only, Dawn of War 2: Retribution is FREE TO TRY, and half-off to buy (http://www.gamereplays.org/dawnofwar2/portals.php?show=news&news_id=832335). Which means you have a risk-free chance to play a game that has a far smaller following than it deserves. As for the reasons it deserves more attention, well…


1) Dawn of War 2 is messy. This isn't overwhelmingly good nor overwhelmingly bad. It just makes the game different from, say, Starcraft 2. To use a fighting game analogy, it's the difference between Street Fighter 3 and Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Third Strike had 19 characters and a universal system that theoretically made every character balanced. The 40-50 characters in Marvel 2, plus the different team combinations and assist combinations, ultimately meant that people were discovering new strategies and playstyles and combos an entire decade after the game was released. Compare Starcraft 2's 3 races, 3 damage and armor types to the following: Dawn of War 2 has 6 races with 3 heroes each. 7-ish armor types. 3 melee weapon types. A frankly absurd number of ranged damage types. The sheer amount of variables make it a sketchy thing to balance at best (and developers continue to patch it, partially at the behest of the DOW2 community) but a game like this deserves a bigger community if for no other reason than to experiment our collective pants off.

2) Dawn of War 2 is fun. Subjective, obviously, but it's a rather unique experience. The game is ALL Micro. Imagine a game where the ability to pull off several variants of the Starcraft 1 Lurker Spine Dodge was integral to victory. Now stop imagining it and buy DoW2. In a game like Starcraft, you need to practice building orders and timing pushes. In DoW2, you need to practice things like lobbing grenades in retreat paths. And it's not easy. You need to predict the enemy squad's beeline to their base, aim where they will be and take into account the animation of your unit throwing the grenade, its traveling arc, and the timer on it. While making sure your other units are capturing resource points and not getting ambushed. The game requires technical skill, not unlike the kind you'd require in a fighting game, because most abilities have startup times and/or require multiple, precise mouse clicks.

3) Dawn of war 2 is strategical. Of a very different sort than many other RTS games. Unit preservation, forcing retreats, and the sheer number of unit and ability combinations. Capturing points behind enemy lines, executing efficient attacks on enemy power generators. All of this multiplies exponentially when taken to 2v2 or 3v3, where heroes and races are less restricted in strategy. The sheer number of abilities and specialized units and upgrades make for very unpredictable gameplay.

 

There are plenty of RTS games out there, and many of them have a far larger player base than DoW2 at the moment. But maybe all the game needs is more players. There's an incredible amount of depth to the game, and the emphasis on technical skill and micromanagement give it a very special appeal. But for all the same reasons, the game has a very steep learning curve. You will lose and have no idea why. But that's not necessarily a flaw in the game, and there are resources out there for new players. And this weekend special provides you with an opportunity to see if this game is right for you.