Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Chaos Rising
released on Mar 11, 2010
An expansion for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II
In Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising you will take command of the Blood Ravens and defend the sector against the Chaos Space Marines of the Black Legion. Purge the Chaos filth and hold the chapter together as traitorous forces work from within to try bring down the Blood Ravens.
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Fixed a ton of issues I have with the base game. Shorter, better mission variety (with alternate playstyles with the alignment system), better character builds. I enjoyed making Tarkus melee for a while even though he is so clearly not designed to be, to the point he will yell, "Tactical Squad caught in melee!" as he does 1400 damage sword to a cultist.
Story is more fun too than simply, "We are Space Marine, we save world." A shame Eliphas' beautiful Dark Crusade voice is gone, but it is hilarious Steve Blum voices half the cast.
The deployment and infestation system are thankfully gone. They could have slapped "Chaos Cult Corruption" on there to replace it, but thankfully thought better of it.
The corruption system is deeply lacking, and I never felt pressured to go either way. The pure equipment was enough to carry me on hard, and I never was compelled to do the corrupting mission alternatives to save time or for better gear. So in a way it felt like a very nothing mechanic, even if I appreciated its existence and do think it served more than the ones I had issues with last time.
Good game, good game. A shame Space Marines are just so damn boring to play as after a while.
Story is more fun too than simply, "We are Space Marine, we save world." A shame Eliphas' beautiful Dark Crusade voice is gone, but it is hilarious Steve Blum voices half the cast.
The deployment and infestation system are thankfully gone. They could have slapped "Chaos Cult Corruption" on there to replace it, but thankfully thought better of it.
The corruption system is deeply lacking, and I never felt pressured to go either way. The pure equipment was enough to carry me on hard, and I never was compelled to do the corrupting mission alternatives to save time or for better gear. So in a way it felt like a very nothing mechanic, even if I appreciated its existence and do think it served more than the ones I had issues with last time.
Good game, good game. A shame Space Marines are just so damn boring to play as after a while.
This review contains spoilers
Great standalone add-on for Dawn of War II.
After finishing the original Warhammer 40 000 – Dawn of War II game, it felt that something was missing. I fought Orcs, Eldar and Tyranids, but where is the main enemy of the Space Marine, the Chaos Empire? I really liked Dawn of War II, but the lack of the Chaos Empire was somewhat disappointing. Well, that problem solved itself with this excellent new campaign.
After you wiped out the Tyranid infestation in the first game and thought that was it, think again. The Chaos Empire is coming for your ass and lured you in with a fake distress signal. The smoke of your gun has just been cleared, but now, some more killing needs to be done.
The story and plot of the game is the same as every other game which feature the Chaos Empire. Their only goal is to spread the word of Chaos and corrupt as many souls as they can throughout the galaxy. It is your job to burn the heretics and stop the corruption that is spreading.
This is also the new mechanic featured in the game. The Chaos corruption is spreading rapidly to all the planets in the solar systems and you need to choose your missions wisely and keep an eye on the corruption level of a certain planet to prevent total Chaos (pun intended).
I really like the slow build up of the corruption, that is affecting the mind of your heroes. Slowly they get mad and fight for their sanity. The way you complete the game gives you a good, somewhat good, bad or somewhat bad ending. In each scenario, the speech and behavior of your heroes changes accordingly. This way of playing keeps you focused and makes you feel desperate but determined to press on and murder those foul heretics before it is to late.
The game play style, graphics and controls are the same as the original game and offer no new features. The new grim soundtracks on the Chaos Gothic-themed maps are nice and fits the setting well.
I found the campaign a little short, but for a lower priced standalone add-on, this was to be expected.
Overall, I had fun with this campaign and Dawn of War II feels more complete with the Chaos Empire included.
After finishing the original Warhammer 40 000 – Dawn of War II game, it felt that something was missing. I fought Orcs, Eldar and Tyranids, but where is the main enemy of the Space Marine, the Chaos Empire? I really liked Dawn of War II, but the lack of the Chaos Empire was somewhat disappointing. Well, that problem solved itself with this excellent new campaign.
After you wiped out the Tyranid infestation in the first game and thought that was it, think again. The Chaos Empire is coming for your ass and lured you in with a fake distress signal. The smoke of your gun has just been cleared, but now, some more killing needs to be done.
The story and plot of the game is the same as every other game which feature the Chaos Empire. Their only goal is to spread the word of Chaos and corrupt as many souls as they can throughout the galaxy. It is your job to burn the heretics and stop the corruption that is spreading.
This is also the new mechanic featured in the game. The Chaos corruption is spreading rapidly to all the planets in the solar systems and you need to choose your missions wisely and keep an eye on the corruption level of a certain planet to prevent total Chaos (pun intended).
I really like the slow build up of the corruption, that is affecting the mind of your heroes. Slowly they get mad and fight for their sanity. The way you complete the game gives you a good, somewhat good, bad or somewhat bad ending. In each scenario, the speech and behavior of your heroes changes accordingly. This way of playing keeps you focused and makes you feel desperate but determined to press on and murder those foul heretics before it is to late.
The game play style, graphics and controls are the same as the original game and offer no new features. The new grim soundtracks on the Chaos Gothic-themed maps are nice and fits the setting well.
I found the campaign a little short, but for a lower priced standalone add-on, this was to be expected.
Overall, I had fun with this campaign and Dawn of War II feels more complete with the Chaos Empire included.
More of the first, this game focuses on the Chaos and the place where Daemons come from, the Warp. You are able to import your save which is always a + in my opinion as you can carry over the xp, gear, and so on from the last game. There's also a corruption meter and depending on what you do you get more corrupt or less. To remain uncorrupted is hard and you gain no real benefits from it besides a good ending where as if you have become corrupted you gain many different special boons that help enforce your characters, but at what cost? It's game length however is quite short, but then again what do you expect when it's an expansion? If you have DoW2, I suggest getting this as your teams level cap is extended by 10 and you can bring over all your equipment, though your terminator armour is "damaged" until you get a tech to repair it.
The Corruption system was too dissapointing.
This really didn't bring anything new to the table, it just added more to the story. I'm glad that Eliphas got more characterization in this game though.
Decent expansion, though not as good as the base game. The main difference is the morality system influenced by corrupted Chaos gear, which feels a bit tacked on.
I'd still recommend it to those who enjoyed the Dawn of War 2 campaign or like the Warhammer universe. And play it in coop if you can.
I'd still recommend it to those who enjoyed the Dawn of War 2 campaign or like the Warhammer universe. And play it in coop if you can.