In this third installment, you can see the experience gained from Relic in his previous games and of course, the generational leap that there has been. First of all, note that several errors are known by the developer such as audio glitches, AI improvements and some aspects of certain missions in the campaign mode..
My first steps as an army commander
As soon as we start a campaign, we will be asked if we want to do the Dawn Of War tutorial to learn the basic controls and some more advanced things, in case you already have experience in the genre, it is something that you will not need to look at. This tutorial consists of three parts: a basic tutorial in which the basics of the game mechanics are explained, an advanced tutorial in which we are given more complex tips that will help us to improve and finally, a multiplayer tutorial in which he will give us advice for online games. In this campaign mode, we will use the orks as well as the space marines and the eldar (these 3 races will also be the ones that we will have available in online mode).
Another great part of the strategic depth of the game consists of the handling of the elite units; These powerful units have the ability to turn the tide of battle fairly easily if handled properly but we will also have to decide what and when we will have them. Since the heroes are recruited with specific points that are obtained over time, we can choose whether it is more worth taking out a hero soon and focus our strategy on the mid-game or we try to withstand the enemy assaults and wait to accumulate the points in a herald of destruction that annihilates the enemy's army. All this is part of the strategy with which we want to approach the game, which, in turn, is surely a reflection of our way of understanding the game. Fortunately, and waiting for a metagame to be established, we have seen all the possibilities more or less viable.
Few races but very different
Relic has again done a great job differentiating the 3 competing races playable; Although there are quite a few units that play the same role on one side or the other, the way of understanding that role and the way in which they play it are quite different. In addition, each faction has its own strengths: humans are a fairly complete race with notable units on all fronts that can specialize depending on the player's needs; the orks have powerful melee units and are capable of making mechanized units even from scrap metal they find on the battlefield. If the Orks get into melee in sufficient numbers, the destruction they cause in enemy ranks can rarely be overcome. Eldar possess the best abilities for infiltration and ranged attack with probably the best ability to mobilize units around the map. Each one is adjusted to a style of play and, within each one, to an optimal moment and strategy.
It is difficult to explain what it feels like during a DoW3 game, but it can be explained that a good player needs to be able to be successful in the game: it is not enough to just have a strategy in mind that we want to follow before starting the game, we must also have the ability to adapt that strategy to the needs of the moment. You have to be able to multitask, and a few minutes of “autopilot” or being distracted may mean you haven't made that crucial arsenal upgrade or researched plasma rifles in those squads. Or have reacted late and lost the advantage of the high ground in that position or the stealth advantage. We are really facing a title capable of putting a lot of tension on the player that only looks briefly relaxed at the end of the game and that lasts until we start another. A very RTS sensation, very MOBA too, which nevertheless causes a kind of addiction that is difficult to explain.
More than decent performance
As for the graphic section of the game, the title makes use of the Essence Engine 3.0, the new version of the engine created by Relic Entertainment itself, which we could already see in action in the Company of Heroes 2 game, finding ourselves before a title full of details that show off an excellent technical level, something that is reflected both in the units and in the scenarios themselves, abounding all kinds of visual effects.
In this sense, the evolution of the graphic engine with respect to the past installments of the saga is more than evident, being a very visually very attractive title, and what is even better, superbly optimized, and in fact so much so that even when entering In the graphic configuration options, the game indicates the FPS that we are going to have with the parameters that we have selected in configuration, without having to load a game to buy the performance.
What I think of the game after playing
Dawn of War III is a title that will delight fans of real-time strategy, and even more so if you are a fan of the Warhammer 40000 universe, which remains true to the essence of the classic RTS of yesteryear, with a very direct gameplay, and with a truly frenetic pace in the battles.
Although on the negative side, it is precisely that classic bet, which can also work against it if what we are looking for is something more innovation. In addition, the one that only includes 3 factions, and a total of 8 multiplayer maps seems somewhat scarce. especially when making comparisons with other current genre titles.