finicky , they ’ re easier to manage / understand , and their action is more consistently exciting than your average RTS . With the introduction of things like “ escalation phases ”, Relic is obviously attempting to discourage turtling and speed up the pace of matches in DoW III . As matches progress , they advance through various escalation phases . At the first escalation phase , losing units refunds you a portion of their cost , which encourages aggressive exploration and tussling over resource points during the early game , without worrying too much about losing troops . At later phases , the refund disappears , meaning losses have a more substantial impact – but the trade-off is that captured points generate resources faster , so early-game aggression pays off well . Don ’ t get me wrong , playing defensively is still entirely possible . More often than not , however , taking risks and going on the attack is more likely to produce positive results here .
In motion , there ’ s a good amount of strategic depth , and the heightened pace of the action is very welcome . Most importantly , it ’ s brilliantly chaotic . The synchronised
38 The OverClocker Issue 41 | 2017 animations are no more , but DoW III still maintains the ferocious , comically violent personality of its forebears . This is a game where entire armies can vanish in a flash of blood-red carnage – especially once you ’ re adept at using the super abilities of each race , which can be hilariously devastating . The increased disposability of units means that making a recovery when the chaos doesn ’ t fall in your favour is usually very possible , and I ’ ve managed to crawl my way to victory even when all hope seemed lost .
As much as I love DoW III , it does suffer from one glaring flaw : unlike DoW II , it doesn ’ t do much to shake things up and deliver an experience that feels intrinsically fresh . It ’ s very much a traditional real-time strategy affair , which isn ’ t in itself a bad thing – but much like StarCraft II was often dragged across hot coals for not being as inventive and daring as Warcraft III , DoW III plays things very , very safe , enough so that I find myself wanting to reinstall DoW II so I can play that instead .
That said , this is a fantastic RTS , and Relic has once again proven that they ’ re masters of the genre . The increased focus on aggressive tactics is highly welcome , it ’ s absolutely gorgeous to look at , and the game oozes an endearing amount of brutal swagger . I ’ m sad that there ’ s no Last Stand mode though . I ’ m hoping Relic will use those sexy Elites to revive it in DoW III . Just saying .
TheOverclocker
Would you buy it ?
Yes , but only because a ) I ’ m a huge fan of the Dawn of War franchise , and b ) I ’ m a huge fan of real-time strategy games . Dawn of War III is both of those things . Your mileage will vary depending on how you feel about the words you just read .
The Score
8 / 10