Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Dark Crusade PC

Warhammer 40 000: Dawn of War – Dark Crusade for PC is the second (after the Winter Assault) expansion for the popular strategy game developed by Relic Entertainment, the creators of the cult game Homeworld. The basic novelty introduced in the Dark Crusade is two new races – Necroni and Tau.

Plot

The first new nation consists of humanoid robots that for 60 millions of years rested in the underground cemeteries of planet Kronus. Now they have awakened and decided to defeat the intruders that appeared on their home planet. Necroni are true killing machines. They murder everything on their path with no emotions while being indestructible since their metal armor is able to automatically regenerate. A direct confrontation with them is one of the greatest challenges in Dark Crusade.

Tau race is completely different from Necroni. Their appearing on Kronus is caused by ideology. As the youngest side of the conflict Tau surprises with very advanced technology which gives them an edge in ranged combat. Tau units are specialists in diplomacy and are able to convince other races to fight on their side. This makes them one of the greatest military forces in the whole galaxy.

Gameplay

In addition to the above mentioned factions, there are also old friends available in Dark Crusade – Space Marines, Eldars, Chaos forces, Orcs, Imperial Guard. Each of them is interested in the desert planet and wants to eliminate the opponents. The developers decided not to implement a lineal storyline and force the players to complete series of missions. Instead, one can immediately jump to conquering the whole available area. Of course, there are turning points in the campaign which can be observed from seven different perspectives depending on the nation selected. Completing the singleplayer mode takes a few dozen hours.

During that time player focuses on defending his territory and attacking the neighbors. Taking over enemy stronghold equals eliminating him from the game. The gameplay can be divided into phase when one improves his base and produce units and time when one focuses only on battle. Economic aspect is controlled in turn-based system and during the battle Warhammer is played like a typical RTS.

The last novelty introduced in the expansion is character development system. From now on the heroes who led the armies can be enriched with better weapons and abilities bought for special points accumulated during the game.

Last updated on 21 November 2014