Dawn of War 2 is a new beginning for the RTS series based on the Games Workshop franchise.
Whilst the original focused on massive armies and battle in the Warhammer 40k universe, The new game focuses on smaller squads facing off against overwhelming odds.
Dawn of War 2 is unique in that the multiplayer and single player portions of the game work and play very differently.
The single player is now focused on the Space Marines and follows the Blood Ravens as they fight to defend sector Aurelia from the Tyranids with some Eldar and Orks thrown in for good measure.
Whilst the story was of a smaller scope than the previous games, I think it captured the feel and tone of the 40K universe much better than the previous games.
The single player of the game is now far closer to a tactical real time RPG, with you managing small squads of marines and equipping them with war-gear that drops like it would in a game like Diablo.
Another similiar element that the game borrows from Diablo is its use of a persistent experience system that allows your squads to level up and unlock new skills and abilities.
The new engine the game uses is far superior to the original and focuses more on smaller squads and the use of cover.
The new engine is also a lot prettier than the original and helps bring the Warhammer 40k world to life, the improved physics and kill animations in particular make combat much more entertaining to watch. The soundtrack for the game is also particularly good and really helps bring across the feel of the 40K universe with lots of gregorian chanting and powerful beats.
The multiplayer allows you to play as one of the 4 races and primarily consists of control point maps. The factions initially were quite unbalanced but that has been (mostly ) fixed, The 4 Races generally appeal to different playstyles with the Tyranids being for the more rush focused players and the Space marines being for the more tactical players.
The interesting thing about the multiplayer is that Relic have effectively removed rushing from their RTS. They have done this by Placing turrets at each players base from the start of the round and making victory decided by capturing and defending power nodes, this ultimately makes it a more fun experience to play online.
Overall, I think Dawn of War 2 is less of a Warhammer 40k RTS and more of a Warhammer 40K game.
