Whilst these key changes are being made to the way that we run and play Dawn of War 2, I must say that I was a little disappointed with the minor changes we usually take for granted in our expansion packs. Rest assured that the compromise is a worthwhile one. Whilst die-hard Dawn of War 2 fans may feel shifting the focus away from the front-lines may dilute the gameplay, yet this is quite a nice treat for us oldies who enjoyed the original DoW back in the day. This is not quite the case with Retribution though, for bases can now be upgraded, with more of an emphasis being placed upon unit production and base defence management. Whilst Dawn of War 1 played out in a very similar style to FPS titles such as Command and Conquer and Age of Empires, DoW2 took a more unit-based approach to strategy in the vein of Company of Heroes and World in Conflict. Speaking of returning to a state more akin to the original Dawn of War games, Retribution sees base-building taking a more prominent place in the Dawn of War 2 set-up. More of the same over the top action you know and love You can even still play all of the races from the original game and the first expansion, Chaos Rising, in both the multiplayer and the campaign modes. Much like the expansions to the original Dawn of War, Retribution can be installed and enjoyed without the original game. Now that the game has transferred over to Steamworks one can easily purchase a digital copy of the game should this be your inclination, but there is also the added benefit of the expansion pack being entirely stand alone. This now means that all friends and achievements from the game will synch up with Steam rather than your Windows Live account and, whilst this may annoy some DoW2 loyalists, it has its relevant benefits.

One of the key changes being made to Dawn of War 2 in Retribution is the change from using the Games for Windows Live service to using Steam for activating the game and accessing its online features. With several changes to the core infrastructure of the DoW2 community, Retribution looks set to be a must have expansion.

Having spent some time on the beta for the newest expansion for Warhammer 40K based RTS game, Dawn of War 2, I’ve been able to get a glimpse of how we can expect an already solid strategy title to develop even further.

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