Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II Early Access Multiplayer Beta

[Hectic Glenn]

Good news, owners of the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Soulstorm add-on pack and those who pre-order Dawn of War II via Steam will be granted advance access to the beta starting today! You can now pre-order Dawn of War II through the Steam Store here.[br]Steam is also offering Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm for 75% off the suggested price, but if you have an electronic or retail copy of Dawn of War - Soulstorm and a valid CD key may register their game with Steam and join the early access to the Dawn of War II beta.

Download the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War? II Multiplayer Beta and experience the next generation in Real Time Strategy gaming. Whether you're new to the genre or a seasoned veteran, Dawn of War II gets you into the action quickly and easily. Take command of the Space Marines, Orks, Eldar, or Tyranids and face off against your friends on 5 unique multiplayer maps.

If you want to try the beta out for free, on January 28th the beta is scheduled to open to everyone worldwide (free of charge via Steam). DoW II Multiplayer Beta.

 

[3ssence]

Quite excited about this. Dawn of War was the first RTS that i ever really enjoyed. I have already texted my brother to tell him to fire up my PC and Steam, get a reduced price copy of Soulstorm and start downloading the Beta !!

 

[Mech Man]

Downloading nao. Im so phyched up for this .

 

[Dynasty]

Considering this is Relic, who as farm as im concerned have yet to produce a game since DoW that was bad, I cant wait.

58% downloaded, and peak hour coming (thanks Virgin). Good couple of hours to go.

Its getting mixed responses, most find it quite hard to adapt to its less-hectic-than-DoW1 style.

 

[Paulaner]

This is sweet. Now I have some use for Soulstorm.

 

[Mech Man]

Its getting mixed responses, most find it quite hard to adapt to its less-hectic-than-DoW1 style.

After playing it I can say this is true. Although I have grown to like it.

 

[Dynasty]

The visuals are pretty damn awesome. It feels like DoW, if a little slower.

Only played one match, and my impressions are positive. Not building a base feels weird though. 'But its like CoH', errr no. In CoH you built bases. In DoW2 you almost completely dont, although reading what is said carefully, 'base building in multiplayer has practically been stripped'.

We, of course, dont know what to expect of the SP.

 

[Mech Man]

^ That. Also is it me or do space marines still feel too weak? According to lore they are supposed to be the best warriors in the universe able to take down entire squads without any trouble yet three of them (which for some reason is how many you get in a tactical squad , when traditionally its at least 5 to a space marine squad) get mauled by a single 'nid gaunt swarm , whats up with that?!

 

[TwwIX]

Hmm, no base building has me a bit worried. I Am a sucker for holing up and focusing on my defense.

 

[3ssence]

I played a few games last night, just against the computer to get a feel for it and see the differences to the first game. Graphically the game is a good improvement on the original, it looks great (mind, the original aged pretty well in this respect) and runs really well on a large range of systems it would seem, which is always a good thing !

I'm unsure thus far on whether i like it as much as the original, but more time is required to work that one out. It is very different to the first, and although comparisons are made to COH, i'm not sure it's that alike, other than battles seem to be smaller more tactical affairs as opposed to the larger scale battles in the original. Having said that, i think the battles might be even smaller in scale than COH. I may just not have played a long enough game to reach the population cap though, in which case it could be a different story.

I like the COH style of cover, and the inclusion of firing arcs for certain heavy squads, having to set them up to cover a particular direction, although it makes it harder for poor RTS players like myself who tend to be too slow to reposition squads depending on the threat !

I did like base building though, so for me the removal of that is a disappointment.

 

[hool10]

Never played a DoW game but I just saw that it's for free tonight as of 7PM EST: http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/56959

 

[Mech Man]

My only major gripe with it is that the imperial guard and chaos are not in it this time round. Two of the best races from 40k imo (minus the squats ).

 

[Dynasty]

Maybe theyre following the process DoW went through.

First game was just 4 races, Eldar, Space Marines, Chaos and Orks?

Then along came Imperial Guard.

Next Tau and..err..those machine guys. Necrons thats it.

Then along came Sisters of Battle and Dark Eldar.

All in expansion packs.

Give it time my brothers!

 

[Mech Man]

Yeah well DoW 3 better have Titans , or else...