Warhammer 40k Dawn of War 4 puts the RTS series back on track after disaster

Like many Warhammer-obsessed teenagers, I played so much Dawn of War I could see tactical maneuvers in my sleep. Soulstorm was my particular jam, as it added the Dark Eldar and Sisters of Battle. Like I say, I was a Warhammer-obsessed teenager. I fell off the RTS series before its sequel released, mostly because I discovered beer, so my strongest, fondest memories remain of that original game, especially given the third entry's MOBA-like elements went down like a lead baloon. There's a parallel universe where we're all playing Dawn of War esports, but it's not this one. Luckily, Dawn of War 4 seems to be putting the series back on track.

Dawn of War 4 feels a lot like the original game. My memories of it are obviously tainted by nostalgia, but directing the Blood Ravens across the battlefields of Kronus again captures the machine spirit of one of the best RTS games ever made. The demo build I played consisted of one large battle, but it features all four armies in the game in some capacity: the Space Marines, Orks, Necrons, and Adeptus Mechanicus.

I took command of the Blood Ravens, with some Astra Militarum allies aiding me in the early stages of the matchup - they provided a little more firepower at the main base, but rarely ventured further afield. I don't know if the full game will have AI-controlled units in some story missions, but I hope the intelligence thereof will be improved, as they were less useful than a Grot in an arm wrestling competition when defending my key buildings.

The demo tutorializes the early stages of the fight, telling you which buildings to build and which areas to engage. I played it safe, banking plenty of currency and building a few elite units to protect my expansion. It's a little disconcerting to see Primaris units in a Dawn of War game, but the updated graphics represent the miniatures range well. Bladeguard Veterans jiggle and jangle their way to the frontline, with their wonderfully excessive ceremonial regalia proving no hindrance when faced with a squad of Gretchin or Boyz.

I tried to use tactics similar to the old Dawn of War days - or what I could remember of them - and they largely worked well. You control a large force even in this tutorial mission, but it can quickly go wrong if you overextend. Hubris bit me like a power klaw on numerous occasions, and a power klaw bit me like a power klaw even more often.

Speaking of which, the Orks are great. I'm of the opinion that Orks should appear in every Warhammer videogame, as the most personable villains around, and they don't disappoint here. With excellent voice acting and perfect animations, the greenskin horde brought the fight to the Adeptus Astartes like never before.

Dawn of War 4's most impressive feat is how good it looks. From each individual soldier chopping chainswords and firing plasma blasts, to the explosions of a Battlewagon as it's hit by an orbital bombardment, this might be the best-looking Warhammer game to date. The thing that makes it all really tick, however, is the combat.

Dawn of War fans will remember 'sync kills,' which are special animations that played when one unit destroyed another. They were unique, usually epic, and linger in the memory. Dawn of War 4 developer King Art has doubled down on these iconic animations, and created over 10,000 unique fights that play out in real-time. No matter whether you've got a Meganob assaulting an Imperial Knight or a Kataphron Battle Servitor taking a swipe at a Tomb Spider, they all have unique fight sequences that shift and coalesce on the fly.

This creates a flowing, immersive battle that's as fun to watch as it is to play. After finishing the mission once, I immediately jumped back in just to send certain units into battle and see what the fights looked like. The system guarantees that you'll never get bored of Dawn of War 4, even when you've finished its four campaigns and spent hours in its multiplayer offerings.

Dawn of War 4 is mechanically fresh, too. Instead of constantly watching units fighting on opposite ends of the battlefield, you can click a button to automatically replenish their health, which is a godsend when things get frantic. It's quality of life updates like this that show you King Art has an excellent grasp on the RTS genre, and knows exactly what this game needs if it's to be a meaningful iteration of what's come before.

Base building is back, but I don't think this demo shows off the breadth that we'll be able to play with in the full game. Building Space Marine units is simple, and the upgrade paths are straightforward. But you'll create Noospheric connections within your Mechanicus bases, which could limit expansion if you go out of range. How will the Necron's latent tomb world technology impact their systems? There's the promise of depth, with this pre-alpha gameplay only hinting at what Kronus has in store.

This demo only scratched the surface of what Dawn of War 4 has to offer, and while we'll be diving deeper with multiple interviews with the devs in the coming days and weeks, the most important takeaway is this: Dawn of War 4 feels like the original game. King Art has gone back to what worked there and redesigned the foundations with modern technology. It has plated those all-important roots in fresh ceramite and put this iconic RTS series through the Rubicon Primaris so it emerges a new and improved game.

This small demo is the first, crushing drop pod of a planetwide orbital assault. It's enough to whet your appetite, the prelude to all-out destruction, but there's a whole Chapter waiting on the battle barge to be deployed. If King Art can keep its lofty promises, the angels of death could be dropping for a crushing victory.

If you can't wait to play Dawn of War 4 for yourself, or for our interviews with the developers in the coming days, why not settle in with one of the best Warhammer 40k games to help chill you out? If that doesn't help, some other space games might do the trick.

If you want to break down every snippet of the Dawn of War 4 trailer shown at Gamescom with other likeminded fans, head to our community Discord server to discuss each pauldron and purity seal with staff and readers.