Dawn of War 4's four campaigns "offer more than any other RTS," says dev

"The most important thing is the campaign," says Jan Theysen, creative director at Dawn of War 4 developer King Art. He's paraphrasing the feedback that countless players left the developer during the development of its last RTS game, Iron Harvest. The quote also captures the spirit of online discussions surrounding the future of Dawn of War, which have sprung up practically every year since the ill-fated third entry played fast and loose with the genre. Players want a good campaign. They want to continue the story of the Blood Ravens. But I don't think anyone expected four campaigns, even in their dizziest daydreams.

If Dawn of War 4 wants to be considered one of the best RTS games, it needs to knock it out of the park in this regard. Multiplayer is all well and good, the return of the popular Last Stand game mode is a great addition, but players mostly want a quality campaign. Or four. 

While we didn't get to play any of the campaign in the one mission featured in our Dawn of War 4 preview, the opportunities for narrative are clear. The Blood Ravens have returned to Kronus, the Orks lay siege, and the Necrons linger ever-present in the peripheries. The Adeptus Mechanicus are there, too. The opportunity to see the war from all four perspectives is unique for a Dawn of War game, and King Art believes it will make the fourth entry in the iconic series a step above any other RTS game to date. 

"Each of the individual campaigns is already a great RTS campaign, even if you just have one of them," Theysen says. "But now you have four and all four of them pay into this overarching narrative […] For a single-player RTS campaign fan, this game probably offers more than any other RTS out there."

Theysen tells me the decision to craft four separate campaigns was made early, in order not to sideline the non-Space Marine armies. This gave King Art, "a lot of space to tell faction-specific stories and make sure that the faction mechanics and the units get a chance to shine," he says. 

Each campaign in Dawn of War 4 begins with an opening CGI animation, and includes 40 minutes of cutscenes therein. There are non-linear, branching narratives, important decisions to make, and optional extras within each campaign—no shortcuts taken! We already know that we'll get to choose which of the two Ork Warbosses we back, suggesting that our decision could affect how well the Orks perform—or their tactics—when they get bored of the infighting and turn their attention to the Primaris Terminators on their doorstep. 

Senior game designer Elliott Verbiest tells me that he was personally inspired by the campaigns in games like Homeworld and Red Alert 2. "If that is your bag," he says, "then you are absolutely at the right place here with Dawn of War 4."

Even from the brief demo mission that I played (and replayed, and replayed again), you can see the beginnings of a campaign and its characters. The Orks, in particular, are the classic humorous antagonists you imagine. Verbiest tells me that the voice actors had particular fun with the Ork characters, so we can expect some iconic dialogue from them.

"I'm absolutely convinced by now that every British voice actor secretly wants to voice Orks in a 40k game," he says. "Because everybody already has their Ork voice—nobody's asking questions. Everybody already has their Ork voice, so I'm pretty sure they all secretly did this in front of the mirror already."

As a toaster lover myself, I'm particularly looking forward to tinkering with the noosphere in the Adeptus Mechanicus campaign, but all players should be satisfied with four campaigns to choose from. If you can't wait until 2026 for that RTS goodness, check out some of the other best strategy games, or our favorite Warhammer 40k games to make do with until then. 

Want to chat all things Dawn of War? Hop into our community Discord server, where you can natter with members of the team and fellow readers.