Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 3 Reviews
As soon as the flashy and over the top battles wears out, Dawn of War III leaves a sour taste in the mouth of a RTS that fails to build upon its previous entries and poor mechanics.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
With the world awash in new Warhammer games, there's nothing about this latest iteration of what was once the Warhammer 40,000 flagship videogame franchise that we will remember next year.
It’s worth playing if you’re a fan of the series or of Warhammer 40,000 in general but if you’re just looking for a new RTS you should definitely consider looking elsewhere.
Dawn of War 3 is confusing. It revives the old ideas of Dawn of War 1, but does it pretty badly. It completely removes the ideas from Dawn of War 2 because it is too uncontrollable for e-sports.
The RTS genre really needs a savior right now to revive it, but this isn't it.
Neither strategic nor hero-oriented components of Dawn of War III are able to compete with the previous games of the series. Single story campaign for all three factions at once is chaotic, unsurprising and absolutely unable to give you any challenge. Missions are boring and monotonous. Multiplayer feels a bit better, but MOBA elements instead of complex base and army management do not fit this game well.
Review in Russian | Read full review
It benefits nobody to see heroes so emotionally minimized in their single-minded pursuit of a powerful artifact.
A fairly solid attempt, the changes to multiplayer bring out a large mix of good and bad responses from me. In the end I believe that they have pushed away from the original DoWs a bit too much. They still need to return to their roots! I am sure they will do it eventually.
Relic's attempt to bring back the much beloved Dawn of War franchise at times shows glimpses of being a great game, but it removed everything that made it Dawn of War and is now just a run-of-the-mill twitchy RTS game.
Overall, Dawn of War 3 is fun. As usual the multiplayer is where players will likely spend most of their time. I don't think it completely lives up to the previous games in the series, as Dawn of War 1 did larger scale strategy better, and Dawn of War 2 had a much more thrilling campaign. However, it is definitely refreshing to get back into the 40k universe in a way that feels mostly familiar.
Dawn of War III is a surprisingly inconsistent RTS with a disappointing campaign, coming from one of the most consistent development teams in the genre. The steep initial learning curve, muscle memory and furious multitasking required to fully enjoy the game's multiplayer will likely alienate many series fans, but there are enough good ideas here that you can at least see what Relic were going for with this flawed but occasionally exciting sequel.
On its own, Dawn Of War III is a good strategy game that, while lacking in certain areas, can provide epic battles. As a continuation of the series, however, it's easily overshadowed by past iterations as it fails to find enough strengths of its own.
In its core, Dawn of War 3 is a really good RTS, but the attempt to change the series' formula drastically didn't really work out. Unlocking heroes is pointless and not even the multiplayer can save the game. Eight maps and only one multiplayer mode is just way too little.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
At the end of it all, Dawn of War 3 feels like a hybrid of the first two games in the series but between the wrong mix of mechanics and the lack of real graphical progress between iterations it hasn’t managed to live up to the standards set by the previous games.
There's a lot to love about Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War III, especially if you consider yourself an RTS veteran and a fan of the franchise. If you're neither of those things, then you're probably going to find yourself very overwhelmed.
Its flaws are legion, but I can't begrudge the game when it's so much fun to play. The single player is shallow nonsense, but the game pulls it back in multiplayer, and Warhammer fans will struggle not to smile when everything whirrs into explosive motion.
Dawn of War III will be interesting to fans of multiplayer and Warhammer 40,000 universe. As for the story campaign, it seems that Relic Entertainment had simply not enough time and budget to bring their offspring to mind.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Relic reinvent Dawn of War once again, retaining many RTS staples and borrowing a little from their MOBA genre-cousins. It's not a flawless mix, and the multiplayer contents are a bit lean; but distinctive factions, a solid campaign, and largely compatible mechanics give Dawn of War 3 a strong base of operations.
Some of the game's flaws are significant, including the frustrating meta-game UI and problematic Skulls system. Thankfully, the highly functional gameplay goes a long way toward leading to a positive experience. So, I declare Dawn of War III cleared of all charges of sedition and heresy, but sentence it to a punishment of several lashings for wasting this Inquisitor's time at key points during the interrogation.
For a game whose namesake implies a certain standard of tactics and strategy in an RTS, Dawn of War III is a bit of a bait and switch. While Dawn of War III on its own is a good game, you have to be completely objective in order to see that and many long time fans of the series won't. It remains to be seen if this iconic branch of the Warhammer 40,000 franchise is heading in a new direction entirely or if this was just a bad judgment call, but I believe many players will be skeptical of a future release and Relic may not be able to rely on their brand alone to sell their next installment, should one ever be developed.