14 DAY TRIAL // There's been a lot of talk about whether games qualify as art and a question that has generated a lot of discussions is “When do games get to produce something like Citizen Kane?” I might not know the answer to that question but I'm pretty sure that videogaming has just produced its Saving Private Ryan. And no, it's not in the form of a World War II videogame. Sure, Brothers in Arms tried, but the game I'm really interested in for saving someone from the clutches of the enemy is Dawn of War II from Relic.
It's a game about Space Marines facing numerous threats as they fight across three worlds. Dawn of War II offers all the cliches and the typical characterizations that a gamer might expect from a title where you play as 8 feet tall, superhuman soldiers. But the game manages to put some soul into the RTS (Real Time Strategy or Real Tactics, Soul filled?) by way of frequent character interaction and meaningful back stories.
Basically, the squad leaders that you control in the single player campaign, from Avitus and Tarkus to Cyrus and Thaddeus (“us” name endings seem to be popular with the Space Marines or maybe just with the Blood Ravens), serve as characters that provide and answer to the question “Why do the Space Marines fight?” Sure, because the Emperor wishes so and because the Eldar, the Orks and the Tyranids are bent on killing them all, but there's something more behind the tough as nails facade.
That something is Brother Captain Davian Thule and the elusive background of the full Blood Ravens Chapter. There are references to the Dark Crusade expansion of the first game and some innuendos related to a Chaotic taint. The Captain is wounded by Tyranids and the history of the Blood Ravens unknown, best case scenario, or murky, worst case scenario. So, you go through a lot of battles, find something to care about, in a gruff, tough Space Marine kind of way, about getting Davian Thule back in the action, while also redeeming the Chapter by triumphing in battle.
There are a lot more innovative and exciting aspects in Dawn of War II, but the way Relic introduced a real narrative, real feelings and a motivation to fighting in the Warhammer 40,000 universe is one of the biggest draws to the game for me, at the moment.