14 DAY TRIAL // I speculated on Tuesday, after about 12 hours worth of playtime spent with Dawn of War II, that the whole title, despite the Tyranid threat, could be seen as some sort of videogaming equivalent of Saving Private Ryan. Davian Thule, hurt by the Hive Tyrant, is Ryan, and your band of Space Marines brothers have to go through battles and tribulations in order to get him back to life.
Well, “coming back to life” in the Warhammer 40,000 universe is something pretty relative. Some Space Marines, those whose injuries are beyond even their superhuman resistance, are encased into the heavy armor of a Dreadnought, an ancient and very powerful fighting machine that faces the biggest threats against the Imperium of Man. They keep some of the memories of their previous life, but as they age, they begin to only enjoy the fighting and retain little of their humanity (which is already diminished by centuries of being a Space Marine).
So, you can imagine my joy upon seeing that Captain Davian Thule, after being poisoned, is revived using an anti toxin and turned into a Dreadnought. He makes a very spectacular entry, dropping from orbit and saving your squads from a particularly tricky situation.
The disappointment is related to the fact that apart from that mission and the following one, I never again used the Dreadnought. On the one hand, he seems to be underpowered. My Assault Squad, with the best armor I can get for them and with a few other pieces of wargear, has more health and more armor than the ancient tool of destruction. On the other hand, the Dread lacks tactical flexibility you can from using a squad of three or four Marines instead and also tends to move around the map taking out cover that could prove very useful for your other fighters. And there's also the small problem of the Dreadnought having his skill points already distributed when he enters the campaign, which means you can make him your own as you do with the other squads.
So, Dawn of War II has made me feel a little betrayed. I have spent quite a few missions acquiring the means to revive Captain Thule and then, when he comes back, he's useless. My emotional investment in him and the Kronus secrets he bears is now pretty much void. And Relic should have known better, given the way it approached the rest of the game.