THQ Dates Next Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War Add-on - Soulstorm

THQ has made it official today that Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is getting its Soulstorm expansion in the spring of 2008, featuring an extensive interplanetary campaign spanning an entire star system in the Warhammer 40,000 universe and introducing two new factions for a total of nine playable races. A summary of the add-on can be found below:

"Relic Entertainment has set the standard for technical excellence and innovation in the RTS genre," said Bob Aniello, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, THQ. "Dawn of War - Soulstorm continues that tradition as a standalone title featuring all-new, brutally addictive single and multiplayer game-play that will hook newcomers and skilled Dawn of War veterans alike."

"In Dawn of War - Soulstorm, we've taken Games Workshop's epic war from one planet to an entire star system," said Tarrnie Williams, general manager, Relic Entertainment. "Allowing gamers to play nine unique races, introducing air units and providing multiplayer achievements for the first time creates a tremendous amount of new and challenging strategic gameplay for all players."

All right, now that you've seen the official word with your own eyes, it's time to get down to the serious stuff - main features. I took the liberty of selecting what we thought was most important from the big chunk of text, found within the official report:

- dark, futuristic, fantasy setting where armies of technologically advanced warriors, fighting machines and hordes of implacable aliens wage constant war

- complete standalone title featuring two all-new armies, including the malicious Dark Eldar, for an unprecedented total of nine playable races

- two new units across each of the seven existing races

- incorporates air units for the first time

- introduces multiplayer medals, adding a whole new level of depth to online battles

- the meta-game (originally introduced in Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade) is further expanded to an interplanetary scale in Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm, allowing players to battle across an entire star system

Now remember, Soulstorm launches in Spring 2008, executive produced and co-developed by Relic Entertainment in association with Iron Lore Entertainment. Warhammer 40,000 has a userbase in the seven digits figure, just so newcomers can make an idea.