Dawn of War II Public Multiplayer Beta

revlazaro · #1 01-28-2009, 05:09 PM

Available on Steam, the multiplayer beta of Dawn of War II has been made public.

This morning, due to icy roads and my work delayed half a day, I got up early to download and give it a spin.

I can spew a bunch out but here's the short version:

->As they said, less emphasis on Resource Management, more squad tactics.
->No base building. You get your standard base to dish out troops; you get resources capping points on the map and holding them.
->Emphasis on using terrain is big time. Ducking behind walls, hiding in bushes, blowing up gas barrels as soldiers run by them.
->Less units out on the field than the previous game, but it's definitely a heavy emphasis on the squad based play and losing troops is a big deal.

The actual goals of the multiplayer game feel a lot like an RTS version of Battlefield 2 or Alliance Battles/BG's/Scenarios in the big MMO's: Each side starts off with 500 points, and you're trying to reduce those to 0 on your enemy. Only way to do this is by taking the map objective points and holding an advantage over your enemy.

It seems to play out really nice since even when you're out numbered, there's times you can sneak a small squad to cap an objective behind your opponent's back and send them scrambling their forces trying take things back.

People who want tons upon tons of units and vehicles bombing the beejezus out of eachother in epic proportions will be dissappointed; as well as people who want base building and rushing tech trees.

This game time around it appears to be giving us more detailed squad combat, with units that level up and gear upgrades on your commanders (the commanders actually are pretty fleshed out and play a major role in strategy).

My only complaint: No chaos marines. Oh well.

Mumbo · #2 01-28-2009, 07:43 PM

I tried this last night with some friends and thought it was pretty fun. I was surprised at first by not having any base building or real resource management, but it seems like it works pretty well. They also have a game mode where you just try to destroy the other units base.

revlazaro · #3 01-28-2009, 07:53 PM

So what armies ya digging so far?

I think Orkz and Eldar are pretty rockin' this time around. I didn't even like the Eldar in the last DoW game but now I'm loving them for speed caps.

Mumbo · #4 01-28-2009, 11:38 PM

I've only tried the space marines so far. I liked their commander, but I thought that their unit sizes were kind of small.

revlazaro · #5 01-29-2009, 01:40 PM

Yeah, the differences between the two games isn't going to make the original game obsolete by any stretch. Aside from the different scales, the two games are two totally different levels of strategy.

On top of that, I'm under the impression this version isn't going to be supporting the mod community as much. Windows Live is a big indication; but also I keep hearing about "free and premium downloadable content" support soon after the launch.

Blamefulgecko · #6 01-31-2009, 08:53 PM

I'm really having a blast with the Eldar right now.

You have to understand my mind is being blown with both DOW 1 and 2. I've always left the RTS gaming to a friend of mine, really just dropping in when a game had a neat storyline (Starcraft, Warcraft 3). I completely missed DOW 1 not listening to my friends praises. Well the promotion that Steam had that got you Soulstorm for $7.50 and an early ticket into DOW 2 Multiplayer Beta...how could I not jump in?

Getting a glimpse of the other races in DOW 1 and seeing how they translate to DOW 2 is pretty snazzy. I can't wait to go through the single player campaign with my friend in co-op...EXCITEMENT!!