Dawn of War: Dark Crusade, the Premier Real Time Strategy Game for the RTS Fan

Relic Entertainment have long been known in the quality of the products they deliver. Gamers have long been treated to top-notch titles in the form of the Homeworld series as well as the highly underrated Impossible Creatures that was released by Microsoft earlier in their careers as a developer. Relic hit a commercial success with the release of their RTS Dawn of War in 2004. Fast, visceral, and ultimately hectic, the game focused on the actual combat instead of the micromanagement that seems to be plaguing the genre since the release of Blizzard's 1998 classic Starcraft.

Dawn of War enjoyed major success upon its release, even garnering a few Game of the Year nods from various publications, given the amount of success it would seem more than likely the game would receive another expansion. In 2005 the first expansion, Winter Assault was released, and it contained the same polish and gleam as the core game. The expansion allowed players to head up the Imperial Guard forces, an entirely new race, or to perhaps utilize the new unit that was added in for each of the previous races. Winter Assault quickly gained a following in competitive gaming ladders and even has ladders devoted to it still.

In late 2005, the announcement for an untitled Dawn of War expansion was sent out by Relic themselves, and the rumors did build up surrounding the depth of its content. In the fall of this year, the official announcement of the expansion, Dark Crusade, was released in a few press reports along with screenshots. The game featured two new races, the newer and popular Tau and the ancient scourge of the Necron. This was alongside adding in a unique unit for each side nonetheless.

I purchased my copy of Dawn of War and Winter Assault earlier in the late summer of this year and was an instant convert. Despite not being very good, I was hooked on the visceral non-stop carnage of the battles and working out strategies to take on my opponents one on one. Thinking I would have to wait for Dark Crusade until the winter of this year I chanced upon the money for its release and promptly received a copy as soon as it launched.