Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm (0)

Overview

Warhammer 40.000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm makes a variety of additions to the original game in the form of a turn-based campaign spanning a whole planetary system, two completely new unique factions, and a new flying unit for each race. It also introduces a number of multiplayer maps, bug-fixes and balance changes, even further enhancing the experience. 

Campaign

The campaign in Dawn of War: Soulstorm utilizes a Risk-style meta-map depicting the Kaurava system to determine the flow of battle. All 9 factions begin with a chunk of territory and a single army, and wage war by moving their armies in a turn-based fashion. Each army is capable of conquering the territories of other factions, and players may choose to do this by having the computer auto-resolve the battle, or by fighting for the territory in a skirmish-style match. Players cannot completely lose their army nor can they build additional armies--the focus of the campaign is on upgrading and using the army to take over or defend territory.

Objectives for victory differ in each territory. while most simply require the player to destroy all enemy units and buildings, there are also take-and-hold victory conditions and objectives that require the player to hold key positions. The final goal is to conquer each enemy race´s fortress, thus eliminating the conquered race from the game. The remaining enemy territories will still be under their control however, and the player may choose to conquer them as well for the benefits those territories provide, or the player can move on towards the next race he wishes to obliterate. Note that if the player's fortress is conquered by an enemy, the player will be defeated and eliminated from the game. The more territories the player has, the "requisition" he will earn each turn, and during each round he may attack once, or move his army a set amount of spaces. Requisition can be used to reinforce the defense of territories under the player's control, as well as to buy special honor-guard units to accompany the army. Honor-guard units tend to have more special abilities and higher statistics than their "normal" counterparts.

New Armies

The , or Adepta Sororitas, are the zealous female warriors of the Imperial Ecclesiarchy. During the 36th Millennium, the Sisters joined forces with the Inquisition, and more specifically, Ordo Hereticus, the "Witch Hunters." The Sisters serve as enforcers of the Imperium's religion, whereas the Space Marines act as enforcers of its laws. Beginning as the Daughters of the Emperor, the Sisters became the sole enforcers of the religious doctrine of the Imperium under an arbitrary order stating that no man could server under arms for the Ecclesiarchy. Quickly growing in numbers, the Sisters became missionaries and defenders of the Imperium. Though not enhanced like the Space Marines, the Sisters wear power armor similar in design, enhancing their strength in combat. The Sisters also prefer heat-based weaponry, both for anti-infantry and anti-vehicle combat.

As in Dark Crusade, special achievements such as a fixed amount of victories, kill-ratio and amount of conquered enemy fortresses will grant the player's Commander "Wargear," which are special pieces of equipment that will give the Commander upgrades and new abilities, making him or her a more durable, flexible and overall valuable asset over time.

In Soulstorm, the Sisters have come to clean the Kaurava system of all taint, purging all heretics and anyone that stands in their way. They play similarly to their other Imperial cousins, with their defining difference being the ability to collect "Faith," a third resource used to activate their units' strongest abilities: miracles from the Emperor and other "Acts of Faith." Another distinction the Sisters have is that while their relic unit, a Living Saint, is perhaps the weakest in terms of health, it has the supernatural ability to resurrect immediately upon falling, so long as its cooldown has expired.

The are the twisted and corrupt version of their sister-species, the Eldar. The true cause of the collapse of the Eldar Empire, the Dark Eldar relish in their hedonistic ways, living in an impenetrable city, Commorragh, buried deep within the Webway. Their society revolves around anarchy, terrorism, and torture. Because of their ability to navigate the Webway, the Dark Eldar act as pirates, striking quickly and unexpectedly from the Webway, taking what they need and once again returning to their dark city.

The Dark Eldar lack some of the mobility the Eldar have in Soulstorm because of their lack of a Webway structure, but they make up for it with the ability to commission buildings without having to dedicate a builder unit to its construction (much akin to the Protoss in ) and their many high speed skimmers that allow them to launch fast assaults. Like the Sisters, the Dark Eldar have a unique resource as well, Souls. Harvested souls can be used to activate the strongest Dark Eldar abilities, including the titular Soulstorm ability. Soul abilities are not tied to a specific unit, instead they are activated from the main UI, just above where unit organization sits.

Races

Listed below are the different races presented throughout the franchise. The second column contains which game the race originally made an appearance in, and thus which game one needs to have to be able to play the race in skirmish/multiplayer games.
 

Race	Origin
	Dawn of War - Soulstorm
	Dawn of War - Soulstorm

 
 

System Requirements

Minimum

• OS: Microsoft® Windows® XP or 2000
• Processor: 2.0 Ghz Intel Pentium 4, AMD Athlon XP or equivalent processor
• Memory: 512 MB RAM
• Graphics: 64 MB DirectX 9.0c compatible AGP video card with Hardware Transformation and Lighting, DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card, 16 bit
• DirectX Version: Microsoft DirectX® 9.0c (included)
• Hard Drive: 3.5 GB uncompressed free hard disk space

Recommended

• OS: Microsoft® Windows® XP or 2000
• Processor: 2.4 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent
• Memory: 512 MB RAM (required for 8-player multiplayer games)
• Graphics: nVidia GeForce 3 or equivalent with 64 MB of Video RAM
• DirectX Version: Microsoft DirectX® 9.0c (included)
• Hard Drive: 3.5 GB uncompressed free hard disk space
• Sound: Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ series