Warhammer 40:000: Dawn of War II Preview

Relic's Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II is without doubt one of the most exciting RTS games currently in development. Although the game isn't due for release until the spring of 2009 we caught up with lead designer Jonny Ebbert to find out as much as we could. So, how will the co-op campaign work and will console gamers be seeing Dawn of War II at some point in the future?

VideoGamer.com: Could you give us some detail on how co-op campaign will work?

Jonny Ebbert: You'll finally be able to play a Dawn of War campaign with one of your friends! We're making the mechanic as simple as possible. You can invite any of your friends online to co-op with you every time you play the campaign. Co-op with one of your friends from beginning to end, or play part of it alone, part of it with one friend, and the final part with another friend. You can co-op for as much of the campaign as you want!

VideoGamer.com: We understand there will also be a nonlinear, single-player experience. Can you tell us how this will be different to the cooperative multiplayer and why it's nonlinear?

JE: In Dawn of War 2, you drive the story forward, the story doesn't drive you. You're given an entire sector of the galaxy to protect, and how you protect it is entirely up to you. The entire sector is facing a massive invasion, and your force is the only thing that stands between the sector and complete annihilation. We don't tell you what to do or where to go. You uncover the story through your actions, and through the decisions you make. Way more fun that way!

VideoGamer.com: Could you tell us a bit about how playing through the campaign with the same set of squads will work and how the war gear upgrades will work?

JE: RTS is way more fun when you care about your units and what happens to them. We're trying to drive this up by giving you a smaller force where you know everyone by name. Each of your squad leaders has his own portrait, bio, personality and voice acting. You'll hear them talking to each other on the battlefield, and talking to you as well. The same squads you play in the first mission will be the same squads you play in the final mission. Way more intense of an experience than sending waves of nameless, faceless units to their death.

VideoGamer.com: We've read that if your named squad leader dies, it will change the way the game is played. Can you tell us how?

JE: The death mechanic is pretty cool, and we're excited to show it off. That's one of many things we're going to be showcasing at E3.

VideoGamer.com: You've confirmed the Space Marines and the Orkz. Are you talking about possible other races? Lots of fans seem to be calling for the Tyranids! How many races can we expect in DoW2? What influences the decision making process when determining races to feature in the game?

JE: Right now we're talking about Space Marines and Orkz. What we'll be talking about later in the year could be a different story entirely ;)

VideoGamer.com: Can you give us a bit more detail on building garrisoning?

JE: Dawn of War II is all about using the environment to your advantage. Buildings are going to be a huge part of this. You can put your guys inside of abandoned buildings for protection. Your soldiers will be able to fire out of the windows, and have the building soak up most of the bullets intended for them. You'll also have to dig the enemy out of buildings, but you'll have lots of cool toys to do it with...like grenades, flame throwers and sniper rifles.

VideoGamer.com: What can you tell us about how units will use cover?

JE: Like I said, Dawn of War II is all about using the terrain to your advantage. Your guys are going to survive a lot longer if you have them behind cover. You don't want them standing out in the open, or they're going to take serious punishment. Each map is going to be covered with objects that can provide you cover...fallen trees, road-blocks, sandbags, crumbled pillars. You need to always be looking at the terrain, and making sure you're using it to protect your guys.

You also need to pay close attention to what the enemy is doing, if you let them get behind you, your guys are going to be in serious trouble because their cover won't be protecting them any more. But it goes both ways...sneaking up on the enemy is immensely satisfying because you get to mow them down.

The really cool thing is that your units are much smarter in Dawn of War II. They want to stay alive, so they'll dive to any cover nearby if they come under attack, and will gravitate towards cover when moving across the map. Once you play an RTS like this, it's hard to go back to watching toy soldiers line up across from each other and see who falls down first.

VideoGamer.com: The emphasis seems to be less on buildings and more on a small number of squads. Why have you decided to take this approach? Is it true that there will be no base building at all?

JE: We want you focused on your squads, what they're doing, and making sure they are kicking as much ass as humanly possible. This is the reason we're downplaying base-building and giving it a much smaller, and much cooler role. Your goal isn't to build a city; you stake your claim over the map with a few key structures at a few key points.

VideoGamer.com: We understand the game will use an enhanced version of the Essence Engine 2.0. What improvements will we see that the enhancements have made possible?

JE: We've added a lot of cool toys that will make the game more exciting. The coolest is fully integrated Havok physics, and ragdoll physics. Now when a Dreadnought picks a guy up, crushes the life out of him and throws him across the map, you can watch him fly and bounce around with ragdoll physics. Or you can watch him get thrown into a group of guys and send all of them flying. Or you can watch him get thrown through a brick wall and have the bricks come tumbling down on top of him.

We've also added dynamic lighting. Now you can watch your flamer light up a dark alleyway while you torch enemy units, or your plasma cannon cast them in an eerie blue light a few seconds before it blasts them into oblivion. The dynamic lighting system also lets our artists paint gorgeous terrains that will take your breath away.

VideoGamer.com: And finally, would you guys ever consider a console version of Dawn of War?

JE: We've always been intrigued by the idea. Right now we're focused on delivering the best game possible, and we feel we're going to do that by focusing on the PC platform.

VideoGamer.com: Thanks for your time.