Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war! (Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War - Winter Assault Add-On (PC))

Member Name: Rocketeer007

Product:	Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War - Winter Assault Add-On (PC)
Date:	26/10/08 (20 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent new storyline for single-player; new race to play

Disadvantages: Nothing new in gameplay

Winter Assault is the first add on for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War. Unlike the newer add-ons, you do require the original Dawn of War game to play this one, however, if you don't already own Dawn of War, I would recommend buying the Anthology set which is cheaper than the individual add-ons, and includes the original game.

In fact, even if you do own the original game, the Anthology may be the best value option - then you can pass the parts you already have onto a friend, and enjoy multi-player gaming!

Winter Assault only adds one new playable race to the game - the Imperial Guard. This race was present in the original game, but only usable for one or two missions; this expansion gives you the ability to play as Imperials in both the single player campaign and in multiplayer games.

The new campaign is a different style to the original game. Of course, as an RTS (Real Time Strategy), it's still about conquering your enemy through map over map, but whereas in the original game you can only play as the Space Marines, Winter Assault offers two opposing campaigns - Chaos and Order.

Both campaigns follow the same plot - your mission is to gain control of the Titan super-weapon and thereby win control of hte planet. In fact, the same maps are used in a lot of levels, but you'll have the opposite objective depending on if you're playing Chaos or Order.

Another difference; playing Chaos and Order doesn't restrict you to just one race. As Chaos, you'll play Chaos Space Marines and Orks; as Order you'll play the Imperial Guard and the Eldar.
Each mission puts you in charge of only one army; but some missions see you change from controlling one of your aligned races to the other, and at the end-game, you must chose which of the races you will control to win the final battle.

The only odd thing about the game is the name; while a few of the maps do seem a little "wintery", it's odd that the add-on would be named for something that has so little impact on game-play...

Summary: A worthy addition to Dawn of War