So it’s the Chaos Marines. Yawn. Admittedly, the recently introduced Tyranids are a tough act to follow. But the first new race to be added to Dawn of War II isn’t a new race at all. Us Dawn of War faithful have been playing the Chaos Marines as long as we’ve been playing Space Marines and Orks.

Also, they aren’t technically being added to Dawn of War II, since Chaos Rising, as it’s called, is one of those stand-alone add-ons. It’ll be out next spring. Players with the core game can carry over their squads for a new campaign with a raised level cap from 20 to 30. New players will be given a pre-leveled squad.

And even if you still have to play as the Space Marines, it does look like your units will get a taste of chaos. Dig this bit from the announcement:

Powerful Chaos tainted wargear can be equipped and used against your enemy, but doing so could lead to dreadful consequences.

A-ha! I see evil powers and summonable demons in my Space Marines’ future.

Chaos Rising will provide new units for the existing races and new multiplayer maps. Also promised is “a suite of innovative multiplayer options”. I’m not sure what that means, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that adjustable speed is among those options. Dawn of War II is a wonderful game that would be a lot more accessible if it allowed less experienced players a little time to breathe or blink.

More:
Old friends coming to dinner in next spring’s Dawn of War II add-on

Tags: existing-races, fingers-crossed, friends-coming, marines-as-long, native, segment, technical-flaws, xbox

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 10:18 am and is filed under Extreme Games, Microsoft Research & Defense. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.