Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War

Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 3 is flashy and loaded with complex, micromanagement-heavy warfare. Its single-player campaign is long and challenging, but feels uninspired because it rarely makes creative use of the three factions' abilities. In multiplayer it's even more demanding and intimidatingly chaotic, but with only one mode and not a lot of maps, it seems limited. Relic deserves credit for not simply remaking the same game with prettier graphics, but this hybrid approach doesn't feel as strong as Dawn of War 2's memorable tactical focus.

Dawn of War III mashes micromanagement and big-scale strategy together in a system that's messy but exhilarating.

Dawn of War finally returns with a fascinating, if imperfect, twist on the modern RTS.

Dawn of War 3 has overly dominant elites, and a merely serviceable campaign, but it captures the power of mass battles well.

Dawn of War 3 isn't evolutionary, but it is ferociously competent

While the campaign can feel like a lifeless chore, the multiplayer options offer interesting tweaks on classic genre staples

While decent RTS campaigns increasingly feel like my white whale, I can usually depend on Relic for something better.

Classic RTS with little bit of MOBA brings the Dawn of War series up to date.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III takes a few steps back in time to make one step forward. It hearkens back to a lot of older design choices from the first game, and attempts to build upon other RTS conventions in the process. Not everything works (especially the strict adherence to the core conceit), but it's still very much both a Warhammer and a Dawn of War joint.

As an experiment in how far the boundaries of what constitutes an RTS can be pushed, I admire Dawn of War III for what it's tried. It may not have entirely pulled it off, but there aren't many games that play like this (WarCraft 3 fans, this one's for you), and there aren't many trying such interesting things with the way their factions are designed.