So you love real time strategy games, but are on a tight budget and unsure of which hyped title you should spend your hard earned cash on? This economy is making no exceptions, it’s relentless and taking a toll on all of us. Now, more than ever, gamers need to embrace their favorite pass time to help ease the stress and forget about what’s going on around them, if at least just for an hour or two.
I have been to Blizzcon ’08 and experienced hours upon hours of fantastic StarCraft II alpha goodness. With the launch of the full public beta for Dawn of War II last week, I’ve now spent enough time getting to know the title and learning all the in’s and out’s to properly let you know which you should be focusing your time, energy, and money on.
So follow me as I break down the positives and negatives of both titles at this stage of development, and hopefully I can help you figure out which game is the right fit for your style and your budget.
The Background:
While StarCraft is probably the most famous game of the RTS genre, we have to assume not everyone has played the original or were even old enough to remember when it released. To some, StarCraft II will be a completely new experience, one that may not resonate as well with a new generation of gamers who have come to expect bigger and better things from games.
Dawn of War II is the sequel to the original title by the same name and the whole franchise is based off of Rick Priestley’s board game, WarHammer 40,000, created in 1987. The original Dawn of War game had three expansions to it, Winter Assault, Dark Crusade and Soulstorm.
See any similarities?
Some feel the Terran race of StarCraft is very similar to the human race in DoW. StarCraft developers pull their inspirations from all kinds of mediums and it is possible they pulled from WarHammer 40,000 since StarCraft came nearly 10 years after the board game. However, like many things in life, they may be similar, but they aren’t identical, and Blizzard didn’t hijack Priestley’s creation. Conversely, the new Tyranid race in DoW II is eerily similar to the Zerg from StarCraft; so much for originality.
Likeness of races aside, that is about where the similarities end. While both games are of the RTS genre, they play entirely different from each other. And that is a very good thing.
The Reasons:
StarCraft II breathes some new life into an already still very much alive franchise. It’s hard to believe that 10-years after release the original is still being played. Not many games can claim that. StarCraft II brings a load of new units and abilities, which in turn create new tactics and strategies, while maintaining the same gather-build-fight mechanic that made the original so popular.
Blizzard has once again focused on epic battles between massive armies, and while excellent micromanagement will no doubt win the day, the developers have put a lot of time into creating a new macro management system that will make the game easier for newcomers to control.
Although Blizzard has announced that the campaigns will be split across three separate titles, everything you will need to jump on the new Battle.net 2.0 and start massacring n00bs online will be included in the first installment, Wings of Liberty.
The downside of this is if you’re one who is likely to get hooked on the storyline, you will have to shell out an as of yet undetermined amount of money to purchase the expansion packs to complete the trilogy.
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This is what Blizzard means by massive armies. You won't be seeing battles of this size in Dawn of War II.
Dawn of War II builds off the original’s story by introducing a fourth race, the Tyranids. This new insect-like race seemed pretty fierce while I was playing with them and it adds yet another dimension to the game.
Unlike the StarCraft franchise, the Dawn of War franchise strays from the conventional resource gathering, base building mechanic that is the foundation of most RTS games. Instead it opts for a mechanic that THQ and Relic Entertainment helped make famous, capturing victory points, flags essentially, across the battlefield to gain more resources to fuel your army.
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Company of Heroes, also a game by Relic Entertainment that utilizes this capture the flag mechanic. But while CoH and the original DoW still had players construct a base to build their army, DoW II does not. The focus this time around has been placed on front line conflicts and how players will micromanage both their different units, as well as the individual unit’s special abilities.
The fact that DoW II adopts Blizzard’s WarCraft III RPG concept of hero units, with various special abilities and upgrades, can be a negative for some players but a positive for others. In any case, DoW II breaks away from the standard RTS formula, similar to the way World in Conflict did, and gives players a fresh experience in what can sometimes be a stale genre.
Commanding small squads to capture victory points across the map is what drives Dawn of War II's original gameplay
The Verdict:
Both games will require your undivided attention and some commitment to learning good micromanagement if you plan on achieving victory online. Both games also have massive tech trees that will take some time to learn. While StarCraft’s tech tree is complex and focuses on unit attributes and counters, Dawn of War II’s is equally is as complex, forcing players to memorize dozens of spells per hero, per race, as well as other upgrades for regular units.
StarCraft II provides some cosmetic surgery to an already very established but outdated RTS formula, where as Dawn of War II only gives a make over to a relatively fresh, 4-year old innovative idea.
Which should you spend your hard earned cash on? Let me tell you what I would do.
While StarCraft II’s trilogy will provide satisfaction for gamers like me who crave complex plots that rival motion pictures, it also provides dissatisfaction in my wallet. Dawn of War II is no doubt fun, but won’t have the staying power that StarCraft II will. You won’t see many DoW II servers running say 5-years from now.
If you’re thinking of buying both games, you’re in luck. DoW II releases in just under two weeks, February 19. StarCraft II still doesn’t have a release date and fans are hoping for a beta test by the end of March. Most believe SC II could release by Christmas ’09 which would give fans enough time to buy DoW II and save for SC II.
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Bottom line: If you want more bang for your buck I’d wait for StarCraft II. I enjoyed Company of Heroes’ blend of base building with capturing flags over Dawn of War II’s front-line, no bases formula. If you’re thinking that you can’t, or don’t want to afford StarCraft II’s other two titles when they release, just remember that the original Dawn of War had three expansions. You can expect the same with the sequel.
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