DoW3 is a more classic game within the atypical of the saga; it has without any doubt the unmistakable aftertaste of the strategy of yesteryear with its generation of resources, its control of the map or the stone-paper-scissors style so characteristic of the genre.
It now also has its streets, as in the MOBA , or a turret that offers some anti-rush protection for the first minutes of the game. But it is intimately familiar from the first moment in which you reach the first mission or the first tutorial;
perhaps not so much in the sense of “I was already here and I already did this” but in the more affectionate “welcome home”. The title of RelicIt is warm in its reception to the player and although the learning curve rises quickly as soon as we jump to the
multiplayer, at least this time we have put a main campaign at our disposal so we know better the ins and outs of the three factions: the Marines space, the orks and the eldar .
Put initially in the skin of Gabriel Angelos , space marine leader of the Blood Ravens , we will have 17 missions for a single player in which we will be taught the mechanics of the game as an expanded tutorial. These missions will do their best to weave the thread of the main
story (capture a powerful weapon, as a background) but basically they will emphasize some concrete aspect that the game wants us to learn: stealth, capture of resource points, dispersion of units , control of groups, the micromanagement of heroes –
here called eliteunits – or the importance of improvements for the late game. With the exception of what happened in the prequels, however, this time we will control both Orks (with Gorgutz at the head) and Eldar
( Macha ) as well, which facilitates learning and favors the overall understanding of the game before launching to 1v1, 2v2 or 3v3. Many of these missions are
quite generic in their development but they perfectly fulfill their purpose and for the majority of players they are of recommended completion if you want to quickly understand the concepts where you want to throw the game.
Part of the spirit of the original Dawn of War (2004) and its sequel (2009) are represented in DoW3. For example, the weight of the micromanage of the heroes is very important in the game as it was in DoW2 but, instead, they return the constructions of
buildings in the base that had been abandoned in the previous delivery. As there are no collectors to use and everything goes through generators
of resources that must be captured and maintained (generally the most important in the center of the scenario), the game favors these fast battles between few units, especially at the beginning of the game.
Losing a resource generator can be a tremendous disadvantage and that means that no player can decide “to get stuck“In its base waiting to have an unstoppable army with which to reduce its adversary.
This technique may work sometimes but players soon learn to punish the passivity of their enemy with frequent attacks from several fronts to
harass and reduce their income, especially because at the beginning of the game we are returned part of the cost of the units we lose in combat. And we are going to lose many of them.
Another great part of the strategic depth of the game is the management of the elite units ;These powerful units have the ability to turn the tables
of the battle quite easily if handled properly but we will also have to decide what and when we will dispose of them. Since the heroes are recruited
with specific points that are obtained over time, we can choose if it is worthwhile to draw a hero soon and focus our strategy at mid gameor we try to withstand the enemy assaults and we wait to
accumulate the points in a herald of destruction that annihilates the army of the adversary. All this is part of the strategy with which we want to
approach the game that, in turn, is surely a reflection of our understanding of the game.Fortunately, and waiting for a metagame to be established , we have seen all the possibilities more or less viable.
Relic has once again done a great job in differentiating the 3 opposing races; Although there are many units that play the same role on one side or the other, the way of understanding that role and the way they perform it are very different. In addition,
each faction has its strengths: humans are a fairly complete race with notable units on all fronts and can specialize depending on the needs of the
player; The orks have powerful melee units and are able to make mechanized units even with the scrap they find on the battlefield. If the orks reach the melee in sufficient numbers, the destruction they cause
in the enemy ranks can rarely be overcome. TheEldar possess the best skills for infiltration and remote attack with, probably, the best ability to mobilize units around the map. Each one adjusts to a game style and, within each one, to an optimal time and strategy.
It is difficult to explain how it feels during a game of DoW3, but you can explain that you need a good player to be successful in the game: it is not
enough to just think about a strategy that we want to follow before starting the game, we should also have the ability to adapt that strategy to the needs of
the moment. You have to be able to do several things at the same time and a few minutes of ” autopilot“Or misunderstandings may mean not having made that crucial improvement in the
arsenal or investigated the plasma rifles in those squads. Or have reacted late and have lost the advantage of the high ground in that position or the
stealth. We really have a title capable of putting a lot of tension on the player who only looks briefly relaxed at the end of the game and lasts until we start
another. A very RTS sensation , very MOBA too, which nevertheless causes a type of addiction difficult to explain.
Currently, only one multiplayer game mode is available in which each player – up to 3 per side and with the possibility of filling in with
AI – has the task of defending a nucleus. This core is defended by a shield generator and a powerful turret, arguably the most controversial part of this mode, which has attacks to raze an entire squadron if we do not position our units corre
ctly or the ability to send a shock wave and maintain at bay to those who dare to approach at short range. The turret, just with the fortification of the resource points, is what basically avoids the ” rush “”In the first minutes and that the game ends practically before sta
rting. Maybe not everyone agrees with this implementation – some of us are – because although it limits a very specific style of play, the rest of it is designed so that those who like early aggression can make their pinitos for the rest of the map.
