A new direction for Dawn of War 3

Played a online comp stomp, me vs 1 AI. And I did earn Elite XP and Skulls.

Proofs:

Overall, I am liking it. :)

According to RPS, you should earn as long as you are connected to the internet. If you play offline, you do not earn any rewards.

That might explain why review builds didn’t earn skulls if the servers weren’t ready yet.

I want to be excited for this, but bits and pieces I’ve read here and elsewhere make me think skipping it, at least for now, is the better play.

Besides, I have Zelda to keep going with - two weeks later and I’m just as eager to dive in after work as I was the first day I hooked the Switch up.

EDIT - Read some Steam reviews. Yikes. This one was particularly poignant.

And the multiplayer? Woah. The clearly forced it to be an esports game, by limiting themselves and limiting the fun of the game.
There is only one single mode, which is inspired by DOTA: a core for every faction and few towers defending it. To destroy the towers - and the core - you need to destroy a shield generator first.
The maps also have lanes (2-3 lanes depending on the number of players) and bushes, and are ALL mirrored and VERY small. Eldar can’t stealth their structures, you can’t relocate your HQ or build another one, you can’t rush (who remember the Tau Rush?). It’s not a strategy game, i admit is “different”. But “different” doesn’t always mean “better”. Every game ends in being slow and repetitive.

So I guess

The reviews tend to be low play time and one of:

–It’s not DoW1, I hate it.
–it’s not DoW 2, I hate it.
–It’s a MOBA, I hate it.
–It only has three factions, I hate it.

I think any of these arguments are a bit colored by bias.

The MOBA comparison stuff is insane, but I guess some people think a map objective equals a whole genre. Forget the squads of units, base building, control groups, tech ups, or any of the actual stuff HAPPENING on the map, it’s a MOBA…cuz core. The way they borrowed from MOBA maps (turret and core) actually work well to create a bit of a comeback mechanic and keeps the fight going back and forth longer than most RTS games. Granted, some hardcore RTS folks (like that reviewer perhaps) prefer the traditional method where if one side gets an upper hand, they crush or pull the GG out of the other player then re-queue. I’ve had some amazing comebacks in the beta that never would have been possible in a base/peon rush RTS.

Lanes…there are only “lanes” if you see it that way. DoW2 had lanes, I guess. RTS map have always had routed movement. Usually with cross pathway options. The same is true here.

Heroes? The elites are strong with micro focus. Sure. All three games have them. When the enemy has an elite, it feels like fighting a game ending monster. When you have an elite, maybe even the exact same one, it feels like active skill bait that dies in seconds to line units. They are as they have always been, heavier single units that cycle in and out of the fight.

Like I said before. DoW3 splits the line across many ideas inside and out of the franchise. As such, there is a lot of opportunity to hate something. How does it sit as a product on its own? I don’t know, I have not had any time with retail and only some with the beta. But I do think the gut check Steam reviews that fit the above templates are not the most open minded of reactions.

I completely agree. I tried it out briefly and was really surprised that “MOBA” was the takeaway for a lot of people.

I agree, I feel no MOBA in this game.

I am enjoying the larger army feel, compared to small squads in DOW2.

I’m glad about the lack of a MOBA feeling you guys are reporting - I just couldn’t get into any of the MOBA’s my friends were playing and feel like that kind of gameplay is just something I’ll never get into. I’m still too busy to dive into this day one, but I’ll be keeping an eye on this thread for impressions, screenshots, and videos so feel free to post anything like that.

I thought they were going to have other multiplayer modes at release. Is it really just Power Core?

Played a couple levels of campaign and so far i am not impressed as a big fan of the previous 2 games.

Removing cover and replacing it with shield zones was a dumb idea, removing one of the core components of DoW.

Performance is also lower than i would expect for a game that looks like this. Frankly i expect to be able to run this game at max settings with a 1080 and get 100 fps.

I suppose i knew going in to it that there were major questions about it though so i can only blame myself and hope it ends up being worth what i paid for it (which was not $60 thankfully).

So you guys really don’t see the MOBA components? It controls like DOTA 2 when using your hero, or at least that’s what it looks like from all the videos I’ve watched.

I didn’t play much over the beta weekend, but I can’t say it felt like a MOBA to me.

That’s cool, I’m mostly just curious. It kind of makes me think of Diablo III

What makes you say this, though? This is me just being curious as well. Granted, Heroes have abilities, but that’s been the case since games like Warcraft 3 and the like.

The only thing that I can think of is that they standardized the hotkeys (thank Christ) so they’re always QWER. I don’t know why so many RTS games lagged so far behind in that sort of thing. Don’t make me hit “B” to Bombard with one unit, but “P” to Precision Strike with another similar unit. It’s much better just to know that Ability Slot 1 is bound to Q. That way my hand can be left at the WASD position at all times. It’s 2017, we’re not fucking savages anymore!

The keys and the way the characters work. I mean, yeah, the characters have had abilities forever. It’s the QWER thing I guess. not like the original DOTA where everything was willy nilly.

I play on 1440p but the textures seem very blurry to me. I had to double check and make sure my resolution wasn’t accidentally set wrong.

Gotcha! Yeah, that doesn’t translate to MOBA in my mind. That’s just a common sense interface improvement, in my opinion. When I was hearing complaints (or comments) about MOBA, I was expecting lanes and minion waves or a shop you upgrade at, something like that.

Whoa, hey, wait a minute, say what? They got Diablo 3 in my Warhammer?

… tell me more.

This isn’t the droid you’re looking for, unfortunately. Because that would be cool. :)

Watching this campaign video is what does it

Would be beyond cool, such that I can’t believe nobody’s thought of it. Still, I’m curious what Jason means.

Edit: too slow, will check out the video

Eurogamer recommends the game.

[quote]Come the late-game and, as you’d expect, it’s time for the payoff from all that early squabbling and mid-game decision-making. Whether or not you’ve spent Elite Points on balance-tipping early Elites or saved them and ‘teched’ towards a late-game nuke of huge walkers like the Morkanaut or Imperial Knight - or faction abilities like my own use of the friendship-breaking Orbital Bombardment in that first game - will have a significant impact.

What elevates this to such fantastic, hang-wringing intensity though is the fact that so often, like the very best strategy games, you’ll have to discard your original tactics and adapt to what’s been thrown at you by the enemy.

Abandoning hope, in a split second decision, for the nine point walker unit you were counting on all game and gambling five on an easily-missed Orbital Bombardment instead is exactly the kind of anxiety-inducement I need from an RTS. I want my hopes and dreams shattered, my heart and soul put through the most heretical wringer as I shout at friends, frothing at the mouth and agonising over what to do next, how to respond to this traitorous xeno filth attacking my flanks. Yes, I can’t help but lament the loss of those classic, arcadey, eight-player free-for-alls. And I do cast a wistful gaze at even Dawn of War 3’s campaign maps, which look perfectly suited for just such a game. But in moments like this all of it is very much forgotten.[/quote]