There's a story the Warhammer 40 000: Dawn of War II developers tell. A journalist during the E3 demos was asking pointless questions: "How long will the game be? What's the box art going to be like?"

Jonny Ebert, the Principal Producer, finally dismissed all this as garbled, retarded barking it was, simply and calmly replying, "Look, DoW II is going to have 40 per cent more boom."

It may be too early to tell if 40 per cent more boom is precisely the right margin but there's definitely some sort of boom ratio improvement going on.

Dawn of War and its successor games were a minor triumph for RTS gaming. Set in the bloodthirsty, occult science-fiction universe of Warhammer 40K, it streamlined gameplay. Instead of lengthy base-building and turtling and other big girl's blouse tactics, DoW emphasised very simple resource management and getting into combat straight away. The animations remain a strong point of the game. This isn't just troops shooting at each other on a screen. Micro-views show things like Berserkers sinking their axes into the skulls of undead robots and blood all over the shop. Thinking about it right now is actually making me a tad excited.

DoW II has even further evolved that gameplay philosophy. Drawing from Company of Heroes, it moves further from the huge battles of other RTS franchises, emphasising squad-based combat rather than huge armies. Other than that, well, the whole damn thing has been given a thorough renovation, refurbishment and spring-cleaning. Indeed, tried and true elements of the RTS genre are just... gone.

I got a good look at the game at this year's E3. Before we dive into discussing new elements of the game, we'll have a chat about what stayed the same. "Brutal melee combat," laughs Ebert. He ain't lying. The animation is smoother, the individuals on the field recognisable from each other. In the demo displayed, Assault Marines land with a visceral thud, leaving a massive impression in the mud and dirt before caning a group of Orks with their vicious chainswords. Devastator squads unleash hell, mowing down the Greenskin scum while Orkish Wartrucks, mad as snakes, careen around the field. It's a beautiful and atrocious mess. "There'll be the same kind of high intensity battles. There'll be more and new synch kills." Oh my.

Other than that, DoWII takes the whole thing back to formula.


The New

Battles are changing, too. Ebert says, "What we want is for people to feel a strong attachment to individual units and even individual characters. If those troops are getting better with each mission, you'll want to keep them alive."

The original DoW tended to see vast armies pouring over the screens, but the sequel is going to be considerably more tactical. If you're the kind of evil-hearted scumbag who liked to flood the field with Necrons and bum-rush the stage, that's all over. Hiding, using cover, seizing and holding tactical buildings are your new tools.

Cover bonuses will be a lot more realistic now. 'Realistic' is a bad word when you're talking about a game where undead robots fight psychic cyborg demons but... shut up. As in the above example, look for more context-specific kinds of cover providing specific bonuses.

"If you want to win these battles, you'll have to use the terrain. It's that simple," grinned Ebert. "You'll need to take cover behind sandbags, logs, rocks. All that kind of stuff. Watch out for buildings, though. They'll protect you a lot better than just normal cover but you don't want to get caught there while someone's throwing in grenades. Or flamethrowers." This is good if, like me, you become almost aroused at the thought of setting a bunch of those flouncy Eldar alight. And of course, all your little black hearts can be pleased by the fact that pretty much all cover and buildings are destructible. Some Space Marine bastard is sitting in a foxhole, laughing at you, well, just turn the terrain to rubble and dig his gigantic ass out. Forty per cent more boom!

This emphasis on cover is so strong that it's written into the game's AI. Your troops won't just stay out in the open during the battles. They'll actually look to take cover on their own just as surely as enemy troops will. That's obviously a by-product of Company of Heroes and the Essence Engine that powers it. The Havok engine, which now powers everything from Dawn of War II to your mum's breathing, is also taking a look-in. Havok is going to allow a wider range of destruction, with a lot stronger physics. As to how that will effect weapons is yet to be seen, but from the looks of how easily an Ork Warboss simply picks up and throws even the mighty Space Marines, you'll be seeing a lot of exotic weapons effects. The boom! Rather more seriously, the destructible environment is useful tactically. You may have to cut off a bridge or blow up specific buildings.

The whole lighting and terrain effects are changed, drawing again mainly from the Essence Engine. Shadows are deeper and all illumination sources more dramatic and richer. Flames throw deep shadows to take cover in.

Special weapons will play a big part of the new game. Previously, you pretty much chose between effectiveness against troops or vehicles, with a few fun novelty weapons like the Harlequin's Kiss. Now, you'll actually have to stop cackling like a very dim hen while four heavy bolters mow down some tissue-thin Tau and actually have a think about what you're arming your troops with.


Big Gun

"We've got melta-guns, heavy bolter, missile launchers, plasma guns, frag grenades, melta-bombs." It's a hypnotic litany of gut-wrenching violence, really. All of this stuff might be old but there's a distinct change in how these things work. Ebert says, "War gear is important. You'll have to carefully pick your weapons on each mission. Look for useful combinations as well. The heavy bolter and frag grenade works well as you can keep up a field of suppressing fire, then just waste them with your grenades."

Choosing war gear looks to be of some import in the game. "You won't ever be basically hopeless in a fight but the right war gear is pretty damn important in a mission. You'll really need to experiment to find what kinds of weapons, what kind of troops, are the most effective. [You] can make a mission much easier, depending on your gear choices."

One big new element in keeping with that more micro level of battles is an RPG style rewards system. There are unique weapon drops from bosses. War gear will be linked to an inventory and you won't just be given the whole cache at the outset. Certain missions will yield certain rewards. Details on what's new are very sparse on the ground, but look for unique items like Daemonhammers and the like to be available only after certain sections of the game are unlocked.

Visually, everything is improved. Those synch kills mentioned above? Vicious. Vehicles too make a lot more sense. Ork Killer Kans are bigger and more imposing, as are Wartraks. No Dreadnaught armour or Rhinos or anything else have really been shown off, but Jeff Noseworth, the game's producer, brushes off any concerns. "Yeah, you'll see vehicles that are a lot more in keeping with the scale of the armies." This isn't just an elaborate repaint. There's a much greater variety of size just between individual members of any particular army. Ork Nobz are a particularly imposing specimen of that breed.

Another big surprise is experience points. Your squads will have several stats to improve as the game goes on. "You'll be able to make your guys tougher, better at shooting, melee, all the different elements of the game." It looks like the statistics are based off the tabletop game, with Weapon Skill, Ballistic Skill, Toughness, that whole business. Thankfully, your commanders on the ground can be resuscitated and persist through the campaign's many battles, but you'll be able to lose them on the field. Indeed, loss of your dudes on the field is a victory condition. That tactical gaming comes into play as you have to decide how to keep them alive against using them on the front lines.