I am a hardcore Warhammer 40k fan and after the epic first games Dawn of War, Dawn of War - Winter Assault and Dark Crusade, I tried Warhammer 40 000 Dawn of War - Soulstorm. The newly included races, Dark Eldar and Sisters of Battle, are awesome, and the main campaign is just epic.
Although the campaign in Warhammer 40 000 – Soulstorm is the same for every race you chose, namely, dominate all the planets, it really takes time, effort, and a lot of strategy to achieve this ultimate goal. The tension builds in the beginning, when you conquer and defend territory, conquer strategic points like Webway Gates, so you can travel to other planets or conquering the planet which rewards you with that bodyguard unit you so desperately want.
Later on in the game, when you control almost half of the planets on the map, the game becomes easier because when you bought enough bodyguard units that you earned for your conquests, you can sometimes obliterate the enemy with just them, instead of building your base from scratch and march to battle.
Every race has a fortress, which is heavily defended and contains a special weapon or mechanic to make the attacker really struggle. These fortress battles are glorious, and you feel really proud and satisfied after a long, hard battle when you finally see the enemy base crumble and their leader left at your mercy. Most of the time, this means they get away with their tails between their legs, to return another day, but who cares, you wiped their asses off the planet, and the stronghold is yours.
The graphics are the same as the other Warhammer 40k installments and although a little outdated, they are still fine to look at. The sound and ambient music is still perfectly fitting for the space war alien theme that this game has.
For skirmish battles, I play this one because it has all the races packed into the game. My absolute favourite is the Tau Empire.
The combat system is fair and balanced. I especially like the battles where the armies are evenly matched, and you try your absolute best to get the upper hand. The tension and adrenaline are fierce most of the time, you just want to beat the hell out of your opponents but sometimes they just will not give up.
I only have one complaint about the game. When not playing as the Tau Empire and you attack their base, their “Moon Cannon” is the most overpowered, destructive, and brutal weapon in the game. They prepare it every 10 minutes into the game and when you hear the “fire” command from their leader, you know that you are screwed, and you pray that you have enough units in your production ques.
Warhammer 40 000 – Soulstorm is very addicting and many times I conquered whole sectors on the map in one go, completely forgetting the time.
This is one of those few games I can play again and again without it ever boring me. A classic and a beautiful memory that lasts forever.
