Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III

Great game-play. I enjoy the battles and the new layout. At times the AI seems to build faster than I can, but this new mod is fun. It would be great if the field of play could be increased to give someone the ability to build an army faster for bigger play and strategy.

Honestly, on discount its not a bad buy if you're invested in the series but I can see why it flopped, veered a little too far off course from the earlier entries, didn't buy it for multiplayer so no thoughts or feeling on how wonky that apparently feels but solid 50 hours ran through on hard for something like £7 isn't bad.

other than graphics, its in every way less than the previous game, sooo NO

DOW 2 and Retribution was better, the sense of progress with your Team is not as good as those, plus the individual customisation of squads is deeply missed. Graphics are a bit better and playing with Chapter Master Angelos is fun. Still could have used some good elements from previous titles.

Worst Warhammer 40k game ever made. 7.99 is still too much to play 40k that is not 40k. What are these game studios doing nowadays. Hot garbage.

Dawn of War III has become too complicated to be fun. Base building is not as entertaining as DOW I and hero system gets worse in than DOW II. If anyone wanted an all out war in Warhammer 40K, might as well get the Total War: Warhammer 40K than DOW III. Been playing 7.9 hrs, trying to like it. I don't. Uninstalling.

Beautiful game with a solid story. DOW Soulstorm remains the standard :D

i didnt play this for long but what i did play made me get a refund. Glad i stuck with the first 2 and mods

Not fun. Boring core units with a lack of upgrades in a world chalked full of creative options. Feels uninspired.

IF you can get this game on an 80% off sale, and you are looking for a fun relatively light relic rts to play with friends, and IF you install a few mods, its actually not too bad tbh. Good bit of warhammer themed fun. Its alot like company of heroes 2, but warhammer themed and with alot less complexity in terms of positioning frankly. Still, imo Dawn of War one is still best game of the series, especially if we are talking UA mod.

good game but you need mods to love it

its fine but no recent updates and lack of factions

so so , 7/10 . Hope they could do some thing like warcraft editor , where the magic , lack type of map , unit , skill and mode map . Story so so again must learn form warcraft plz ,get more heros in story make .

I got bored so fast playing this game. No depth no interesting mechanics. Only 3 factions that worked with starcraft as every faction has a lot of stuff but here is just not good.

I am enjoying this game, and feel like it is worth playing if you like the other Dawn of War games.

I just completed the campaign and I enjoyed almost every section of it. This was actually a very good game! I would rate it 8/10. I can kinda understand why a lot of players were not happy, as there were a few things that were missing and it is different to DOW 1 & 2. However, I feel that that a lot of the criticism is unfair and I think that it was over dramatic.

Cons:

1. I personally feel that there were not enough missions with the Blood Ravens, however, despite a lot of comments, the other factions stories being interwoven actually worked quite well.

2. Although, there was some hints and a certain teaser at a point, there could have been at least one or two other factions, given how good Dark Crusade was and also given there important presence in previous titles.

3. It was a shame that a number of units from the previous games were missing or only available as special units.

4. Story was good, but there were a lot of things that could have been explained better. In particular, the fates of certain other important characters from previous titles.

Pros:

1. The story was pretty good and felt in place with the other titles (I have played them all starting in 2005)

2. Graphics, attention to detail and ambience were very good, with some good upgrades from the other games

3. A welcome return to basebuilding and controlling larger forces. However, a few buildings were missing, which would have made it even better. Overall though, it was great having larger epic battles again like in DOW 1 and the dlc.

4. The elite units were really cool. In many ways this was like DOW 2, in that even fielding a few well selected elite units, could turn the tides of battles against larger forces.

5. The soundtrack was great, not as good as the first two, but was still really good and felt like it belonged.

I heard all of the bad things that were said about Dawn of War 3 and figured I'd try it out. This is legitimately the worst in the series and I wanted to like it so much. Whether the change from massive battles in DoW to the more focused squad based combat of DoW 2, but this is objectively the worst. They shrunk down the size of maps you fight on while sticking to the smaller armies of DoW 2. I hate that this failed, but I totally get it. I couldn't even make myself finish the game. The story is told through multiple viewpoints of the different factions and while that sounds interesting, it isn't. I can't even recommend this game on the deepest of discounts.

Its been years since I picked up a great RTS. Sadly that holds true still. I miss games like battle for middle earth. But having said that, this game still scratches that itch. You should still have some fun here but id say only like 3/5 or so if that helps.

The Gretchin Genocide of M41 was a battle of utmost horror...

would be good if there where more factions to play as in the campaign like in soulstorm and retribution or if each faction had there own campaign i hope the will be more content for this game in the future but i doubt it lol

The basis of the game is alright, but why no DLCs for Tau and other races, Im sad !!!

It's okay, I guess. definitely the weakest of the three. only has three factions and tends to be flash no content. course I would argue that Lord of The Rings Battle for Middle Earth Two spoiled me there. damn do I miss that game.

It turns out this game is very good unlike what many people say
In terms of graphics and animation this game easily beats top rts games like starcraft 2 and others
8/10

I am gonna be straight forward its not the worst game I have seen many other games that are potentially worse, I would and could recommend it to maybe some friends that have a lot of love/experience for games like these but on any other side its fine game tho I don't think that someone who is new to this kind of game should touch Dawn of War 3 rather playing the other two first and then have a taste of it but yeah in conclusion.

1 The Graphic is better than in the others (not a remarkable thing since we live in 2025)
2 The Characters looks really good but there aren't many factions to choose from
3 the Game play is REALLY sloppy what I mean is it is not hard to adapt to it but it dosent feel good to play it (its a feeling I had when I did my 1 match against A.I)
4 Idk why but Christ why is this guy doing a flip with the hammer (Basically stick with the lore accurate thing that was existing in Dawn of War 1-2)

well I guess these are the only 3 Criteria I had not counting the 1 one but yeah I will keep playing it but yeah ( I would rather like more if the older dawn of wars gets updated rather than having a poor new one that is not as good as the old versions)

I love Dawn of War: Dark Crusade and its expansions, but Dawn of War III is nothing but a disappointment, a disgrace, and an insult to the Warhammer 40K universe.

Dawn of War III as a MOBA with only three factions? No.
Dawn of War III as a great RTS like Dark Crusade, with multiple factions and no MOBA elements? Yes.

This game is not worth buying, even at a discount.

Im enjoying the game so far I dont see any of the issues everyone is crying about

This game tries to blend large-scale battles with the hero-focused mechanics of DOW2, but it ends up feeling like a compromise that doesn't fully satisfy either side.

The campaign is a mix of Space Marines, Eldar & Orks. However, the story itself is forgettable, and the constant switching between factions prevents real attachment to any of them, I'm only half way through the campaign and I feel like i just want it to be over.

The core game play reintroduces base-building, but unit tactics feel shallower than DOW2, and the new MOBA-like hero mechanics don't integrate smoothly.

The game GFX look good, but its art style lacks the grit and brutality that defined the earlier titles.
The lack of cover mechanics and reduced squad micromanagement also hurt the depth of battles.

Ultimately the game struggles to grip me, failing to satisfy my RTS itch and probably those who enjoyed DOW2 tactical combat. With no expansions, this will fade quickly—making it the weakest entry in the series, worst part is i told my friend to get it so we can play together online.

It's OK i guess.

I put off playing this game for eight years. After 15 minutes of what felt like 200ms ping in singleplayer campaign, horrible cartoony graphics, and 20 second-long stutters during autosaving, I realized I should have put it off for 80. Back to Dark Crusade.

Trash. Dont waste money on this garbage, graphics are worse than DoW2 and gameplay is far worse than both 1 and 2

1 and 2 are RTS. This wanted to be a moba, and turned into a pile of crap. if you played the others it's a let down. if this is the only thing you've played(I'm sorry) open your eyes with the old games. They ARE better other then graphics. Wish they kept the same stuff from 2.... was sooo good

absolute donkey cheeks, just play dow2

one of my all time favorite franchises!

this game is really cool :D

is very fun and has good mods, havent played pvp yet tho

Probably the most disappointing game. I loved the first dawn of war. Didn't really like the second but the third truly is the worst. They took all the worst things from number 2 and put them in number 3. They pretend it is a base building game but its not. Very saddening.

frightning mr.warriors spacesliens big.commication open not it war now gonna fight american sameria team to american ninja teams see capt fonda in outer space visting duran se gonna be warearth

This game is insanely fun! I'm fairly new to the IP as a player but have actually heard of it over the years. I love RTS games and this one is amazing. I have no idea why nobody plays online besides with mods. It's still worth the purchase for the campaign and skirmishes for sure! Hopefully something can be done about the absence of players online though.

Please God add more to this game!

I had to change my review to negative mostly due to bugs.

The bugs in question :

I'm having a bug where the game randomly alt tabs by itself which is beyond annoying, and it happens multiple times per session...

It also happens frequently that an enemy unit freezes in place and stops moving or being hostile unless attacked. as if it forgets it's even there...

When I launch the game I'm greeted with a reward screen that locks the game, you click okay and nothing happens, always have to alt f4 and launch it again, so you have to launch the game 2 times every time you want to play.

There are annoying bugs that directly affect mission success, some scripts need very specific and sometimes unclear prerequisites to be triggered It's obvious the game was not playtested enough. I had to redo missions that I had not failed ( on hard (-.-)) due to some script not triggering due to some unclear requirement that was not met. ( Mission 4, the guy still died even though I saved him just because Gabriel was on cooldown )

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Overall this game tries to be its own thing, a moba/rts hybrid but it feels like it bites off more than it can chew. The game is micro-intensive in a good way, which makes for some funny and unpredictable moments,but it's clunky, the UI and unit control scheme should have been geared towards facilitating the micro-management as much as possible. Readability is poor, game lacks contrast, buildings look the same, squads blend together and are harder to manage than necessary. It's a shame because it could have been so great, but It's a pain to play and really buggy, by the way bugs are the main reason why I can't recommend it. I think they should just make it free-to-play and work on these issues. It has potential, being the only game of its genre that I know of. But it needs a number of serious improvements.

Force you to play different factions in story campaign mode. Gameplay is worse than DoW2. What have you all been doing?

About 100 hours on this game.
And I can firmly say that I don't understand the hate behind this game?
Sure we got people doing flips in term armor or the game being over-saturated and what not but besides that I really don't see anything else wrong with this game?

- Gameplay:
- Unlike the other two iterations of the game, this one has the biggest large-scale battles. The battles always look epic and is really the reason why I prefer this game over the 1st and 2nd, although, yes, it comes with the cost of having to wait for a while for your army to prepare.
- This game obviously requires strategic and tactical planning. You can't just run in and invade the enemy without a plan. Your obviously going to have your army decimated like that. This game heavily encourages the use of teamwork and coordination between your teammates. (Yes Multiplayer still exists in this game)
- Battles can range from taking 10 minutes, all the way to taking 2 hours or more (Yes, this almost happened). Depends who your working with and who your going against.
- Mechanics and Elites:
- For the others who are saying that elites are "overpowered units that decimate regular armies" clearly haven't played this game at all or a lot. I have found myself destroying (and getting destroyed) elites by just using a simple army. It's like I said before, you need strategic and tactical planning to counter these supposed "overpowered units". However, if those elites are used correctly, then yes, they can be a pain to deal with.
- In my opinion, this game has the least amount of mechanics (probably due to the large-scale battles) than the other two games. You can only apply 2 weapons on a tactical marine squad and apply basic upgrades to units such as increased HP and damage, with some exceptions being applying land mines to a scout marine squad, increased slowness on devastator bullets and power swords for assault marines.
- Doctrines are a key factor for your armies success, you can use multiple to benefit your whole army in general or specific doctrines for a certain play-style or unit. Doctrines (along with elites) can create various play-styles that you can use during your matches so that the gameplay doesn't get too stale.

- Factions:
- Sadly, this game only has 3 factions. The Space Marines, Orkz, and Eldar. Although, each one has a few unique features that make them differ from each other. Space Marines have their drop pods and the standard flag, orks have their resourcefulness by using scrap to buff or create more mechanized units at a cheaper cost while the eldar have their shield hp buff and they can teleport their bases/buildings anywhere across the map. Each clearly have distinct playstyles and none of them really counter one another, just depends on skill.

- Modding:
- There are some good mods that come from this game, granted, they're not really as great as Dawn of War's 1 and 2 mods. However, there are some mods like Deathwatch and Redux that heavily change the gameplay by adding more mechanics and implementing previously locked units or even new units into the game.
- There are also some great maps that come from this game. My friend Playgu is an excellent map maker that focuses on both the balancing on the map, making sure that no side gets an advantage over the other and making them pretty as well. If anyone else is interested in making their own maps, Playgu has written a guide on how to make maps using World Builder in the Dawn of War 3 Guide tab.

- Campaign:
- Going to make this quick and simple. Plot: There is a spear on a Planet called Acheron that all three factions wish to get. Throughout the campaign, you play as a different faction each level fighting the other factions. Until one level, you play as all 3, just not all at the same time. Towards the end, the spear turns out to be a trap placed by a daemon that was used to lure people in to get the spear and kill them, which awakens the daemon in which each leader of the faction has to defeat in the end. They all team up in the end and kill the daemon. It's not too complex but its not the best as well.
(After the end credits, we get a teaser of a supposed future necron faction update, although, this update never came)
- Overall:
- This game favors large scale battle and retains the strategic and tactical thinking from the previous two games. If done right, this game can be fun to play, especially with other online people.

(Also remember to join the official dawn of war 3 discord server if you wish to play with other people online, https://discord.gg/z9QZturP4b )

Campaign is so boring. Like what were they doing for all those years? The DoW 2 campaign had so much more to do even.

Overall 6/10

Not a bad game but it also falls short of being great, landing somewhere in the middle.

The final campaign level is particularly disappointing. It consists of repetitive boss fights where you must wait for the boss to heal before engaging again, all while dealing with waves of minions. This design feels tedious and time-consuming, which detracts from the overall experience. Because of this, I would deduct a point from my rating; otherwise, it could have been a 7/10.

i love dow3 best game in the trilogy

Good game to lose some time and just immerse yourself in some fantasy

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II is better in every way except graphics. If you are looking for content and lore play the previous game edition instead.

A crime this is associated with warhammer or dawn of war at all, let alone dressed up as the third instalment of the DoW series.

Don't buy it.

Great game, some tweaks here and there I'd suggest but overall pleased

It's really bad. I didn't believe the reviews but I wish I'd listened. I regret the purchase.