Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Anniversary Edition

Absolute classic from the golden age of RTS. Big dollars to be made if they remaster this game with a better multiplayer interface. Do it Relic!

i loved this game when i was able to play it. now it just opens and crashes

Great with friends (played on Soulstorm)

It is better to die for the Emperor than live for yourself

Brilliant game that stands the test of time. Really truly deserves another run that captures all the races of the Warhammer 40k universe.

Intriguing tactical game. Comes with all expansions. Got it on a deal. Very engaging.

Simple and fun to learn the fundamentals of a RTS within the bad ass 40k universe.

It is simply one of the best strategic games ever in the Warhammer universe. Great graphics, good game controls, and huge pressure. I lihe it.

Barely halfway through the campaign and I can already say with confidence this is one of the all time greats, if you love RTS games it's definitely a must buy

game use to work just fine before the anniversary version. What ever they did gives an error code claiming I need to launch though Steam, even though that is how I launched the game in the first place. Don't recommend until there is a fix.

the blood raven guy does funny battle cry in the opening cinematic

It's a classic RTS that is the source of a lot of internet culture and memes. It creates a compelling and engaging world to experience and explore. I understand totalitarianism better because of this game.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Anniversary Edition stands as a celebrated milestone in the realm of real-time strategy games, offering players a deeply immersive experience set in the iconic Warhammer 40,000 universe. Released as a remastered edition of the original 2004 classic, this version not only revitalizes the beloved gameplay but also enhances it with improved graphics and quality-of-life features, making it an excellent entry point for newcomers while delighting long-time fans.

Engaging Gameplay and Strategic Depth
At the heart of Dawn of War is its engaging gameplay that beautifully balances tactical decision-making with fast-paced action. Players are introduced to a variety of factions, each with its own unique strengths, weaknesses, and playstyles. Whether commanding the brutal Space Marines, the cunning Eldar, or the relentless Orks, players must strategize and adapt their tactics to exploit the strengths of their chosen race while countering their opponents.

The game's emphasis on squad-based mechanics adds depth to the combat. Players are encouraged to form and manage squads, allowing for a range of strategies, from overwhelming assaults to carefully coordinated flanking maneuvers. The cover system further enhances the tactical layer, enabling players to use the environment to their advantage. This dynamic gameplay encourages thoughtful planning and quick decision-making, resulting in intense and satisfying battles.

Rich Lore and Atmosphere
One of the standout features of Dawn of War is its ability to immerse players in the rich lore of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The game's narrative-driven campaigns are steeped in the franchise's extensive backstory, providing context and depth to the conflicts players engage in. Cutscenes and voice acting effectively convey the grimdark atmosphere of the setting, drawing players into the narrative as they fight for control over the galaxy.

The game’s environments are meticulously designed, showcasing a variety of stunning battlefields that reflect the dystopian nature of the Warhammer universe. From ruined cities to alien landscapes, each map is filled with detail that enhances the overall immersion and engagement.

Enhanced Graphics and Modern Features
The Anniversary Edition brings significant graphical enhancements, updating the original visuals to meet modern standards. The remastered textures, improved lighting, and higher resolutions breathe new life into the game, making it visually appealing for both new players and veterans. The improvements ensure that the game maintains its charm while providing a fresh experience.

Additionally, the Anniversary Edition includes quality-of-life features such as improved user interface elements and streamlined matchmaking, making it easier for players to jump into the action. The inclusion of all previously released expansions adds to the value of this edition, providing a wealth of content that extends the game's longevity.

Community and Multiplayer Experience
Dawn of War has a robust multiplayer community that continues to thrive, allowing players to test their strategies against others in competitive matches. The matchmaking system ensures that players of all skill levels can find suitable opponents, promoting a healthy and engaging competitive environment. The community's ongoing support for the game, including user-created content and mods, further enriches the experience, offering players new scenarios and challenges to explore.

Conclusion
In summary, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Anniversary Edition is a remarkable tribute to the original game that enhances the experience with modern graphics and thoughtful improvements. Its engaging gameplay, rich lore, and vibrant community create a compelling package that appeals to both strategy enthusiasts and Warhammer fans alike. Whether you're delving into the campaign or challenging others in multiplayer, Dawn of War delivers an exhilarating and immersive experience that stands the test of time. This Anniversary Edition is a must-play for anyone looking to experience the strategic depths and thrilling battles of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Still a good campaign game.

Took only a little bit of set-up to confirm a fullscreen resolution of 1920x1080, which gave me black sidebars that didn't inconvenience me at all. This set-up is additionally carried through to the Winter Assault expansion, which is a very small install in combination with this.

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
Command the armies of the 41st millennia in real time.

The game plays as well today as it did twenty years ago, and with all three expansions included, there is a lot of content for players to explore. Requisition, the main resource, is gained by holding strategic locations. Base building is also very straightforward. Here the biggest advantage comes from selecting the best units for each encounter, and with nine broadly different armies available, the combinations are endless. The graphics hold up better than the store screenshots would lead you to believe, although the pathfinding might make your blood boil. Worth at a discount.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3/5) / Winter Assault
New armies, new campaign, new issues, same solid gameplay.

This expansion introduces new playable armies, and the campaign does a good job of presenting the strengths of each unit. The objectives here are more complex than in the core game, which is refreshing. It's clear the developers wanted to try new ideas; however, it can be quite tricky to know which actions will trigger progress, making some missions slightly frustrating. Great addition to the core game. Worth at a discount.

I would love to play this but it just won't start and any of the fixes in the forum wont't work.
Thank you for taking my money and giving me nothing in return :)

I missed the hype of this back in the day, mainly because I'm a console player. It was worth the hype. Super fun, easy to grasp, not extremely difficult. Suffer not the unclean to live!

I have been playing it for years and I still enjoy it. I have all the versions except dawn of war 3 which i will purchase at some point I like the game play and the way you can play it from different angles

This is the best introduction to 40k universe I could have. Good story, great voice actors, gameplay that will keep You playing for a long time.

as someone who played this game all the way back in 2007 when it came out and now in 2024 it still holds out very much so and boy the fun gameplay is still there, classic old school RTS at it's finest.

I'd say it was worth the hype to play such a beloved game. Its age of course gives the look and game-play some drawbacks, but I found it charming and fun as a fan of RTS games and Warhammer.

It's always fun to play through this campaign, and all of the dlc campaigns. The base game and winter assault have good stories, and the other dlc campaigns are mostly just longer lasting with more factions to sate your desire for extended gameplay. I tend to stick to the base game and winter assault because I like the story, but you should play through each of them at least once just to try them out and experience the unique cutscenes/factions. I highly recommend this game if you like rts games and/or warhammer.

A classic for both Warhammer and RTS genre fans in general, requires a little bit of modding to run on current setups though

SINDRI!!! - Most intelligent phrase uttered by Lord Bale

An amazing 40K RTS (the same can be said of its expansions)
I am not one to cling to blind hope but I hope the release of Anniversary Editions for both DOW 1 and 2 is an indicator of something greater for the series
(I have prayed to the God Emperor for a good and true remaster)

Would recommend. Old game and the graphics aren't 2024, but the gameplay is. From what I heard about W40k strategy games, this one might seem a bit on the easier side (at least the campaign, and on difficulties less than insane - haven't tried that one yet). Difficulties "normal" and "hard" would have probably made more sense to have been named "easy" and "normal", respectively. Other than that, enjoyable, especially if you buy it on a sale which from W40k seems relatively often.
Only played the first (Space Marine) campaign so far, so if you're buying the all-encompassing edition including other race campaigns, this comment does not include that.

Maybe someone will disagree with me, but I enjoyed the second one more.
Still, this is RTS gold, plus it's a great Warhammer game.

The squad mechanic is amazing. You can play 4 different races, but only an heretic would play something other than Space Marines.

Single player is okay, not a very remarkable campaign but still fun to play. Perhaps it used to feel better when the game released - it's still a fairly old game but noentheless, this game is really a blast to play, whether you're a Warhammer fans or just an RTS enjoyer.

Now playable on modern machines! Or at least the pre-anniversary edition always crashed on launch for me. Anniversary edition has crashed once so far with no other issues

Resolution defaults to 4:3 ratios and you'll need to modify files for widescreen support. Default still plays fine

No gameplay issues at 120fps. Some cutscenes have minor animation glitches that might be from running high fps, I haven't bothered checking

It's just as I remember. Decent fun, lots of bloodshed, assault marines die way too fast, .. a story. It's a good time

Fantastic RTS and the best Warhammer 40K game I played. Tabletop based models make you prepare what Warhammer is in reality.

Lots of fun. Story mode is solid. Easy enough on normal for non RTS folks to play and enjoy. One of the best 40k games i have ever played.

Dawn of War is the first RTS game I’ve ever played and finished, and it is perfect for that. This game served as an introduction to RTS and Warhammer for me and after playing it, I have an interest in both now.

The story is incredible, because it’s a Warhammer game. From the first glance at the Steam page of Dawn of War, it looks like a “cartoon game where you fight goblins” which is proven wrong immediately while starting it. Dawn of War is incredible with how it turns every race, even the orks into a gruesome and interesting side to play against (and as in skirmish!) The pacing is great, when you start getting tired of fighting the same faction, a new one will get introduced. The mission A New Lead has great pacing and sets good suspense before the Eldar get introduced. The characters are great, especially the Force Commander and the orks. The twist is fine and not too big, but it makes sense.

The game has fun RTS gameplay, it’s not too complex but still at a pleasant depth. The cover system is useful for putting defending units at a higher elevation in combat. It’s fun to create several squads of Space Marines and then attack a base from several sides. Leveling up your base and researching new gear for your army is fun and rewarding too. This is strategy, and how you supply your squads is a major part. Besides that, Dawn of War is just basic RTS, which is fun!

The music is incredible, it adds onto the might of each race, it adds onto tense combat situations and it adds onto when the enemies are starting an attack. You could be losing your base and then you hear the Imperium theme, and you push back on the enemy until the tide has been turned. Or you could be discovering the map without seeing any enemies, and then hearing a jolt in the atmospheric music, to see your base being taken over by an Unknown Force.

The locations throughout the game are fun, and the amount of similar locations don’t overstay their welcome like in other games. There’s a few city maps/areas, a few jungle maps and a few chaos maps.

The game’s difficulty is balanced, some levels are harder than others, but each are very enjoyable.

I didn’t encounter any bugs throughout this game.

Overall I found the experience great as the first RTS and Warhammer game I played through. Because of this game, I bought the expansions for this game, Dawn of War 2 and its expansions. I found myself somewhat enjoying the expansions for Dawn of War (I haven’t played the Soulstorm campaign yet, only skirmish.) If you’re anything like me (and not going to dirty this game) then you should play it as the first RTS and Warhammer experience.






For the Emperor!

absolutely phenomenal. One the best rts of all time, if you can look past its age

one of the best games to play in the war hammer 40k setting i really recommed it

Its a nice throwback to classic RTS' with the likes of StarCraft and even Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds (Age of Empires too). Units tend to become unresponsive after getting so big, but overall? I still had fun.

They changed literally nothing except the store listing.

Anniversary Edition, UP YOUR ASS 🤣😹

a bit glitchy and buggy in some areas and the pathing is horrible but definetly a good game for 7 bucks as i got it on sale. I'm happy i did buy this as i never got the chance to play it as a kid. Definetly see why its considered a classic and a great game and one of the best Warhammer games period. If the path finding was better and some of these bugs were fixed this game would be amazing. its crazy how games from 20 years ago are still better than alot of modern games. i heard part 2 was a little different but might pick that up as well

35 USD...for a product from 2006 that has not been updated graphically or anything else. Bad Sega BAD. DoW1, Winter Assault, Dark Crusade, and Soul Storm have all been removed from the Steam store, forcing anyone who has a mild interest in any of those games to splurge. Do not buy this, it is a rip off. The game has not been supported by the devs and such for YEARS.

First off i loved this game and still do. I'm giving a negative review on this anniversary edition. No widescreen support. No ui or font scaling. nothing anyone asked for. Nothing at all as far as i can tell has been done except changing the name. Didnt even bother to add steam achievments. No wonder it was free. Thanks for nothing Relic.

One of Relics first Major RTS game and its hella lot of fun

Relic if you see this, remake this epic masterpiece of a game and its expansions and add in more races and especially don't make it woke.
!!PLEEEEEASE!!

So Dawn of War 1 and 2 just got a big update, but is it really even "that" big? Well first off, all content is now included by default, expansions and everything, which is nice, but that's it actually. Did you expect more? Proper widescreen support finally? Maybe higher quality fonts and ui scaling? Nope. Piss poor update all things considered, especially given that to this day, this is people's first 40k game and they're having to STILL jump through so many hoops just to play it. Terrible. Not to mention the game is no $35 USD, and to be completely honest, the expansions weren't amazing anyways compared to the normal campaign. Not worth the high price tag whatsoever.

First of all, let me be clear, this is NOT a negetive review for the game & it's expansions, this is a negetive review for the Anniversary Edition (AE) only. Before you buy it, here is the things you need to know:

• This is NOT a repack of the original DoW & it's Expansions into one single game, it's just a 4-items bundled together and advertised as "AE" in 1 store page, you'd still have to install & play each expansions seperately (standalone version).

• The 4 items/games will be added to your library includes: DoW1:AE, DoW1:WA, DoW1:DC, DoW1:SS. Other than the new "anniversary" tag, it's the same base game & expansions as it was before... just more expensive.

I appriciates the free upgrade for all players who owned one of the game/expansion beforehand such as me, but to call this an "Anniversary Edition" is heresy!

If you're looking for a true Dawn of War: Anniversary Edition experience. Follow this guide right here, it'll help you just that.

#ForTheEmperor

I genuinely love Dawn of War, it's one of my all-time favorites in the RTS genre, and I would argue one of the all-time best.

This "Anniversary Edition" is utter nonsense.

When I heard about it, I figured they'd at least be combining the games into one single package, but apparently the bare minimum was too much trouble. I'd call this a purely superficial change, but it isn't even that. It's nothing. Nothing has been improved, nothing has been consolidated, nothing has been changed. It's the same 4 games, except now you can't buy them separately. It's not a new "edition", it's a new, worse price.

They couldn't even do what modders had already accomplished ages ago: combine all 4 games into one program. If unpaid volunteers can hack something together to fix your stuff, I don't know why you think you shouldn't do that yourself.

Just kidding, I know exactly why: Money! It's always about the money. Don't give them yours. I love these games, but I don't love them enough to excuse greedy corpo bullshit.

after their Aniversery edition came out the game wont even open. good job ruining something that atleast worked a little bit now doesnt work at all. trash.

This is not a new version or remaster of Dawn of War. This is just a repackaged version of the original game without you needing to buy each standalone expansion.

There is some tweaking you will wanna do to get this working on modern hardware and high resolutions (UI will be a consistent issue)

Step 1: get a mod to increase the zoom for the camera

Step 2: install a mod for the soulstorm expansion that ports the campaigns for the vanilla game and winter assault into the soulstorm client (this will allow you to use higher resolutions)

Step 3: the graphics and sound quality by default are set pretty low. you will want to change those, and in additon youll want to set up the launch parameter -forcehighpoly

Step 4: head into the Local.ini file and add fullres_teamcolour=1 to one of the lines.


If you're willing to go through all that, Dawn of War 1 is one of the finest RTS experiences ever made, and the modding community is absolutely worth a look.

This doesn't have widescreen support and the models look like they're from a state of the art PS1 game.
When you called this a new edition, I had certain expectations. Just say you repackaged it.

I would like love to leave a review for an anniversary edition of DoW, after all it's an amazing game that deserves a revival with modders still working on it 20 years after release.

However there isn't an anniversary edition. This is literally just the original winter assault. There's no audio update, no texture update, no modern resolutions.

Even the most basic claim that this is all the DLC rolled into one package isn't true, there's only the Winter Assault campaign and campaigns were half of each DLC's content. I assume they have done SOMETHING, perhaps multiplayer has all the units or some of the DLC mechanics?

This is just false advertising calling a pretty basic game update an "anniversary edition" to try and scrape the leftovers from Space Marine 2.

Okay for real. Great game, one of the best but wtf is this Anniversary update? ... This I suppose is specifically for people who already owned Dawn of War and especially people who've been lifelong fans of the game ~ie the people who would actually want an update to the game... Who of us doesn't already own all the dlc? Like if you're still playing Dawn of War you're likely playing Soulstorm for the mods and expanded gameplay elements. I thought that maybe it would have some actual updates like higher resolutions and that they'd "flatten" the games down so we didn't need to swap between them to access certain content. So yeah this big free update doesn't really seem to be anything at all, especially if you're someone who would appreciate it. Or am I totally missing something?????

I want to preface this by saying I adore this game. I love it to pieces; it has a special kind of nostalgia that brings me back to it quite often - A few months ago I played through all 4 campaigns, even repeating the Soulstorm campaign (modded) as 4 separate races back to back as I listened to podcasts (Maybe using the modded exe doesnt contribute to playtime? I have definitely played it longer that it claims). Realistically, if you're interested in playing Dawn of War, this would be the best way to get ahold of them as it includes the base game, its DLC and its 2 standalones (all of which are definitely worth playing). I recommend the game wholeheartedly but cannot justify recommending this title specifically as it fails to reach reasonable expectations as an Anniversary Edition.

Words have meaning and meanings have expectations. This is not an "Anniversary Edition." An Anniversary Edition, as the name suggests, acknowledges the age of a title and attempts to bring it to modern audiences by providing quality of life updates that allow it to be playable on modern machines - like a soft, back-end remaster that doesn't cover everything, only the necessities like resolution and UI scaling for modern monitors and tackling any GPU related issues that prevent the game running/crashing often. An Anniversary Edition is intended to keep the game suitably functional for current systems without the overhaul that a full remaster offers. This "Anniversary Edition" does none of this despite the game being ~18 years old.

As it stands, mods are needed to add higher resolutions that allow modern audiences to read the text properly (you can fiddle around in the game's files yourself instead of installing dedicated mods but that's still a literal modification of the game.) Mods that forcefully change things are unstable and do not cover all elements. For instance, higher resolutions mean smaller text because of the untethered UI scaling for non-native resolutions, which requires other mods to fix on top of that, and it all ends up being a rickety mess that is often unstable. For a long time player like myself (and probably a large number of people here) not being able to read the text isn't a huge deal as buildings, units and upgrades are ingrained to memory and we have the mods installed to make the game run smooth, but for new players there will be a lot of fiddling around and trial and error with third party fixes (many so old their instructions are found on old forum sites) to get things to work - and it still might not.

These are the kinds of quality of life elements that are expected to be updated when you hear the term "Anniversary Edition." Additionally, when you hear that an old and beloved game has received an Anniversary Edition that is giving it out to previous owners for free (myself included hence the free product tag), those expectations are laced with goodwill towards the developers/publishers for being surprisingly player-centric, further boosting sale potential. Because again, the term "Anniversary Edition" has expectations.

The most optimistic take I can have is that those choosing to name this the "Anniversary Edition" are ignorant of the inherent expectations that title brings, whilst the most pessimistic take I can have is that they knew fine well and wanted to bank on those expectations and the good will of the free upgrade to the existing playerbase to stir up higher sales. I'm not psychic I don't know which is closer to the truth but both are disappointing. upon hearing of the Anniversary Edition I was super hyped and now I feel pretty let down.

There are a plethora of mods that are almost universally used to make the game more playable; resolution mods, further camera zoom and UI scaling mods being the most prominent. but even outside of these, it is well known that the longevity of this game comes from its intensely dedicated modding scene which to this day is still active and hampered by the intensely aged limitations of RAM usage by Dawn of War. Dawn of War can only use 2GB of ram natively- with a mod (LLA) boosting that to 4GB (mainly to reduce crashing during mod usage which creates further instability in and of itself). Whilst far from necessary a native RAM usage increase, or (as much as it blurs the lines between Anniversary Edition and remaster) a native mod manager, would have done wonders too.

As it is, this is as barebones as it gets. "Complete Edition" is more accurate as all they've done is bundle everything together (with a few added elements allegedly). Which is fine, but its not a true Anniversary Edition, and that's why I have put this as a negative review; because its name is very misleading.

that being said, I do appreciate that DoW is getting some love, even if its done in an awkward manner that accidentally (I hope) raised expectations.

I don't know why I find it incredibly exciting that something's being done with this game even if it's just a rerelease.

I do actually, sorry I lied. GOOD GAME

So what changed with the release of the Anniversary Edition?!
I'm more than certain that you, the developers, know that the community has been asking for years to release a patch with support for widescreen monitors. And now, for the 20th anniversary of DoW, you could finally do it, but all you managed to do was simply combine the expansions with the base game to sell everything together on a single Steam page. I'm impressed...

The first dawn of war along with its 3 standalone expansions are quite possibly the greatest strategy games of all time.

the setting, the characters, the story (which though limited is amazing), the line delivery, the easy to use good feeling controls, the unit variety, the factions (eat your heart out dawn of war 3 you piece of shit), the level design, the building variety, the upgrades both in mission and on the campaign. all iconic.

Happy anniversary Dawn of War I love you