The result is a gaming mutant that has the values of strategy gaming but built over a framework of roleplaying, a chimera that RTS developers have actually been chasing for years. And when an RTS developer as seasoned as Relic (which also has Homeworld and Company Of Heroes games under its belt) takes a crack at it – well, it’s a mutant worth paying attention to.

The need to readdress the base RTS formula rather than simply add better explosions extends to DOW2’s multiplayer too, though it’s far closer than singleplayer to the design behind DOW1, and even more so to Company Of Heroes, whose engine the game very obviously employs.

Perpetually contested resource points are scattered across the map, providing the trickle of Power and Requisition points necessary to build infantry and vehicles. And there is a base, but it consists of just one building, which will doubtless prove controversial. With no need to construct separate barracks and war factories, you only need apply upgrades to a sole structure, which unlocks more powerful units for building.

Remarkably, a game plays out in much the same way as a more traditional RTS: the stockpiling of resources and careful deliberation over when to purchase an upgrade hits the same beats of strategising and timing, but with the clutter of placing multiple buildings cleanly excised. This is streamlining and modernising, not oversimplifying. There’s more time spent on the fight, and less on rotating rectangles.

Fascinatingly, Relic reveals that the one-on-one online battles associated with RTS multiplayer are the favourite of only a vocal minority of their players. While DOW was not designed as a primarily co-operative game, the developer noticed that the silent majority has tended towards playing in teams – citing safety and numbers, fear of failure and a desire to socialise as the cause. With that in mind, DOW2 defaults to three-on-three play, with AI able to step in to play as allies and enemies alike.

The fiercer competition of one-on-one is still an option, but there’s no escaping that DOW2 in general is attempting to attract a wider, less intense audience. That said, matches themselves play out lightning-fast and with a strong – perhaps too strong – focus on micro-managing individual units’ special abilities. The four races – Space Marines, Orks, Eldar and new-to-the-series Tyranids – are fairly symmetrical in their armies compared to the first DOW’s great variance, but it’s the per-unit powers and devastating ‘global abilities’ that really strike the difference. 

Dawn Of War 2 is fresh and accessible, but hopefully the protestations of outraged fans over the dramatic changes to the age-old RTS formula will quiet once they realise that its multiplayer remains determinedly hardcore.