Just an update from IGN in regards to the ork campaign

Just like the original Dawn of War franchise, Relic’s awesome real-time strategy game, Dawn of War II, is getting the expansion treatment. The first was Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising, which continued the Space Marine campaign, and the second is the new Ork campaign in Dawn of War II: Retribution. This expansion was just announced at this year’s Gamescom, and we got a chance to be among the first to see it in action.

DoW II: Retribution is a standalone expansion just like the last one, only this time you won’t be playing as the Space Marines. This campaign revolves around a group of Ork Space Pirates, led by the eccentric Captain Bluddflagg. Bluddflagg leads around a group of hero units (comprised of a stealth hero, an aggressive jetpack wearing hero, and a heavy weapons hero), as well as a horde of lesser Ork units.

Retribution, just like the previous DoW II games, revolves around a few heroes, but it differs greatly in the amount of units you’ll control overall. Previous campaigns put you in control of a few hero units who had lesser units attached to them, while Retribution gives you control of four solo heroes as well as a growing horde of Orks. As you capture points in the missions you’ll unlock resources; these resources can then be used to call in additional units at specific spots on the map. But don’t get intimidated by the thought of having more units to deal with, Relic’s intent was not to make the player feel overwhelmed, or to at all insinuate the formula of very few units was a failure in the old games, they simply didn’t feel it worked well for Orks. You see, Orks aren’t like Space Marines; they don’t care about one another, they’re not nearly as powerful, and they are known to win battles by overwhelming their opponents with bodies and brute force rather than tactics. If the Orks can’t kill you with swords they’ll gladly drown you in their own blood.

Another benefit Relic feels comes from Retribution’s new unit building system is the ability to change up your tactics mid battle. In the Space Marine campaigns it wasn’t uncommon to select the wrong units before a mission started, having to use them or simply restart a mission when you realized you didn’t bring the best units possible. With the ability to call in additional troops mid-battle, on the other hand, you can adjust tactics at several points in the mission, giving yourself specialized vehicles, anti-armor or anti-infantry units should the situation arise where they’re needed.

A huge appeal of the previous Dawn of War II campaigns were their RPG elements, and these return in Retribution with some slight, but significant, changes. As you play through missions your hero characters will gain experience and levels. Previously you then spent the points you earned as you leveled up to work towards ability unlocks, but in Retribution you get to unlock an ability every time you level. You still get to pick the powers you want, meaning that you can still customize your heroes to better suit your play style, but leveling up is a little more exciting since it always has an immediate reward.

Loot, the main driving force for so many players’ passion to grind missions, returns as well, only this time you get even more options. You still find loot randomly in missions, and obtain it from killing particular enemies, but you get to choose the piece of gear you receive at the end of each mission now. Previous DoW II campaigns gave you a specific reward at the end of a mission, but now players can pick one of three items, allowing them to further customize their heroes to suit the way they play.

Dawn of War II: Retribution is everything I’d expect from an expansion — meaning it only makes small changes to the game’s core mechanics — and fans of the Warhammer 40k universe will doubtless be excited to get to jump in the boots of a silly Ork army. I already like the way the Orks invoke many themes that run counter to the Space Marines (like shoddy technology, bad attitudes, and no concern for their fellow warrior), and this is all based off only a few minutes of a demo. I can’t wait to see the game again, as something tells me we’ve only just scratched the surface of what this expansion has to offer.

Defintely liking the sound of the ork campaign and glad to see some of the changes e.g. levelling up, controlling a horde of orks that can be changed and a choice of loot at the end of the mission.