You will be glad to hear that the universe if safe from the Tyranid threat - finally.

Warhammer Dawn of War II

I purchased Dawn of War 2 when it came out about this time last year. As I started to hear about the expansion pack this year, I realized that I never actually finished the game. I was pretty close to the end but I lost interest (as I often do) and never went back to it. Before buying anything new, I decided to finish. The RTS mood was upon me again.

I only remember a few things about the first game except:

• I loved the game
• It was really hard; I wiped out on several missions
• I was almost finished
• The game requires a Microsoft LiveID and I had problems with mine

Reading my review from last year, everything I said then still applies. Unlike any other game I have played, this game merges a 6 character RPG with RTS game play and a strong story.  I loved Company of Heroes but this 4-squad type of RTS without base-building or minerals is the type of game I want more of. Lots more.

Over the past year, I lost my saved game so I was forced to start over completely. My first decisions were a) what Xbox Live account to use and b) what difficulty to play.

One of the good things about waiting this long is that the game platform has been patched and improved by both Relic and Microsoft.

As I wrote last year, this game requires a Games for Windows Live account to play. This was a problem for me last year year because the email and password for my Xbox Live account had expired and I was unable to sign in. Thankfully Microsoft updated their Xbox Live account system this summer and I was able to change my email and start using my original Xbox Live account again and add a few points and achievements.

Remembering that I had problems playing the game, for this play through, I chose the second difficulty level. I suspect I was on the third (of four) levels the first time but I dont remember. What I do know is that this time the game was a breeze to play though. Perhaps they adjusted the difficulty over the past year?

Just like my first impression of the game, this second and complete play through was a blast. Over two weeks I had a great time and continue to regard Relic as one of the best game companies out there. The game and their online component work flawlessly without a single crash or hiccup and the production values are top notch. It is clear they have continued to update and tweak it over the past year. For instance, I dont remember seeing that you can play this game co-operative when I got it. You can now.

While I was annoyed that the PC game required me to log into a Games for Windows account to play it, I was happy to see gameplay statistics in the game this time. I consider that a fair trade-off. The game now tells me how much time I have spent playing it. I love this kind of user metrics. It is a benefit to them and a benefit to customers like me. First off it told me that I had already played the game for about 80 hours and I finished it this time in about 40 hours. Tracking this number shows me that I really got my money's worth. I already had a good feeling about this one but the added data appeals to my rational-brain: DAW2 = good game investment.

This is possibly the first time I have ever done a complete play through of a game but I had so much fun with this one, I might even do it all over again. Maybe even give the multi-player a try as that seems equally deep and well crafted.

Xenos!