Okay… I have this game, and I have to say: meh.
Many of the changes actually work against the game’s enjoyment factor. For instance, DOW had a fun, engaging campaign that really put you in the army’s shoes. Winter Assault had a fractured, choppy campaign that forced you to switch races and was a real drag. Dark Crusade was, well… it was really more a sandbox game. There was nothing linking the battles together in a cohesive narrative, and most battles ended up feeling the same. But still, there was enough variation and special territories to capture that it felt as if something was happening, at least. Soulstorm turns the aimless factor and turns it up to 11, without adding anything that really motivates you, unfortunately.
To start with, most maps are rather generic, and most battles follow the same, exact, pattern. In addition, where DC had a wide open map where you could easily hop around, SS had silly ‘warp gates’, which are the only way to move from planet to planet. Until you take out the Dark Eldar HQ, movement is linear along the gates (eg. gate A only connects with gate B, and so on). So until you defeat the DE (or if you start as them), simply moving from planet to planet is a real drag. In addition, the only battles with any real flavor to them are the capture-the-HQ battles. But, in DC, I never saw a computer faction take over another faction’s HQ. Not so in SS! You can actually be cheated out of some of the only interesting battles by your own damn computer, as rival computer factions can indeed wipe each other out.
The way wargear is handled is also similar to previous titles. However, due to the size of the game in terms of provinces and enemy factions, and such, you’re likely to get a totally upgraded leader well before you finish off all of your enemies. Just a little bit more than half way in, actually, you should be fully upgraded. Which is just boring. After that point, all you have to work for is getting a few honor guard units which, let’s face it, aren’t really all that necessary.
Speaking of which, for some reason they decided to make honor guard vehicle units take up squad cap points, but not infantry units. This means that if you use HG vehicles, you can cut into your options by a significant amount. As already mentioned upthread, the air units really don’t add anything. Most of them aren’t even all that good at killing anything other than buildings, vehicles, or other air units. And, well… they don’t really ‘fly’ as much as they move fast and hover. Yeah, suspension of disbelief doesn’t have to be huge in a game like this, but when a fighter jet that isn’t VTOL capable zoom across the map and then just stops, it seems wrong.
The Sisters of Battle are an okay addition. They’re pretty much just Marines with some variation and fancy powers that use a renewable ‘faith’ resource. They’re fairly close to the table top game but, well… they’re also kinda boring. And no, no Inquisitors and no temple-based assassins, but you do get Death Cult assassins, which are boring, and suck. Penitent Engines feel like dreadnoughts. Exorcists feel like Whirlwinds. In fact… the whole set feels much like a reskinned SM faction with a few units that, sorta, stand out. I’m close to the end of the SoB campaign and, honestly, I’m not even sure if it’s worth my time to finish it. A few more hours in order to , what, ‘enjoy’ another poorly animated cutscene? Yeah, the graphics were kick ass when the first game came out in like, 1990.
I’m sure that there are another few gripes that I’m forgetting, as well. All in all, if you want a campaign based game, stick with the original DoW. If you want a sandbox game, DC is fun. This is just… a mess. Wait until it’s in the bargain bin or find one of them thar online trucks that it might fall off of.
The DE, which I haven’t played but have fought against, seem kinda blah as well. Maybe they add something different when you play through their eyes, but their trademark advantage from the tabletop (blinding speed) seems to be totally absent here. Skimmers which should be running rings around everything other than other Eldar just feel… slow.
And no, no damn Tyranids! Science has confirmed that Tyranids are awesome. But at this rate, I’m afraid what they’re going to do to them in the next game. Part of the fun of playing Tyranids on the tabletop is that they can be anything you want them to be (and neodium magnets are a godsend). Want a great shooty army that can cause problems even for power armored foes? Sure, you can do that. A solid monstrous creature army that can mow through infantry and tanks with ease? Yep, that too. A tide of small, expendable troops which can give even other horde armies like Orks a run for their money? Yep, got that. A swarm of flying creatures that can tie up your enemy’s firing lines and force them to make very hard choices, very soon? Mmm hmmm.
Add to that, of course, that even individual creatures can take multiple paths. The Hive Tryant, the Tyranids leader beast, can be kitted out as a sniper, close combat–character killer, flying close combat terror, etc…
Bah. Ahem.
In any case, this game is pure bargain bin material. If you didn’t prefer DC to the original DoW, you probably shouldn’t even waste the 10 bucks on this. If you liked DC, wait until this game is nearly free.
