So langsam tauchen die ersten Testberichte für DOW2 auf, daher soll der Thread hier genutzt werden diese zu posten und zu besprechen.
PC Gamer UK: 82%
Info (Quelle
PCG has been hyping this game for months. Its had two front covers. 82% for a game like that = major disappointment in their eyes, I'll speculate
I also have the review, so will post a few choice elements. The pro's and con's sections are organized into what the game is, and what the game isnt. These read as follows
IT'S
-Fast
-Gorgeous
-Repetitive
IT'S NOT
-Short
-Epic
-Dawn of War
Some quotes
"This is what happens when strategy game developers play too much WoW while they're working on the sequel"
"there's an urgent need for swift micro management which means this certainly isnt the dumbing down some will inevitably call it.... select all>Right click is never viable, and that's DoW II's biggest change and greatest strength"
"It's an enourmous campaign... but there arent 50 missions. In fact, there are only about ten, of 15 minutes each. It's just that two of those - kill the boss and defend the shrine - are repeated to the point of insanity. To the point where you start to wonder if you did something wrong in a previous life"
"MP is different. Suddenly bases are back. Suddenly resources are back. Suddenly the four unit limit is gone, the simplicity is gone. Weirdly, the only two modes of play are one on one and three on three. About the only simple thing about it is that there are only five maps"
"no single part of this is better than the original game. Relic started with a classic game and have made merely a great one out of it"
82% might sound like a good score, the but the tone of the review is relentlessly downbeat. I have obviously cherrypicked the above quotes, but I feel I've given a fair representation of the overall article.
The sad thing is that I actually trust Tom Francis' opinion. He's a decent writer who knows strategy games well. If he says its not a classic, it probably isnt sadly.
I'll provide a couple of MP quotes
"It is, for your first few games, utter chaos.... And before you know what you're doing, it's over - matches only last about 15 minutes. Relic said they wanted to make MP DoW more accessible, I have no idea how this was supposed to relate to that"
"It's wholly enjoyable madness though. Here you get to amass proper armies and play as the ravenously anticipated tyranids. They're a truly horrible bunch... Their mechanics are obtuse and fascinating, which only makes me more desperate for a Tyranid campaign, one where individual units mean something"
"There's definately virtue to a multiplayer strategy game that's over in a coffee break, but it doesn't mix well with the enormous complexity here. Even when I'd learned to play effectively, I never felt like I had a good overview of what was going on.... The match can turn around in a minute without you knowing why. Neither victory nor defeat feels entirely yours"
To be fair, much of the above could be down to the reviewer being a noob. It was bloody ages before I got the hang of DoW MP.
I don't really care about the score TBH. It's more the commentary that has me concerned. This guy was a DoW 1 nut as well, so he's not sitting in a wholly disimilar chair to us.
PC Gamer Sweden: 90%
Info (Quelle
We did a review event in Germany the day before the community event at which we let media play the game to write Exclusive Reviews from.
Media were then given code to carry on playing back at the office.
These were exclusive reviews so its only one mag per country. Swedish PC Gamer where there i looked after the guys personally.
Really nice guys and a great read if you can get it translated.
The magazine in question has given me permission to post the cover and some quotes from the review.
“A fantastic mix and one of the best strategy games in a long time.”
“… superb strategy”
“In short, Games Workshops dystopian, futuristic vision has never looked this good in game form.”
So wie es aussieht wird es tatsächlich (vorerst) nur 5 MP Maps geben
Der Kommentar zu den sich regelmässig wiederholenden 0815 Missionen in der Kampagne lässt schlechte Erinnerungen an DC und SS hochkommen. Gerade auf die neue Kampagne hatte ich mich so gefreut. Die RPG-Sammelsucht nach Items kann da vielleicht helfen, bei Diablo hat das sich alle 5 Sekunden wiederholende Gameplay auch niemanden davon abgehalten Ewigkeiten zu zocken 
Hoffentlich steht der Coop-Modus noch...
Vielleicht können die "Wissenden" (Eugen?), jetzt wo die ersten Infos veröffentlicht werden auch mehr dazu sagen und ein paar der Befürchtungen, die scheinbar durch die Testberichte bestätigt werden, verwerfen.
Anmerkungen:
Da sich die Ansichten und Geschmäcker der verschiedenen Tester/Spieler verständlicherweise stark unterscheiden, wäre es gut wenn hauptsächlich über 'Fakten' disskutiert wird und man sich vom Spielgefühl dann in der Demo bzw. Beta selbst ein Bild macht.
EDIT: weitere Kommentare ergänzt
Oder gibt es für das Fehlen des 2on2 Modes eine sinnvolle Erklärung?
Hoffe da werden mit der Zeit noch welche nachgeliefert.