Dawn of War: Soulstorm Demo

The Warhammer universe is about as big and complex as it can get without actually being based on real facts, since it started growing a few decades ago and it hasn't stopped yet. Thus, there are many factions, heroes and legends that are part of the lore, all of which have many pages of detailed information about them for the dedicated fans to study.

Dawn of War: Soulstorm is the third expansion pack in the Dawn of War franchise and it basically puts an end to it all, given the fact that the developers moved on to the sequels since then. However, this last standalone expansion encompassed all the work that went into the original release, which means that the gameplay mechanics and the balancing between factions is as good as it can get, although there's always room for better in these departments.

Just like in the previous episode, Dark Crusade, Soulstorm provides a pretty lengthy campaign, which features a large world map populated by all of the nine races now available. Your purpose is to defeat them all and crown yourself the ruler, since that is basically how things function in the Warhammer universe. One major difference between this release and the previous one is the fact that the world map now encompasses multiple planets, rather than just one, which significantly increases the amount of options put at your disposal.

As it is customary, new blood joins the ranks of war, which means that there are two new factions you can try out for yourself and try to master: Dark Eldar and the Sisters of Battle. While the first are basically a corrupted and evil variant on the classic Eldar, the Sisters of Battle are a race of female-only warriors bent on destruction and god worship. Hence, they should fit right in with the rest of the crowd, especially since they have a few interesting tools that can be used in battle.

Gameplay-wise, there aren't too many game-changing additions, although air units have been introduced with this release. They are not insanely powerful, but they can be a bother if you cannot counter them properly. The other modifications can be observed in the campaign mode, since they affect the way you are able to customize your special units and various insignia, items and banners used on the battlefield.

In the end, Dawn of War: Soulstorm may represent the final episode in the original series, but that doesn't mean it is dead or going anywhere anytime soon. Moreover, due to the fact that the sequel kind of dropped the base-building mechanics and emphasized on very different gameplay style, the first Dawn of War release is still as good as it ever was and it certainly is the best representation of the Warhammer universe to date.