Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II Exclusive Impressions - The Tyranids Attack

Real-time strategy games are growing, changing, and evolving past the stodgy model of gathering resources, sending peons to build buildings, and churning out an army of little toy soldiers. Vancouver-based Relic Entertainment has, for some years, been at the forefront of helping them evolve into faster paced, action-packed games that let you hit the ground running, with such games as 2004's Warhammer 40,000 - Dawn of War and 2006's Company of Heroes. Now the team is getting ready for its next step--a sequel with a totally new single-player campaign structure, intense close-quarters combat, and revealed for the first time today--the deadliest threat in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, the tyranids.

For those who are unfamiliar, the tyranids are a mysterious race of aliens that seem to have no purpose other than extinguishing all other life in the universe. These powerful aliens come in many shapes and sizes, from smaller larval forms that attack in waves to larger, more devious forms that can blast you with toxins from a distance or ambush you by burrowing into the ground. They will apparently make their first appearance about a third of the way through the single-player game. According to Relic designer Jonny Ebbert, the Essence engine that powers the game has evolved the technology used in Company of Heroes--a game known for excellent squad-based artificial intelligence that made your units intelligently seek cover and fight as a group--and is now being used to power the "hive mind" behaviors of the tyranids.

Packs of smaller tyranid units may descend upon you like a swarm of insects, while more developed patrols may be led by a psychically powerful tyrant unit that connects weaker units to the larger "synapse" intelligence. Both types of behavior unfold as described, and along with spore mines--essentially, living, floating bombs that explode on contact with a concussive blast--they make for an enemy that can be both slow and menacing but startlingly fast.

The demonstration we watched took place in one of the single-player game's levels in a new environment we hadn't yet seen: the swamp environment. It is characterized by swaying trees, layered shadows, and swirling mist that show off the engine's enhanced dynamic lighting features. However, territories that are under siege by tyranids will show telltale signs of "tyranoforming." According to Warhammer 40,000 lore, the aliens have a tendency to infest any new ecosystems they encounter by releasing toxic spores into the atmosphere, eventually corrupting all the local wildlife and plant life. At the first stages of infestation, you may encounter a handful of floating spore mines; at later stages, you'll find giant, toothed tendrils jutting out of the ground alongside spore launchers that pop out spore mines like cannonballs; and finally, in the deepest stages of infestation, you'll find brood nests where the ground itself has become a pulsating, organic source of a seemingly endless swarm of tyranids.

In the mission, we watched a small squad of brave Space Marines deploy planetside in search of a toxin cure for an officer who had fallen victim to a grave wound inflicted by the aliens. Like in other missions, the planet housed what Relic refers to as "stratagems"--stationary points of interest that, when captured, will let you reinforce your regiments to replace any fallen soldiers. In this case, there were not only optional stratagems that could be captured to provide persistent bonuses, but a special, story-based stratagem--a noxious toxin pool from which we were able to take a sample to not only cure our fallen officer but also use for later research to grant slight weapon bonuses against tyranid foes.

Throughout the mission, we made our way through the swamp in search of the toxin pool, first being swarmed by gaunts, lower-level tyranid units that possess an ability that completely changes the Dawn of War series' ground-and-pound gameplay--they can leap over cover. Because the tyranids have spore mines that will blast any nearby units clean off their feet, you'll already need to vary your marching orders and keep squadrons marching in loose formation. But because several tyranid units, such as the gaunts, possess powerful mobility advantages, you'll be better served leapfrogging squadron after squadron to make sure your gunners don't suddenly become surrounded and routed behind cover by a horde of bounding beasties. Higher level tyranids will possess other devious abilities, such as quickly traveling across the screen by burrowing underground, as we've mentioned, along with commanding low-level units by connecting to the higher "synapse" intelligence, which is represented onscreen by a faint green glow emitted by the controlling tyrant unit and reflected on the bodies of its tyranid underlings. In these cases, a smart commander may be able to single out the tyrant and eliminate it, such as with the scout squadron's sniper ability, leaving the remaining aliens in a state of panic and confusion. During such a state, they may either flee or attack each other and become easy prey for an orbital strike or a well-placed grenade blast.

After securing the toxin from the toxin pool, our squadrons accepted the new mission of seeking out and destroying five tyranid breeding areas deep within the most infested part of the jungle. After hacking away at the brood nests, as well as finally destroying the fifth and final one, we were attacked by the hive tyrant, a massive, slithering tyranid creature that decimated our forces until our last reinforcement arrived. This was the fallen Space Marine captain, whose body and mind, now partially rehabilitated by way of the toxin sample we had recovered, had been transferred into the shell of the towering Space Marine dreadnaught, the high-level mech walker unit. With the help of the overpowering melee strength of our dreadnaught, we were able to barely win the day. This final reinforcement will act as a story-based element, and according to Ebbert, story-driven events will be scattered throughout the game. And because you can approach your mission to rescue the galaxy from the tyranid invasion in almost any order you want, you may encounter these events early in the game, later, or towards the end, depending on which paths you choose.

Now that the alien is out of the bag, we can't wait to see more of the role of the tyranids in Dawn of War II. The new faction's exceptional mobility make the sequel's already-intriguing environmental gameplay much deeper, and seeing one of the most terrifying enemies of the Space Marines finally take center stage in a modern Warhammer 40,000 game should be a thrill for any fan of the original source material. Dawn of War II has already promised to deliver a unique, role-playing-game-like single-player campaign, plus a host of new gameplay options built around cover mechanics and destructible terrain. And this time around, the tyranids will join the fray. The sequel is scheduled for release in early 2009; stay tuned to GameSpot for more updates.