That said, Relic’s original and in-house match-maker “Relic Online” didn’t exactly set the bar high in terms of reliability or user-friendliness. This is the same system that, along with Rockstar’s Social Club, turned the experience of playing GTA4 on the PC from one of chaotic sandbox fun into something akin to filling out TPS reports, so it has a real uphill struggle to win us over. The Games for Windows LIVE matchmaking system needs some serious improvementsĪ thorn of contention though is bound to be the integration of Games for Windows LIVE in Dawn of War 2. This allows for the easy roll-out of any patches, as well as undoubtedly proving a rich mine for gameplay statistics – something that Valve has used in the past to greatly improve balance in Team Fortress 2. It's available right now for Dawn of War: Soul Storm owners, free to all from tomorrow, January 28th.

Getting up and RunningWhile past game beta tests (including Relic’s own Company of Heroes Balance beta, which has now been running for a ludicrous 9 months) have usually involved awkward beta clients and numerous incremental patches to keep the client software up to date, Relic has wisely chosen to release Dawn of War 2’s beta only via Steam.

What’s even better is that to help refine the netcode and tweak the dreaded balance issues inherent in any new RTS game (as well as hoping to get you hopelessly hooked of course) Relic is giving everyone the chance to try Dawn of War 2’s multiplayer in the now open beta!

Despite the fact that in singleplayer you’d only taken command of the same old Space Marines, Relic let you play as all four of the game’s races in skirmish and multiplayer, and that’s something that’s been carried over into Dawn of War 2. One of the regions in which Dawn of War was most praised though was its multiplayer and skirmish options, which added a huge amount of longevity to the game beyond the disappointingly brief singleplayer campaign. Over the last few years they’ve refined and polished Dawn of War’s gameplay style with the sublime Company of Heroes series, whilst also dipping a toe into the MMO pool with Company of Heroes Online, a unique hybrid of RTS and consistent RPG available only in Asia whose influence certainly seems to have permeated into Dawn of War 2 – but more on that later. Now, finally, it’s time for a proper full-blooded sequel, and unsurprisingly the guys and girls at Relic haven’t rested on their laurels.

Dawn of war 2