Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising Review

A worthy expansion that continues the Dawn of War story and introduces a fan favorite, the Chaos Marines.

It's over a year since Dawn of War II was released and made its mark with a new brand of action role-playing meets real time strategy. Though it featured the Space Marines, Orcs, Eldar and even Tyranids, it was missing an important race in the Warhammer world: the Chaos Marines. Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising is an expansion that introduces players to the world of the Chaos marines, some gameplay changes and a few new units.

The expansion features a new storyline and missions based on taking down the Chaos Marines before they execute their insanity-riddled plans. Your same old squad mates and pals are here from the main game, as well as a new squad leader, Jonah the Librarian, who has some very powerful psyker abilities that definitely force you to change your strategy if you deploy him on missions.

The biggest changes in the game are gameplay orientated and there are a lot. One of the main positives is the level cap of 20 has now been raised to 30. Although it doesn’t take long to reach the new cap (most players will reach the cap approximately half-way through the new campaign) it’s enough to make your squads a force to be reckoned with and gain enough points to unlock many more new abilities.