Sisterhood of the Bone-crushing Hammer

The Sisters of Battle are the other new faction being added to the series. Essentially the Spanish Inquisition division of the Space Marines, the Sisters are a heavily mechanized faction that is destined to mow down the enemy when in large packs. Unfortunately very little has been revealed at this time about them but with the knowledge on hand that Iron Lore looks to be staying very close to the source material of the series one can discern many things about them.

The Sisters also have their own unique global power system, this one being called faith. Unlike the Dark Eldar however faith isn't procured by gathering it from the battlefield. Instead faith is a part of the resource distribution system and thus players must balance between it, unit proliferation and research work. Once a sufficient amount of faith is acquired players can activate a number of global powers, though these powers have yet to be revealed.

Something Old Something New

Like the other expansions in the Dawn of War series, Soulstorm looks to compliment the previous entries with several small but sweet additions. One of the most impressive new features are the aerial units for every single faction, a first for the series. Each faction will receive other new units as well, such as the Space Marines' new Tempest and the Tau's new Barracuda.

Another step in the right direction for the series is the change-up to the single player campaign format. Rather than sticking you to a single planet, players will now experience several different planets and will battle for supreme control of and entire solar system. Unfortunately where the single player advances, the multiplayer sticks to the rules of the pervious expansions. One of the more unfortunate limitations is that you can only play as one of the two new factions, the other seven are unavailable.

Not A Relic of the Past Just Yet

The Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War series has been going strong since 2004 and is really starting to show its age when compared to its contemporary peers. The good thing for gamers with aging systems, is that Soulstorm uses the same engine as it did three and a half years ago. Unfortunately it does so at the cost of looking pretty. That doesn't mean that wrinkles are all the game has to offer. The gameplay is still as solid as it was back then. Those who can't wait until March to get their hands on Soulstorm are in luck; Relic released a fresh demo to download for the game just last week. So if you are in the market for something new to play but can't handle many of the graphically intensive games on the market today, you know what to look for when the game is released a few weeks from now.