Dawn of War Definitive Edition – a remaster that plays it safe

There are games that live in our heads rent-free, even years after their release. Dawn of War is one of them. Back in 2004, Relic Entertainment showed us that a real-time strategy could be brutal, fast, and dripping with Warhammer 40K’s gothic flavor. Now, in 2025, we get the so-called Definitive Edition. The name suggests finality, the ultimate version. But is it really?

First, the good news: the core of the game still shines. The chaos of battle, the thundering charge of Orks, the disciplined volleys of the Imperial Guard – it all works. I lost hours replaying the campaigns, and it felt good to have all expansions – Winter Assault, Dark Crusade, and Soulstorm – neatly bundled in one package. That’s four full campaigns and a mountain of skirmish maps, plus nine playable factions. Honestly, that alone gives you dozens of hours of gameplay, and for the asking price, it’s not bad at all.

The improvements? They exist, but don’t expect miracles. Units animate a little smoother, textures are sharper, and yes, you can run the game at 4K without mods. I enjoyed being able to zoom out further, making battles easier to follow. It looks like the game I remember, which is both a compliment and a criticism.

Now the bad.

Let’s start with the controls. It’s 2025, and I still can’t rebind keys. Want to move the camera with WASD? Forget it. You’re stuck with arrow keys. Rotating the camera requires pressing ALT. ALT! This might have made sense twenty years ago, but today it feels like a relic (pun intended). RTS games live and die on comfort and fluidity, and this remaster ignores modern standards.

Then there’s the AI. Your units are as stubborn as ever. I had squads get stuck on terrain, tanks blocking each other, and transports refusing to unload troops. Once, I lost a squad not because of enemy fire, but because they got wedged between buildings and couldn’t path out. It’s frustrating, and while part of me laughed at the “classic jank,” another part was asking: why didn’t they fix this?

Bugs still show up too. In my first few hours, the game crashed to desktop twice. It’s improved with patches, but you can’t shake the feeling that this release was rushed out the door. Even smaller annoyances – like poor alt-tab support – remind you this isn’t as polished as it should be.

And yet… I kept playing.

Nostalgia is a strong drug, but it’s not just that. There’s something refreshing about the way Dawn of War approaches RTS. You don’t just spam units – you manage squads, reinforce them mid-battle, and capture points to keep resources flowing. This was revolutionary in 2004, and it still feels engaging today. When I pushed my Eldar through a fortified Chaos base, micromanaging squads and pulling off a razor-thin victory, I felt the same rush I did two decades ago.

Compared to newer RTS like Company of Heroes 3 or Tempest Rising, Dawn of War feels less modern but more… honest. It doesn’t overwhelm you with layers of mechanics. It’s straightforward: build, expand, fight, repeat. Sometimes that’s exactly what you want.

So, would I recommend it?

If you’re new to RTS games, maybe not. The archaic controls, clunky AI, and lack of quality-of-life features will probably drive you mad. But if you grew up on this series – or if you’re willing to accept its quirks, there’s a lot of fun here. Think of it as comfort food: not perfect, not refined, but satisfying in its own messy way.

The best nugget of advice I can give? Don’t expect a full remake. Expect a cleaned-up version of the game you loved (or missed) twenty years ago. Add mods if you want more, and enjoy it for what it is.

Personally, I’ll keep playing. Not because it’s flawless, but because it scratches an itch few modern games do. Sitting there at 2 AM, cheap cola at my side, leading my Sisters of Battle into yet another hopeless fight – it felt like being 15 again. And honestly? That’s worth the price of admission.

Verdict: 7/10.