I got beef with DoW2: Retribution

[Dirty Apple]

I know it's been out for awhile, but I bought it on sale last summer and am just getting around to playing it now. Let me first say that I really got into Dow2 vanilla and Chaos Rising. I appreciate the real-time tactical approach and was pretty excited to finish out the series.

Man o' man, am I ever disappointed with Retribution so far. I've read that lots of people enjoy the new direction it took, but I was really looking forward importing my existing game and carrying on the battle. It really burns my bum cheeks that everything I've done until now is completely bunk. I'm giving serious thought to just dumping the whole series off my pc and moving onto something else.

Has anyone else had similar feelings about the shift in mechanics and storyline? Or, am I alone in resentment?

 

[Nouw]

Funny you mention Dawn of War 2, because many players of the original Dawn of War felt the way you do when we saw what Dawn of War 2 had become. I'm not knocking it, change is better than stagnation but I just couldn't get into it.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

The campaign I agree was a letdown in terms of versatility. While Dawn of War 2 recycled the same maps over and over and over, there were enough missions and timed objectives to keep things interesting and let you experiment with new tactics. That was something sorely lacking from Retribution's campaign, and there were also some genuinely broken builds. (See: Invulnerable Imperial Guard army with rapid fire stunning Meltaguns.)

HOWEVER, the game makes up its value with the ever excellent Multiplayer (especially with Elite Mod) and The Last Stand.

Chaos Rising had far and away the best DOW2 campaign, both in terms of storytelling and in variety. The battle to rescue Martellus is one of my favorite missions in any RTS.

CAPTCHA: Shoulder of Orion.

That's the second time in two days Captcha has thrown that phrase at me. I think it wants me to watch Blade Runner.

 

[Windcaler]

Actually now that you mention it Ive never played the single player of retribution. I remember vanilla fondly and then I remember chaos rising 2 and 3 shotting my teams with normal attacks, so not so fondly there. I got Retribution because I like the multiplayer and always have, its focus on squads and map control just make it a more enjoyable RTS for me then any other game. Yet Ive just never thought to play the single player

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Actually now that you mention it Ive never played the single player of retribution. I remember vanilla fondly and then I remember chaos rising 2 and 3 shotting my teams with normal attacks, so not so fondly there. I got Retribution because I like the multiplayer and always have, its focus on squads and map control just make it a more enjoyable RTS for me then any other game. Yet Ive just never thought to play the single player

Play Imperial Guard and Ork campaigns. Seriously, one is full of manly men and dangerous women, and the other has Pirate Orks.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

Wait a minute? Did Retribution have a single player mode? I've played it for almost 250 hours and I think that maybe 10 of those were spent on getting through the Space Marine campaign, just so that I could say I've completed the campaign. The rest of my time was spent in Multiplayer.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well I knew the story doesn't continue before I bought it so that really wasn't a deal breaker, I was far more disappointed how fucking cheap the whole thing was.

All the campaigns were just one campaign asset swapped for other races, I have never even seen such lazy effort, on top of that it was really short, story was meaningless on all sides, and the really simplistic RPG elements from the original went 10x simpler... I'm guessing they had some intern team squeeze this shit out on the double.

 

[Madkipz]

I know it's been out for awhile, but I bought it on sale last summer and am just getting around to playing it now. Let me first say that I really got into Dow2 vanilla and Chaos Rising. I appreciate the real-time tactical approach and was pretty excited to finish out the series.

Man o' man, am I ever disappointed with Retribution so far. I've read that lots of people enjoy the new direction it took, but I was really looking forward importing my existing game and carrying on the battle. It really burns my bum cheeks that everything I've done until now is completely bunk. I'm giving serious thought to just dumping the whole series off my pc and moving onto something else.

Has anyone else had similar feelings about the shift in mechanics and storyline? Or, am I alone in resentment?

New direction? Seemed like the same old with cover shooting, squad based play, and recycled maps. I`M happy that THQ removed games for windows live, and I hear the elite mod is pretty good. Then again I played Eldar, and still do, so haven`t noticed much of anything in therms of new directions. Mind elaborating? XD

 

[spartandude]

I know it's been out for awhile, but I bought it on sale last summer and am just getting around to playing it now. Let me first say that I really got into Dow2 vanilla and Chaos Rising. I appreciate the real-time tactical approach and was pretty excited to finish out the series.

Man o' man, am I ever disappointed with Retribution so far. I've read that lots of people enjoy the new direction it took, but I was really looking forward importing my existing game and carrying on the battle. It really burns my bum cheeks that everything I've done until now is completely bunk. I'm giving serious thought to just dumping the whole series off my pc and moving onto something else.

Has anyone else had similar feelings about the shift in mechanics and storyline? Or, am I alone in resentment?

New direction? Seemed like the same old with cover shooting, squad based play, and recycled maps. I`M happy that THQ removed games for windows live, and I hear the elite mod is pretty good. Then again I played Eldar, and still do, so haven`t noticed much of anything in therms of new directions. Mind elaborating? XD

he means in terms of the campaign and story, in vinilla and Chaos Rising it has character progression and such but not so much in Retribution (well it does but it doesnt carry on from the first 2)

i was also dissapointed by this but then i remembered the campaign has PIRATE ORKS! so all is forgiven

 

[Your Gaffer]

I know it's been out for awhile, but I bought it on sale last summer and am just getting around to playing it now. Let me first say that I really got into Dow2 vanilla and Chaos Rising. I appreciate the real-time tactical approach and was pretty excited to finish out the series.

Man o' man, am I ever disappointed with Retribution so far. I've read that lots of people enjoy the new direction it took, but I was really looking forward importing my existing game and carrying on the battle. It really burns my bum cheeks that everything I've done until now is completely bunk. I'm giving serious thought to just dumping the whole series off my pc and moving onto something else.

Has anyone else had similar feelings about the shift in mechanics and storyline? Or, am I alone in resentment?

Is retribution a bit disappointing? Yes, I think so for anyone who was a fan of the single player campaign.

That being said THQ and Runic are in trouble and just didn't have the budget or time to really put out the game they may have wanted to. All series have weaker entries and I would cut Runic a little slack.

What does NOT make sense to me is not playing the other great games b/c this one isn't as good. DoW 2 is my favorite RTS of all time. Just b/c I wasn't a huge fan of Retribution doesn't mean I will stop myself from enjoying DoW 2.

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

Yeah, compared to the 2 previous games Retribution was a massive let down. I know that providing single player campaigns to the same standard as the others would have taken a huge effort, but really this just felt like a bit of DLC for multiplayer with a watered down campaign mode tacked on to justify the price.

 

[teebeeohh]

does vanilla have pirate orcs?
does chaos rising have pirate orcs?
no?
so your argument is invalid

 

[spartandude]

does vanilla have pirate orcs?
does chaos rising have pirate orcs?
no?
so your argument is invalid

^^

this man's logic is something i can truley understand

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Actually now that you mention it Ive never played the single player of retribution. I remember vanilla fondly and then I remember chaos rising 2 and 3 shotting my teams with normal attacks, so not so fondly there. I got Retribution because I like the multiplayer and always have, its focus on squads and map control just make it a more enjoyable RTS for me then any other game. Yet Ive just never thought to play the single player

Play Imperial Guard and Ork campaigns. Seriously, one is full of manly men and dangerous women, and the other has Pirate Orks.

I have to agree with you on this, both Lord Genreal Castor and the antics of Kaptin Bluddflagg, Nailbrain, and Kommando Spookums more than made up for issues I had with the singleplayer.

 

[TimeLord]

Well apart from anything else DoW > DoW2

In addition I only played Retribution as the Space Marine campaign and my oh my is Captain Diomedes a boring guy. Vanilla and Chaos Rising were so much more interesting story wise and Retribution's gameplay focused less on the individual characters and more on a small army theme. Still not as good as the original DoW though. Although the ending of Retribution was good.

Spoiler: Retribution Space Marine ending spoilers

Gabriel Angelos, after being brought back to life and rebuilt with bionics, is appointed as the new Chapter Master.

I do love my base building and charging forward with hundreds of Marines with Heavy Bolters led by a screaming Force Commander!

 

[Dirty Apple]

Funny you mention Dawn of War 2, because many players of the original Dawn of War felt the way you do when we saw what Dawn of War 2 had become. I'm not knocking it, change is better than stagnation but I just couldn't get into it.

No, I hear you. I played the snot out of the first Dawn of War. It's resource gathering system was very similar, in concept, to my other all time favorite, Total Annihilation. I guess I've always seen DoW2 more as companion piece rather than sequel. A case of a beautiful RTT following a beautiful RTS.

[...] the ever excelent Multiplayer [...]

I like the multiplayer and always have [...]

The rest of my time was spent in Multiplayer.

I played quite a few hours of Last Stand and thought it was fun for awhile. As to the head to head play, I've always found it way too competitive. I usually just get steam rolled and then laughed at. So, while I appreciate your sentiment, multiplayer wasn't the cup of tea I was looking for.

 

[Hawk of Battle]

Man, now I really want to play Dark Crusade again. I'm thinking Ork campaign.

Who's with me?

Captcha; Nut case. True captcha, those Orks really are nutters!

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Funny you mention Dawn of War 2, because many players of the original Dawn of War felt the way you do when we saw what Dawn of War 2 had become. I'm not knocking it, change is better than stagnation but I just couldn't get into it.

No, I hear you. I played the snot out of the first Dawn of War. It's resource gathering system was very similar, in concept, to my other all time favorite, Total Annihilation. I guess I've always seen DoW2 more as companion piece rather than sequel. A case of a beautiful RTT following a beautiful RTS.

[...] the ever excelent Multiplayer [...]

I like the multiplayer and always have [...]

The rest of my time was spent in Multiplayer.

I played quite a few hours of Last Stand and thought it was fun for awhile. As to the head to head play, I've always found it way too competitive. I usually just get steam rolled and then laughed at. So, while I appreciate your sentiment, multiplayer wasn't the cup of tea I was looking for.

If you want to get some good DOW2 action, try out DOW2 Elite for Retribution. The biggest thing I noticed was the change in atmosphere. No longer am I having teams of level 3 Space Marines taking on a stacked team of level 60s trying to bully their way to a victory. You actually have to interact with the other players, set up matches, and the community helps organize games to play at your particular skill level.

Here's a replay of an ELITE game, to give you a taste.