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Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution Game Cover
91%Game Brain Score
story, gameplay
stability, grinding
91% User Score Based on 7,098 reviews

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Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution Game Cover

About

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution is a single player and multiplayer tactical role playing game with fantasy, violence and science fiction themes. It was developed by Relic Entertainment and was released on February 28, 2011. It received very positive reviews from players.

Command any of the six unique factions in the next standalone expansion of the critically acclaimed Dawn of War real-time strategy franchise. Choose to build a massive army or lead a small squad of elite heroes into battle and experience a single player campaign customized to your favorite race. Go online and face off against your enemies and experience the fast brutal combat of the 41st millenniu…

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Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution screenshot
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution screenshot
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution screenshot
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution screenshot
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution screenshot
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution screenshot
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution screenshot
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution screenshot
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution screenshot
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91%
Audience ScoreBased on 7,098 reviews
story240 positive mentions
stability48 negative mentions
  • The game features a diverse and replayable campaign allowing players to experience the story from six different faction perspectives, including Space Marines, Orks, Eldar, Tyranids, Chaos, and Imperial Guard.
  • Last Stand mode is highly praised as an addictive and unique cooperative survival experience, offering enjoyable gameplay with friends or online, and is often cited as the main reason to play or buy the game.
  • The game combines tactical real-time strategy with RPG elements like hero progression, gear customization, and squad-based combat, providing a satisfying, fast-paced, and tactical gameplay experience that resonates with Warhammer 40K fans.
  • The single-player campaign is criticized for repetitiveness, as missions are largely identical across factions with only minor dialogue and unit changes, leading to diminished replay value.
  • Technical issues persist, including frequent crashes, an infamous sound bug causing audio loss and game crashes, and pathfinding problems that affect unit responsiveness and gameplay quality.
  • Multiplayer suffers from a small and sometimes toxic player base, high learning curve, balance issues, and limited map variety in Last Stand mode, making finding enjoyable and fair matches challenging.
  • story
    938 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story in Dawn of War II: Retribution offers a continuation of the Blood Ravens saga with multiple playable factions, but all share essentially the same campaign missions and linear plot, differentiated mainly by dialogue and minor faction-specific elements. While the narrative provides closure and some engaging character moments, it is often criticized for repetitive, recycled missions and a lack of meaningful variety or decision-making, leading to limited replay value and a diluted storytelling experience compared to earlier games in the series.

    • “The campaign is cool because you get to see the same story from different factions, which means everyone is both the hero and absolutely unhinged.”
    • “This shift transforms the campaign from a character-driven story into a more factional, multi-perspective conflict that captures the brutal and diverse nature of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.”
    • “Each faction has its own units, hero characters, and ability sets, and although the general mission structure remains the same across playthroughs, the dialogues, cutscenes, and gameplay styles are distinctly different.”
    • “The campaign also takes a steep dive in quality for me as each race goes through the same mission facing the same enemies, a decision either made from rushed development or lazy development considering the previous entries either were not so linear in its story; Dow 1 Dark Crusade and Soulstorm simply has each faction try and conquer the others, or did switch up the mission playstyle such as the differing paths of Dow 1 Winter Assault.”
    • “Since the story is barely different, that means the game did not utilize the factions to their fullest potential and you play the same missions vs the same enemies every single time regardless of who you play with.”
    • “Worst of all, although it advertises six campaigns, one for each race, all of the missions are identical between races.”
  • gameplay
    503 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of Dawn of War II: Retribution builds upon the squad-based, tactical formula of its predecessors with a strong emphasis on cover mechanics, micromanagement, and hero units, offering a fast-paced and engaging RTS experience with multiple distinct factions. While it forgoes traditional base-building and large-scale army management in favor of smaller, intense skirmishes and RPG elements, it is praised for its balance, faction diversity, and replayability despite some criticism for lack of innovation and campaign repetitiveness. Overall, it is considered a polished and satisfying tactical RTS that appeals especially to Warhammer 40K fans and strategy enthusiasts.

    • “Great gameplay, faction diversity, and balance.”
    • “While the single player campaign might have some familiar mission-design, the core gameplay is strong, compelling, and satisfying—especially for strategy fans and 40k enthusiasts alike.”
    • “Each faction has its own units, hero characters, and ability sets, and although the general mission structure remains the same across playthroughs, the dialogues, cutscenes, and gameplay styles are distinctly different.”
    • “The game simplified many mechanics that made the first Dawn of War so engaging, removed some key features, and overall lacks the depth and strategy of its predecessor.”
    • “The addition of the factions and way the mission structure works due to supporting those factions really watered down the story and overall gameplay.”
    • “Base and unit building has been pointlessly shoehorned back into the gameplay to its detriment, as has multiple playable races.”
  • graphics
    267 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of this game, while dated by today's standards, are widely praised for their atmospheric, detailed depiction of the Warhammer 40k universe and still hold up well years after release. Many reviewers highlight the strong art style, detailed units, and impressive visual effects that enhance the immersive experience, despite some issues with optimization and lack of modern graphical polish. Overall, the visuals remain a standout aspect that complements the gameplay and thematic setting effectively.

    • “The graphics and sound design are top-notch and truly enhance the overall experience.”
    • “The graphics still hold up and the art style stays true to the Warhammer saga.”
    • “Awesome graphics, animations, very well designed game modes.”
    • “While the graphics, particularly the environment details like grass and terrain, are still decent, almost everything else falls short.”
    • “The graphics look dated for today's standards and the game can't be windowed.”
    • “Waste of money, graphic settings don't change anything... going back to chaos expansion.”
  • replayability
    127 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers significant replayability primarily through its inclusion of six playable factions and varied playstyles, allowing players to experience the campaign from multiple perspectives. While the core missions often remain the same across factions, limiting narrative and mission variety, features like the "Last Stand" survival mode and multiplayer extend replay value considerably. Overall, replayability is strong due to the range of factions, difficulty levels, and game modes, though some find the campaign repetitive and less innovative compared to earlier series entries.

    • “For the first time, players can lead different races through the campaign, giving the game incredible replayability and a fresh perspective on every battle.”
    • “Retribution is hands down the best entry for Dawn of War 2 not only because it provides access to the most races and units per race, but also includes the addictive survival mode and the campaign allows one to play from the perspective of each race which adds great replayability and one can glean greater insight into the overall story at large.”
    • “The game's replayability is very high, coming with a whopping (by today's standards) 6 fully playable races, campaigns for each (all with a very well done RPG-style item and upgrade system), a polished multiplayer with several game modes and lots of maps, it actually takes strategy and thinking to be good at!”
    • “The replayability isn't that fantastic considering how the missions are nearly entirely the same, but the campaign is short so you can burn through a few points of view if you want to see the differences.”
    • “You're supposedly given the option of six different campaigns (each one following a different race) but upon playing them you soon realize that each campaign is literally identical to the others - same levels, same objectives, etc. It stinks of lazy development and kills nearly all replay value.”
    • “Although it gives you 7 different races, each with a unique story, the gameplay is not at all replayable, since all the races experience the exact same missions, and a rare amount of unique dialogue interactions, which was very disappointing.”
  • music
    58 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's music is widely praised for its epic, atmospheric orchestral score that fits perfectly with the setting and intense battles, often described as among the best in the series or RTS genre. However, some users find the soundtrack repetitive or generic, and there are sound design issues and bugs that cause audio glitches, including crashes where music plays while other sounds cut out. Overall, the soundtrack enhances immersion and mood but is occasionally marred by technical problems and mixed opinions on variety.

    • “The soundtrack continues the series’ tradition of blending orchestral themes with industrial grit, underscoring both the epic scale and personal desperation of the battles.”
    • “Relic Entertainment have outdone themselves, delivering an amazing soundtrack that complements the entire game, voice overs that further enhance the overall gameplay.”
    • “Music once more is epic and inspiring, fitting in perfectly to the setting like few game soundtracks do.”
    • “The music is very boring, repetitive, and I only ended up liking one piece of score really (and it plays on the night mission to Typhon against Eldar).”
    • “The sound design can use some work as it has issues at times where big explosions are too quiet to even hear and the music is too quick to change the pacing, intensity, and volume just by moving the screen a little bit away from the action which makes no sense.”
    • “There's a bug that has been around since as far back as the expansion's release, where it kills your sound except for the music and then crashes exactly 4-5 minutes later.”
  • stability
    51 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game suffers from frequent stability issues, including crashes, freezes on startup, and glitches that hamper both single-player and multiplayer experiences. Despite its enjoyable gameplay, these persistent bugs and unresponsiveness significantly detract from the overall experience, with some users unable to run the game on modern systems without issues.

    • “I can confirm Dawn of War II: Retribution still runs great on modern hardware.”
    • “Decent game, not bug free, however excellent game as it is.”
    • “From running compatibility changes in the properties and running as administrator to waiting 10 minutes to let the game run, to the small things like making sure everything was up to date, verifying game files, restarting, uninstalling, restarting and reinstalling, the game will not run on newer systems anymore. Even attempting to disable Steam input and overlay, the game no longer runs in any way. It doesn't even give a crash report; it just freezes up and never actually launches.”
    • “Constant freezes and crashes ruin this game.”
    • “In my case I couldn't even finish it once because of constant crashes and freezes (gave up after the 20th crash during final mission).”
  • humor
    47 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is widely praised for embracing the Warhammer 40K universe's over-the-top, grimdark tone, especially through the hilarious portrayal of orks and faction stereotypes. Many players find the ork campaign particularly funny, with witty voice lines and amusing character interactions, though some feel the writing can be inconsistent or lazy at times. Overall, the humor adds an enjoyable, lighthearted layer that enhances the game's charm and immersion.

    • “The writing, while not subtle, embraces the over-the-top grimdark tone of the Warhammer 40k universe, and is particularly enjoyable when it leans into faction stereotypes—the orks are hilariously dumb and violent, chaos is drenched in sinister zealotry, and the imperial guard offers a welcome glimpse into the human cost of the endless war.”
    • “Not only is it a good strategy/tactics game and a good 40k title, but the humor in the campaign is so brilliant that I'm laughing and crying at the same time; an inquisitor being willing to let the orks sack an entire imperial world for her plan, but she refuses to sacrifice her hat!”
    • “For example, if you play orks, and then order an attack on an eldar, they might say something like "eldar ar da squishiest.." capturing the humor and immersion of the Warhammer universe.”
    • “Terrible, terrible game, lazy dialogs, lazy missions, lack of seriousness, and not funny at all.”
  • grinding
    29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding in this game is frequently described as tedious and repetitive, especially in campaign missions and "Last Stand" mode, which some find fun but overly grind-heavy. While customization and faction variety add appeal, many players feel the need to grind for achievements or leveling results in monotonous gameplay that can diminish overall enjoyment.

    • “At this point I am grinding all my heroes for bragging rights mainly, but I know that far away the emperor approves of the slaughter of those wretched creatures of chaos and it makes it worth it.”
    • “As for me, however, it's just one more grindy multiplayer experience vying for my attention... and I have way too many of those as is.”
    • “Finally after half an hour of grinding away the other team rolls out a super weapon that your army has no counter to.”
  • atmosphere
    20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game excels in delivering a gritty, immersive Warhammer 40K atmosphere through solid art direction, faithful unit design, voice acting, and soundscapes that capture the franchise’s dark, tactical tone. The atmospheric visuals, intense combat, and engaging story campaigns create a compelling backdrop that deeply enhances the strategic gameplay and player connection to units. Overall, its mood, sound, and thematic fidelity make it one of the best ways to experience the brutal, bloodthirsty world of 40K.

    • “Combined with an incredibly faithful Warhammer 40k atmosphere—from unit design to voice work—the game nails the universe's gritty, tactical tone like few others.”
    • “The gameplay is fantastic, I love the brutal 40k atmosphere which brilliantly captures the bloodthirsty madness of war; it just sucked me right in from the first moment I ever laid eyes upon Dawn of War.”
    • “The voice acting and atmosphere of the game really hammers in the feeling of the Warhammer 40k franchise, and does the respective factions in the game a lot of justice.”
  • optimization
    17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization is generally strong, delivering smooth gameplay with high frame rates even at maximum settings, comparable to titles like Dota 2. While minor issues such as late-game performance dips, occasional crashes, resolution limits, and load times exist, they do not significantly impact overall playability, and the game runs well on modern hardware including Mac versions.

    • “The performance is noteworthy, and I give this game a big plus for having a benchmark mode.”
    • “Performance is very Dota 2-like for a game that normally has to move more units on the map than Dota 2: 170 fps average with all settings maxed, barely beats Dota 2 fps on my PC.”
    • “The graphics of this game are great and have very good performance; if rating a game by graphics, it would get a 10/10.”
    • “It can still have small performance issues around late game due to all the craters and terrain damage.”
    • “While playing with friends we have come across the following: resolution issues above 1920x1080, video memory errors, game crashing, connection issues, buggy AI, micro stuttering, etc.”
    • “Load times are awful and it crashes after every battle; however, the performance in gameplay and the gameplay itself make up for it.”
  • character development
    7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game is generally praised for its strong focus on unit abilities, squad and hero growth, and excellent character design with voice acting, enhancing the overall experience. However, some users note that the campaign's reduced length limits deeper character development compared to previous installments. The Chaos campaign is highlighted for its engaging dialogue and character depth, while other campaigns are seen as less inspiring in this regard.

    • “But this game is different from the first one in many ways; this one does not have base building like the first DoW games. However, character development of squads and heroes is improved, along with a new race, the Last Stand mode, and a decent story campaign. This game is epic and I would recommend it to any true DoW RTS fan.”
    • “The chaos campaign has delicious dialogue and character development.”
    • “The plot also suffers from the changes as with a reduced length there isn't time for nearly as much character development.”
    • “Dawn of War 2 is back with the 3rd installment playing as the Imperial Guard, Eldar, Tyranid, Orks, Chaos, and Space Marines through a short and rather bland and uninspiring campaign that lacks the depth and character development of Dawn of War 2 and Chaos Rising.”
    • “Less emphasis on structure building but a stronger focus on unit abilities and character development.”
  • monetization
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Users criticize the game's monetization for relying heavily on microtransactions and cash grab DLCs, which undermine the sense of genuine achievement from unlockables. They also find the advertising misleading, especially regarding in-game content and army size claims.

    • “Makes me wish Relic could go back to the good old days instead of pumping out another half-assed CoH with microtransactions.”
    • “I hate cash grab DLCs stealing the feeling of legitimate accomplishments given by worthwhile unlockables.”
    • “Their advertisement for the items was very misleading.”
  • emotional
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is tactically solid and content-rich but falls short emotionally, lacking the depth and continuity that made its predecessors impactful. It may benefit from some refinement to enhance its emotional resonance.

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120h Median play time
248h Average play time
30-400h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 18 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution is a tactical role playing game with fantasy, violence and science fiction themes.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution is available on PC, Mac OS, Windows and Linux.

On average players spend around 248 hours playing Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution was released on February 28, 2011.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution was developed by Relic Entertainment.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution has received very positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its stability.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, Warhammer® 40,000: Dawn of War® II Chaos Rising, Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War and others.