Almost ten years after the release of the last game in the Dawn of War series, KING Art Games is here to deliver a brand new entry with Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV. Returning to the classic gameplay of the legendary RTS series and expanding upon the well-loved Sync Kill System.
Dawn of War IV has four main factions for players to take control of, each of them branching out into their own separate campaign with a whole slew of missions to complete. Play as the Space Marines, Orks, Necrons, and the Adeptus Mechanicus in either single player or co-op and lead your faction to victory.
I got to play my way through one of the many missions available in Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV. Taking control of the Space Marines in a skirmish against the encroaching Ork army, I worked to clear out the Orks and take down their leader. The visual stylings of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV are incredibly detailed; even the smallest units on the field are still easily distinguishable and very high fidelity when the camera zooms in.
The Sync Kill system is pulling a lot of weight in making the game feel dynamic and incredibly visceral. Zooming in on units locked in melee combat and watching the way they fight, even executing bloody finishing moves, is incredibly satisfying and makes the game world feel much more alive. While the skirmish I played through was set in the brutal wastelands, the full game will offer a number of other biomes to control, including icelands, highlands, Hive City & Manufactorum regions.
Like most RTS games, Dawn of War IV focused on developing a base, gathering resources and then pushing forward into enemy territory with the goal of overtaking them. The Space Marines are smaller in numbers than the Ork army, but their units are far more powerful and grow stronger the longer they survive.
At first, I found the gameplay menus quite daunting. I have played a few RTS games before, but never any in the Dawn of War series, so I wasn’t quite sure where to start. Luckily, the game controls very intuitively and also has a set of recommendations that can be really helpful for newer players who don’t know the ins and outs of the Dawn of War series just yet. This meant that I was quickly about to get into the swing of things, pushing forward into enemy camps and erecting buildings as I went for a closer spawn location. I can tell there is still a lot more to learn in the mechanics of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV, but even still, I felt very satisfied with what I was able to accomplish in my time with the game.
While I was only able to play a single-player skirmish against AI, Dawn of War IV will also offer 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3 multiplayer. Along with the story campaigns, skirmishes and Last Stand mode, the ability to play with your friends in so many different ways means that there are so many options when it comes to picking a playstyle in Dawn of War IV. Players will also have the ability to customise their units using the painter tool, which I can only imagine myself getting stuck into for hours on end.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV builds on the traditional RTS mechanics established in the previous entries while upping the cinematic flair with full CGI intros and the updated Sync Kill system. Characters are well-detailed and animated, bringing both life and death to the battlefield. There’s a lot to love in this new entry, and hopefully, even more will be waiting in the full game.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV releases in 2026, on PC.
About the Author
Bree Maybe
she/they
Bree somehow managed to weasel her way into a game design degree, hasn't stopped playing Skyrim since it first came out and never shuts up about Nagito Komaeda.
