Dawn of War 4 continues an old and beloved strategy game series in the world of Warhammer 40,000. In a new trailer, the creators showcase gameplay, reaching hundreds of thousands in just a few hours. The trailer is received so well that fans only argue about minor details, but with passion.
What kind of game is this?
- The Dawn of War series is among the best strategy games on the market, and with Dawn of War 4 it finally gets a new installment after more than 8 years.
- Dawn of War 4 is classic real-time strategy: You build a base, train troops, and let them compete in a detailed single-player campaign or skirmishes against each other. Each of the 4 initially available factions comes with its own units and mechanics.
- The strategy game is set to be released in 2026. Behind Dawn of War 4 is the German developer studio King Art, which aims to recapture the style of the first installment. The latest trailer shows exactly that.
This is the new trailer: During the Tokyo Game Show 2025, a new gameplay trailer for Dawn of War 4 was released. The nearly 2 minutes are fully recorded in-engine, showing pure gameplay at times and cinematic close-ups at others.
Remarkably, all visible animations also occur in the game. In an interview with PC Gamer, the developers explain on YouTube: These “Sync Kills” are one of the focal points of development.
The original Dawn of War had contextual animations for combat, particularly in close combat. Almost every unit had a special kill animation for every other unit in the game, which created a much more intense gameplay experience. King Art aims to bring this feeling back with Dawn of War 4.
The trailer shows, for instance, how the Robo-Spiders and a “Killa Kan” of the Necrons dismantle one of the powerful Dreadnoughts of the Space Marines or how some fighters of the Adeptus Mechanicus – the first new faction in Dawn of War 4 – battle Orks with their swords.
“Is it just me, or does it look too clean?”
In less than a day, the trailer has gained over 350,000 views and over 28,000 upvotes. On Reddit, it is a major topic of conversation and receives heaps of praise, especially for the animations – with a few very minor criticisms.
Some users complain that the units move too uniformly. There is still room for improvement: especially Orks could appear a bit more chaotic due to their very wild nature, not so disciplined and uniform.
A significantly larger point that is repeatedly raised, however, is the sound design. It is very fitting for all factions, except for the Space Marines. The community feels that the super-soldiers sound too clean and honorable.
Space Marines are the absolute elite of the Imperium in Warhammer 40,000 and seemingly their honorable knights, but in Warhammer, no one is truly “good”. However, in the new Dawn of War, the Space Marines lack something they had previously, namely Vox noises:
I am not a fan of the Space Marine voice. I think they did not go with the Vox effect from the original so that the game wouldn’t have three factions full of crackling tin cans, but something is off about the way they made the Space Marines.
I think they are trying for an “overly noble knight voice,” but it lacks conviction and the rage of the Space Marines. Instead, it comes off as harsh and forced.
Shameless_Catslut on Reddit
Vox is somewhat like radio in Warhammer, just with a name adapted to the language and – due to the technology – with lower quality than what we are used to today. After all, technology is a tricky subject in Warhammer 40,000.
Some users explain: This is because these are Primaris Marines, the new and improved version of the Space Marines. They visually look less tough and dirty
than their predecessors and the voice-over might reflect that.
This topic keeps coming up, and many agree that the Space Marines would sound better and darker if the Vox effect were present. Ironically, the voice of the Space Marines already caused trouble in the remaster of the first part: Players complain so much about a missing shout in one of the best games of Warhammer 40,000 that the developers respond – “Be redeemed in the eyes of the Emperor”
