In the latest gameplay video for Dawn of War 4, Jan Theysen and Elliott Verbiest team up against AI-controlled Orks—and it doesn’t end well for them.
It seems the developers may have bitten off a little more than they could chew. In a new gameplay video for Dawn of War 4, Jan Theysen and Elliott Verbiest from King Art Games decided not to compete against each other for once, but instead to play a co-op match against AI opponents.
But since, as the game’s developers, they naturally assume they know the game inside and out, they didn’t just select a normal difficulty setting. Instead, they wanted to take on a tough AI right off the bat. After all, that difficulty level is meant for people who are a bit “more invested in the game”—which the Creative Director and Game Director most likely are themselves.
But that… didn’t work out. In just 17 minutes, the two developers were wiped out twice by the AI-controlled orcs.
How the Matches Went
These battles were not your typical multiplayer skirmishes. They weren’t necessarily just about victory points or wiping the enemy off the map. We played a so-called Maelstrom match. In this mode, objectives appear at regular intervals across the map and must be either destroyed or collected by the opposing teams.
Victory points are awarded for each completed objective until one side wins. In fact, the developers also note that the Orks are actually somewhat better suited for this type of game than the Space Marines, which the developers were using. This is because Orks are a horde faction and churn out many more units much faster than the somewhat sluggish Space Marines.
Nevertheless, the two were still surprised by just how overwhelmingly superior the Orks were to them. The very first round ended after just 4 minutes. The Orks had simply completed far more objectives than the Space Marines.
In the second round, the developers managed to hold out a bit longer. However, they eventually had to throw in the towel here as well. In this case, it was less due to the objectives and morebecause the Orks were so overwhelmingly superior militarily that resistance seemed pointless.
What does this mean for the game?
The video clearly shows that the AI in Dawn of War 4 is no joke! If even the developers are struggling so much, it’s sure to offer a really tough challenge. However, it should also be clear that this is by no means the final version. The game was recently delayed from September to December 3—so the team is still fine-tuning it, and obviously working on the game balance as well.
Studio head Jan Theysen also remarks during the video: “I need to have a serious talk with the coders.” Of course, that’s meant more as a joke, but it’s still possible that the difficulty level will be tweaked a bit.
However, the two in the video were, of course, also busy providing explanations on the side. And you shouldn’t underestimate how difficult it can sometimes be to play while having to entertain viewers the whole time.
