Dawn of War: Professional (DoWPro) is a gameplay and balance mod for Dawn of War, which strives to bring new depth to the multiplayer experience, particulary into Player versus Player (or PVP for short).
Dawn of War: Professional is a modification intended for the latest installment in the Dawn of War 1 series, Dawn of War: Soulstorm (as well as the latest patch(es)). This mod features every race offered throughout the retail series (nine races in total) as well as including a few extra units generously provided by the modding community (third-party).
DoW:Pro is one of the great modifications I have ever had the pleasure of trying. Dawn of War: Professional's Gameplay is refurnished to represent a hybrid experience of Warhammer: 40,000 (Vanilla) and Soulstorm, but this is only to say the least for this mod. Metaphysical developements, intentional multi-tier counter systems, and novel reconsiderations of the races' and heroes' individualisation - such as new Gameplay mechanics to suit a narrative closer resembling that which was (ambiguously) idealised within GamesWorkshop literature, and wargear integrated into the counter system for a greater tactical experience, without becoming superfluous - are all minor additions realised in the DoW:Pro package.
The balance between races and maps is simply astonishing. Although the game seems to be catering to 1-on-1 and, perhaps, 2-on-2 player games, every match-up imaginable seems to have been tested in a multitude of ways in order to attain the greatest equality between strategies of intentionally-equivalent effectiveness and improvisations - available to the fast-thinker.
For those not looking for such a competitive experience, the AI found in Dawn of War: Professional is unmatched in tactical depth, has a set of difficulty-variations for both casuals and hardened-vets, and offers a 'personality' settings tab.
Lastly, the mod also includes many cosmetic changes that only rekindle the experience for those all too-familiar with the Dawn of War 1 textures. Provided by numerous community mods, DoW:Pro is packed with new variations to the grunts of every race, as well as a few extra units for added depth.
Easily a 10/10.
Sakura's DoW Pro review updated! Now With Witch Hunters!
As I have stated before with my old Review, DoW Pro is perhaps one fo the greatest mods ever made and one that I play quite often.
So here is my Mega Cute Breakdown!
Balance 10/10. Dow Pro's Balance is amazing, the Factions feel like how DoW should be. No Op Units, no stupid WMDs, Just a nitty Griity Battle in the Grim Darkness of the Future. Not much else I can say really it just has been Masterfully Perfected.
Content,((New units, abilities, Buildings Maps ETC))8/10 Although it doesn't bring much in the way of anything new this is not the point of DoW Pro. DoW pro is meant to Bring Balance,give experienced players some replayability , and to perfect vanilla Gameplay, not overload the game with a bunch of new units that would likely be OP or Pointless anyway. DoW pro does add a few but not much. And the ones that are added are implemented with Great perfection.
Modeling, Effects, Art, ETC. 10/10. Achived with great perfection. Light Bloom is very realistic so are weapon's effects, Shadowing and Colors mend with the models as well, As of the latest Update gone are the Ugly SS SoB Models replaced with the amazing Witch Hunters. other races also have great Resolution updates on their models as well as textures.
AI. 9/10 One of the most important things of any mod for Sakura is a good Challenging AI. DoW Does not disappoint, Although not perfect it is better then most Mods as the Units now Dance Correctly, as well as even Follow better pathing routes and Counter attack. I am quite pleased with it overall!
Bugs, Glitches etc. 10/10 Besides a few Minor texture bugs, or pathing issues that I see once in a great while, this mod seems to have been play tested quite Throughly and Nothing game breaking or annoying is to be seen!
Support.9/10 This mod seems to be updated regularly and the team does post screenshots of it. Although there seems a chance the mod is finally completed.
Give this mod a try! Really!<3
This mod is one of the highest ranking name brands. Good job!
Strategically delicious, intellectually challenging and massively entertaining. This mod is EXACTLY what I've been looking for in a Dawn of War game, a must have for any decent Warhammer 40k fan :D
Good job on this mod! Very, very easy to get a hang of and install. This mod comes close to bumping heads with a 8 and 9, but I feel it is a 9. Here is why:
Storyline/plot/campaign: N/A (?)
+2 points easy install
+1 point bonus content you get from install
Gameplay/Immersion: 5/10
Replayability: 5/10
Learning Curve: 10/10
Balance: 10/10
AI: 9/10
Functionality: 10/10
Art/Aesthetics/Content: 8/10
Finalized touches: 8/10
Sounds: 10/10
Worth the download? 7.5/10
Like I mentioned, the mod is very easy to install and very easy to get used to. The developers did that toooooo well... + screen modifying.
The mod looks polished. The mod is balanced! The mod's ai is kicking butt and the strategies involved is FAIR.
However the level of content and gameplay is not that good, I thought. Necrons for example... what is this thing you have to place to get the power resource? Scarabs knocked around... units losing sight vision in snow maps and cover; limited HQs; reinforce only when near HQ???
So the game overall is a little stiff. You gotta figure out how to play DOW Pro, but luckily you are saved by the easiness of the mod.
Witch Hunters in the mod are very cool and very tough, hence why you got some aesthetics/content points, but the unit selection is very vanilla hence I did not take off a lot of points because of it. Just add more stuff, I feel. Anyways...
I like very much that you edited and improved the vanilla models like making scarabs burrow or making Pariahs teleport, well done. The fx applied to Chaos are solid and I thought the wargear system in this, though very choice restrictive, it is AT LEAST applied with addons.
So the mod has its flaws and its greatnesses. For a person like me, it is not to my taste, but it is very well done regardless. There is NOTHING in the mod that is cheesy and wonky like Supreme Commander, so the mod is not that bad at all.
It is not for me, but it is for others. Hence why the rating stands proud and you are welcome. :)
I have been playing around with a few Soulstorm mods and IMO I had most fun with this mod.
Its enough content to make it a fun experince and still being pretty close the vanilla game:)
Very much more isn't always better
Sure there are a few bugs here and there but thats always more or less a few bugs in a mod and it takes awhile before most of them will be gone
PRO
+ New voices for most of the new units (in other mods I played many units shared the same voice)
+ You can chose what part of the mod you want to install
+ Afew bugs from the vanilla game has been fixed
CON
- The campaign is removed from the main menu
- If you are looking for a mod with lots of new units you will probaly be disipointed.
Summary
The mod feels more like a expansion pack to Soulstorm and thats what I wanted so I'm happy :)
Quite simply, this contains some of the most polished work I have ever seen a mod.
Everything in the vanilla game has been considered, evaluated for what it contributed to the game as a whole, and then remastered to form an intelligently designed - and most importantly balanced, so far as I can see - work.
When I had heard of what this mod sought to achieve - proper balance, remastered gameplay - I had assumed that this would result in the various thematic qualities of the different factions to be...well, diluted, nullified. But I'm happy to find that this isn't the case. If anything the characteristics of many races have been accentuated - Eldar are FINALLY the micro-intensive race of specialists they were always claimed to be by Relic. The orks' mob bonus is now a central component of their skirmishes encouraging players to pile da boys in, and Imperial guardsmen can be reinforced comparatively quickly as they drop like flies for their Emperor. :)
I'm still only getting used to certain concepts - such as the infiltration revamp, and figuring out which commander wargear options work best with which build orders and matchups - but this is a testament to how detailed the mod is and how deep the rabbit hole can go if you want it to.
I'll be honest, what drew me to this mod was the addition of the WH adepta sororitas models, which have gained something of a near-mythical status in the modding community. And I feel that this is a mod clearly deserving of these wondrous assets, and it is so nice to see a mod keep the old work of Friedric and the WH team alive. Now all we need is somebody to cover up the atrocious job Relic and Iron Lore did with the Dark Eldar, and this would be the best Dawn of War experience one could ever hope for :P
All in all, superb work. And if, somewhere, there is a community of players still playing multiplayer with this mod, I should love to join them.
This mod sets up a new level of awesomeness. If you seek for enough content without making a clusterfuck and awesome people behind it to meet, this is your mod.
Grest mod, love the gameplay. Too bad its not campaign, but oh well.
Best mod for Dawn of war!