Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade vs Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade is a strategy game from Relic Entertainment (2007) while Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution is an RPG strategy game from Relic Entertainment.
What each one is
Steam files Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade under Strategy. In contrast, it files Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution under RPG and Strategy.
Deep under the central desert of Kronus, a vast honeycomb of skull-lined tunnels and funeral chambers house the awakening Necron menace. Eons ago, these were the boulevards and squares of a great necropolis built to house the bones of the races who had fallen to the Necrons, and ultimately were where the Necrons themselves retire to...
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.
At a glance
| Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade | Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 8.1/10 | 7.6/10 |
| Steam rating | Overwhelmingly Positive (96%, 9,527) | Very Positive (90%, 13,115) |
| Critic aggregate | 87/100 | No aggregate |
| Price | Not listed | Not listed |
| Install size | — | 8 GB |
| Steam Deck | playable | unsupported |
| Released | 2007 | — |
| Developer | Relic Entertainment | Relic Entertainment |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade vs Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark CrusadeStrategy gameWarhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: RetributionRPG strategy gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark CrusadeStrategy, Warhammer 40K, RTSWarhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: RetributionWarhammer 40K, Strategy, RTSThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade ✓Score 8.1 · 96% on Steam · 87 criticWarhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: RetributionScore 7.6 · 90% on SteamThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade9,527 reviewsWarhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution13,115 reviews · 8 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark CrusadeNot listedWarhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: RetributionNot listedRead live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade ✓PlayableWarhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: RetributionUnsupportedValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade takes 2 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueWarhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade (GamingPickz Score 8.1)
- Better on a Steam Deck: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade (playable)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
StrategyWarhammer 40KRTSSci-fiMultiplayerSingleplayerGames WorkshopReal-Time
Where they differ
Base-BuildingClassicWarSpaceViolent
Online Co-OpFuturisticRPGGreat SoundtrackCo-op Campaign
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade and 0 for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution in scope?
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade has drawn 9,527 Steam reviews. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution has drawn 13,115 Steam reviews and installs in 8 GB.
Is Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade or Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade rates higher (8.1 to 7.6). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade or Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution?
One or both do not have a current listed price, so a straight comparison is not possible. See the table above.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.