Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm vs Warhammer: Chaosbane
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm is a strategy game from Relic Entertainment (2008) while Warhammer: Chaosbane is an action-RPG RPG game from Eko Software (2019).
Quick answer: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm rates higher, 8.0 to 5.7 on the GamingPickz Score.
What each one is
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm is filed under Strategy. In contrast, Warhammer: Chaosbane under Action-RPG and RPG.
The third and final expansion to the genre-defining and critically-acclaimed RTS, Dawn of War. In Soulstorm, two new armies are introduced – Sisters of Battle and Dark Eldar - raising the total number of playable armies to nine.
In a world ravaged by war and dominated by magic, you must rise up to face the Chaos hordes. Playing solo or with up to four players in local or online co-op, choose a hero from four character classes and prepare for epic battles wielding some of the most powerful artefacts of the Old World.
Story, characters and reception
Plot
The Kaurava conflict began after a sudden appearance of a Warp Storm near Kaurava IV. Previously, the system was held entirely by the Imperium of Mankind and defended by the Imperial Guard, except for two areas—the Ork infested jungles of Kaurava II and the underground of Kaurava III, holding Necron tombs in hibernation. The warp storm leads to the awakening of the Necrons, and the arrival of Ork warboss Gorgutz, who absorbs the indigenous,… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Dawn of War: Soulstorm Soulstorm received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic . Eurogamer gave the game a 6 out of 10, writing, " Dawn of War is still a thrilling, explosive real-time strategy, even if it is now starting to look quite raggedy... [ Soulstorm ] offers too little, and is without the massively appealing races of previous expansions. (Wikipedia)
Plot
Chaosbane is set just after the "Great War Against Chaos", two hundred years prior to the setting of Warhammer Fantasy . The player character is a personal champion of Magnus the Pious, slayer of the Chaos Everchosen Asavar Kul, and soon to become Emperor of the fractured Empire. The player selects one of six characters with their own unique skill sets. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Warhammer: Chaosbane received "mixed or average" reviews for Microsoft Windows , PlayStation 4 , Xbox One , and PlayStation 5 , and "generally positive" reviews for Xbox Series X/S , according to review aggregator website Metacritic . Writing for IGN , Leana Hafer gave the game an 8. 7 out of 10, writing, "This action-RPG has it where it counts, with fun classes, good boss fights, and a decent loot system. (Wikipedia)
At a glance
| Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm | Warhammer: Chaosbane | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 8.0/10 | 5.7/10 |
| Steam rating | Overwhelmingly Positive (95%, 18,507) | Mixed (58%, 6,473) |
| Critic aggregate | 73/100 | 69/100 |
| Price | Not listed | $29.99 |
| Install size | — | 20 GB |
| Steam Deck | playable | unsupported |
| Released | 2008 | 2019 |
| Developer | Relic Entertainment | Eko Software |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm vs Warhammer: Chaosbane, 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 - SoulstormStrategy gameWarhammer: ChaosbaneAction-RPG RPG 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 - SoulstormWarhammer 40K, Strategy, RTSWarhammer: ChaosbanePvE, RPG, Co-op CampaignThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm ✓Score 8.0 · 95% on Steam · 73 criticWarhammer: ChaosbaneScore 5.7 · 58% on Steam · 69 criticThe 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 - Soulstorm18,507 reviewsWarhammer: Chaosbane6,473 reviews · 13 add-ons · 20 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - SoulstormNot listedWarhammer: Chaosbane$29.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm ✓PlayableWarhammer: ChaosbaneUnsupportedValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm 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 - Soulstorm and Warhammer: Chaosbane 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 - Soulstorm (GamingPickz Score 8.0)
- Better on a Steam Deck: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm (playable)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm (18,507 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
MultiplayerSingleplayerActionAdventureCo-op
Where they differ
Warhammer 40KStrategyRTSBase-BuildingSci-fiReal-Time
PvERPGCo-op CampaignHack and SlashAction RPGIsometric
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 - Soulstorm is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Warhammer: Chaosbane is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm | Warhammer: Chaosbane | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | 64 MB | NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660 |
| Minimum CPU | 2.0 Ghz Intel Pentium 4, AMD Athlon XP | Intel® Core i3 |
| Minimum RAM | 0.5 GB | 6 GB |
| Install size | — | 20 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm · Warhammer: Chaosbane.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm and 1 for Warhammer: Chaosbane. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm and Warhammer: Chaosbane in scope?
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm has drawn 18,507 Steam reviews. Warhammer: Chaosbane has drawn 6,473 Steam reviews, ships 13 add-ons and installs in 20 GB.
Is Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm or Warhammer: Chaosbane better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm rates higher (8.0 to 5.7). 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 - Soulstorm or Warhammer: Chaosbane?
One or both do not have a current listed price, so a straight comparison is not possible. See the table above.
Should I get Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm or Warhammer: Chaosbane?
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm rates higher, 8.0 to 5.7 on the GamingPickz Score. It also depends on what you want: the "which to pick" section above calls out which is cheaper, lighter on storage, better on a Steam Deck and the safer bet by weight of reviews.
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
All comparisonsHow 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.