DOWII adds free DLC Last Stand

By Robert Purchese Published 28 August, 2009

Meaty wave-based arena mode.

THQ has revealed a new, free Last Stand mode for Dawn of War II that adds considerable extra online content. An exact date is to be announced, but late September or early October are the best estimates for now.

The challenge is for three fighters to stand in an arena and fend off up to 20 waves of baddies.

The first four waves present "little danger"; the next four increase the challenge "considerably"; the next four require practice; the next four the "vast majority" will fail; and the final four a "tiny few" will beat after "a lot" of practice.

Thankfully, characters level up and carry their progress into the next match, losing none of their experience or new equipment when they die - you can even resurrect each other. You can chose from a human Tactical Marine, an eldar Farseer and an orc Mekboy. Experience can be zeroed again if you want to take another class for a ride.

Last Stand is designed as an enticing way to get isolated campaigners online and playing with other people - either with invited friends or auto-matched to strangers. They don't bite. Maybe.

Last Stand also helps add value to purchased copies of Dawn of War II and discourage piracy. And as such, THQ plans to do a lot more content of this type.

Head over to our Last Stand gallery and to Eurogamer TV for a Last Stand video to see more.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (18) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • Dizzy #1 2 years ago

    After the last big patch, this game has kinda died online. The pacing is all wrong now.

  • Bazfrag #2 2 years ago

    ""Last Stand also helps add value to purchased copies of Dawn of War II and discourage piracy."

    Did you just copy/paste the press release? That read like a TeamXbox "preview" :) Anyway, im always up for some co-op action, it being free is what i expect from Relic. DoW2 has changed so much since launch i swear i must have unknowingly purchased an expansion pack...
    Edited by 1 at 28/08/09 @ 09:16

  • matrim83 #3 2 years ago

    Hmm might have to reinstall this. Does the new content have its own achievements?

  • Bazfrag #4 2 years ago

    @dizzy. I prefer the pace now. Tech 1 is more important so its more about tactics than rushing to pump out Nobs, Prism Tanks etc.
    Edited by 1 at 28/08/09 @ 08:41

  • Gnort #5 2 years ago

    Last stand mode sounds pretty interesting.

    I have to agree with Dizzy though, I much preferred the pacing prior to the last big patch. Being stuck in tier 1 for longer just means the game has become more about melee swarms than using the more interesting units in the game.

  • Bazfrag #6 2 years ago

    Gnort. Your right. That does happen in 3 vs 3 a lot. 1 on 1 is much more tactical now imo though.

  • mull #7 2 years ago

    Hm,, getting singleplayer noobs online? Sounds good to me. Glad it includes levelling and xp gain, this sort of progression appeals to me. Never been a fan of their vanilla multi.

    Link to the video in the article is borked, btw - no /videos/ folder in it.

  • thesombrerokid #8 2 years ago

    weirdly i use vehicles more since the update, i think it's because people have found it difficult to adjust and i havn't meaning i've got more points than i used to.

  • thesombrerokid #9 2 years ago

    kudos to THQ btw

  • the_dudefather #10 2 years ago

    Still like the multiplayer on this (even if I'm terrible at it), it's weird that drop pods are empty now though, makes what used to be a dramatic entry into a bit of an anticlimax if your unprepared :/

  • Bazfrag #11 2 years ago

    Now they just need to patch out GFWL. What a mess that is! Or at least add a friends only option in custom games. I get nauseous having to click on 20 things just to inv a friend. *oops lots of posts! Time to let others have a go :p
    Edited by 1 at 28/08/09 @ 09:03

  • skillian #12 2 years ago

    My 2009 GOTY. Was hoping for some new single-player stuff, but as I've already played the through the campaign twice in co-op, this is the next best thing.

    There's been lots of lovely free new content for this game - glad to see there's still a few companies carrying that torch.

  • organica #13 2 years ago

    This might actually get me dabbling in multiplayer...

  • Dizzy #14 2 years ago

    >I get nauseous having to click on 20 things just to inv a friend.

    ??????

    I think you are doing it wrong.

  • skillian #15 2 years ago

    The GFWL is the worst thing about the game, but it's not going away so I've just learned to live with it.

    Most of the time it's reasonably unobtrusive, but then I don't play much multiplayer where you probably have to deal with it a fair bit more.

  • matrim83 #16 2 years ago

    ^^ Yeah it works pretty smoothly for me.

    Edit that was supposed to follow Dizzy's post.
    Edited by 1 at 28/08/09 @ 10:08

  • Bazfrag #17 2 years ago

    "I think you are doing it wrong."

    Ok so i exaggerated a bit, but for example on steam, to invite a friend i right click on the name, then left click invite to game.

    In Dow, in a private match you click on a cpu slot, then inv friend. This will only clear the cpu, so you repeat that, and gfwl opens. From there you click to open your friends list, then again on who you want to invite. After that you click to confirm. That sends you to another screen where you finally get to send the invite....

    If your matchmaking, you can actually get your friends to join your party, which is quicker than inviting.
    Edited by 1 at 28/08/09 @ 10:28

  • hiddenranbir #18 2 years ago

    Make more single player. I'm not interested in mp!

    But then again, this is co-operative, which I DO like...but more stories!