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[Aztechnology]

This is a disappointing, I put in a cancellation for my pre-order for now. Will play the beta and wait a little before picking it up. My buddy who has played each previous one with me decided not to pick it up. So down the line I guess.

 

[SapientWolf]

That's exactly what I hate so much about it. They pissed on everyone, and made a game that excels at literally nothing.

I know this is extreme, but I mean it sincerely: This is the single worst, most disgraceful RTS since Command & Conquer 4.

There, I said it.

C&C4 was fundamentally broken. DoW3 at least works as a game.

 

[TheVoidDragon]

Finally got around to giving the beta a try...and i just can't stand it. It's not bad as such it's just...not what Dawn of War 3 should be. It takes what was great from the previous games and throws that all out for something that is just so underwhelming. I actually quite half way through the game because i just wasn't enjoying it at all.

It all feels so utterly lifeless and bland. Most of the match i played i didn't encounter the enemy at all. When i have an army i thought would actually get pretty, i found i couldn't target a certain point because MoBA lanes.

There are just so many things that just make absolutely no sense to me. It's not as if it's objectively bad or broken there are just so many things they decided to do that take away from it.

• Why is the morale system gone?
• Why is there not even an animation for capturing posts?
• Why is there no suppression?
• Why are the unit sizes so small with no option to increase them?
• Why are there no generators?
• Why can't i even zoom in fully?
• Why are there so few upgrades and buildings?
• Why are there no turrets?
• Why are units which should be standard (terminators) locked behind the Elite system?
• There's no weight to the units or their attacks.
• Standard units felt like they're in the game just as a distraction rather than being useful
• Lascanons don't behave like Lascannons

Obviously some of those are more important than others but as a whole it just feels completely wrong.

The game i played was more boring than anything else. Even the voice actors sound bored and the lines have no life to them. Take a listen to the voice lines in DoW1 again, there was so much feeling and emotion to them, even in the ones that aren't meant to show emotion, but here it all sounds so devoid of any sort of emotion. Even the Servitor (who for some reason refers to itself as "servitor" in the third person and seems to acknowledge it's being punished for something despite it no longer being capable of realizing that...) who is meant to be a emotionless shell of a person sounded so wrong. It just sounded like a guy who was bored reading his lines and then with a slight filter added ontop.

 

[Berzerkiymc]

if anyone else is getting it add me berzerk880 on steam

 

[Pooya]

Sounds like Relic's downward spiral is continuing then. CoH2 was a huge mess at launch too, boring and messy. It got better over time but the business model and DLC hell made sure I would never come back to the game.

I only hope Sega doesn't ruin Endless Space 2 with their shit.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

Sounds like Relic's downward spiral is continuing then. CoH2 was a huge mess at launch too, boring and messy. It got better over time but the business model and DLC hell made sure I would never come back to the game.

I only hope Sega doesn't ruin Endless Space 2 with their shit.

Also continues the trend of reviewers not knowing how to deal with strategy games.

 

[Fronzi]

Retreat was bad game design - I don't want an easy button bailing out players I'm demolishing. I don't want morale and cover altering speed and defense, I want to 100% know how I can take the units I'm using to outplay the units my opponent is using and find out who's the better player - it makes the early game small squad engagements much more satisfying than DoW2

If you think retreat is an easy button in Dow2 then you have not played at a very high level. Retreat makes your units uncontrollable and against skilled players leads to nade spikes or melee (and units in retreat take extra melee damage) = squad wipes. There is a whole level of strategy to forcing opponents into certain retreat paths and properly flanking.

The other stuff about cover you said doesn't really make sense for knowing which units will win a fight. The things in DOW 2 that make it difficult to know who will win a fight are RNG based such as melee skill and sync kills. These of course do not apply to DOW3 since there are no sync kills or melee skill values.

 

[Chumley]

That's exactly what I hate so much about it. They pissed on everyone, and made a game that excels at literally nothing.

I know this is extreme, but I mean it sincerely: This is the single worst, most disgraceful RTS since Command & Conquer 4.

There, I said it.

"They pissed on everyone"?

Why are you so personally invested in a video game that you'd resort to hyperbole like this?

 

[Lorcain]

The critical points in the narratives of the early reviews don't seem to match the higher scores. Based on the review narratives this effort seems like a significant departure from what fans of the previous games loved. It sounds like a MP focused game with some MOBA elements, minus many of the hallmark features that made the first 2 so good.

I'm waiting on Karak to do the ACG review (hopefully he does one).

 

[mercenar1e]

the units seem like they were designed for a mobile screen.. it all looks tiny.

 

[RenegadeXV8]

Yeah in DoW2 the Space Marines were beasts. You could even melee most squads with the marines and fare well, they were so much more expensive. Here the basic ranged squads seem very similar.

Also the 1v1 map is so goddamn small.

Yeeeep. Friend and I tested a bunch of stuff, and in a 1v1, Tactical Marines barely win in a fight vs Dire Avengers. If Eldar player uses grenade, they win.

It just feels so wrong.

If you think retreat is an easy button in Dow2 then you have not played at a very high level. Retreat makes your units uncontrollable and against skilled players leads to nade spikes or melee (and units in retreat take extra melee damage) = squad wipes. There is a whole level of strategy to forcing opponents into certain retreat paths and properly flanking.

Some of my fastest 1v1 wins in DoW2 were due to average players not understanding that retreating vs a pack of adrenal gland hormagaunts = squad wipe.

Retreating also forces you to give up resource/VP points. It is is no way an easy button. A single bad retreat can cost a player the game.

 

[Geist-]

Played the beta, enjoyed it, not enough to preorder though. I'll buy it when they put Imperial Guard or Tau into it.

 

[Chubzdoomer]

"They pissed on everyone"?

Why are you so personally invested in a video game that you'd resort to hyperbole like this?

I don't even consider it hyperbole. No one asked for a Dawn of War game like this. And don't even get me started on the SEVERE lack of content... If that isn't taking the piss, I don't know what is.

 

[kasrkinsquad]

This is a disappointing, I put in a cancellation for my pre-order for now. Will play the beta and wait a little before picking it up. My buddy who has played each previous one with me decided not to pick it up. So down the line I guess.

I don't think I've ever been as disappointed in a game as I have with Dawn of War 3.

 

[Chumley]

I don't even consider it hyperbole. No one asked for a Dawn of War game like this. And don't even get me started on the SEVERE lack of content... If that isn't taking the piss, I don't know what is.

It's reviewing well, and I and others here enjoy the beta.

Don't conflate "everyone" with GAF.

 

[Aztechnology]

I don't think I've ever been as disappointed in a game as I have with Dawn of War 3.

I just played the beta. I wasn't really feeling it.

Also how the hell does a game in 2017 not have keybinding? Or did I just not see it?

 

[Uriah]

I just played the beta. I wasn't really feeling it.

Also how the hell does a game in 2017 not have keybinding? Or did I just not see it?

Dow 2 didn't have keybinding options eithier IIRC.

 

[K.Jack]

The game is launching with a dearth of content, and they've stripped many mechanics and featured which are solidified as standard for this series, with no compensation.

Relic are the masters, of giving their fanbase what they never wanted or desired.

 

[Fronzi]

Some of my fastest 1v1 wins in DoW2 were due to average players not understanding that retreating vs a pack of adrenal gland hormagaunts = squad wipe.

Retreating also forces you to give up resource/VP points. It is is no way an easy button. A single bad retreat can cost a player the game.

If you feel like playing there is a mod called Elite that picked up on Relic's terrible balancing and has fixed it quite a bit. You can grab it at dawnofwar.info. If you are in Europe you can get games no problem. North America - there is usually a game or two up during evening hours.

Warning, most people still playing have at least 1k hours, although a few people trickle win after watching casts from Indridcasts.

 

[Stahsky]

this was my most anticipated game of 2017 and now I'm shaking in my jimmies


bummer

 

[RenegadeXV8]

I think the one bright side about the lack of content issue is there *might* be decent mod/map-making support right out of the gate, as evidenced by the "community" tab in the main menu and the fact that hovering over the map selection while creating a multiplayer game mentions "community maps".

DoW2's map maker was kind of crap though so I'm not holding my breath. I just wish Relic could someday provide tools as powerful as Blizzard's.

If you feel like playing there is a mod called Elite that picked up on Relic's terrible balancing and has fixed it quite a bit. You can grab it at dawnofwar.info. If you are in Europe you can get games no problem. North America - there is usually a game or two up during evening hours.

Warning, most people still playing have at least 1k hours, although a few people trickle win after watching casts from Indridcasts.

Oh I know about Elite; played it quite a bit with a friend of mine (we probably racked up over 100 1v1 matches in Elite alone). I have about 600 hours in DoW2 myself.

We're currently giving DoW3 a shot.

 

[longdi]

Sounds like Relic's downward spiral is continuing then. CoH2 was a huge mess at launch too, boring and messy. It got better over time but the business model and DLC hell made sure I would never come back to the game.

I only hope Sega doesn't ruin Endless Space 2 with their shit.

Relic has been taking the easy way out by reducing complexity for quick balance fixes.

Coh2 is pretty good now, not as ground breaking as Coh1 but its the only one still with players.

I had the same impression when i played Dow3 early beta, its kind of shitty.

Here is a good video about whats wrong with dow3 https://youtu.be/WDrmyvbXeIU

 

[Vincent Alexander]

I just can't make up my mind. I keep going back and forth on whether I like this game or not, and I think I've landed on not liking it. The one negative that is a HUGE negative for me are the "super powers". They just aren't fun...Building an army is like making a fine cake. You can't just use one ingredient if you want a cake...gotta pick out all the right pieces, get a good ratio going of this and that. Make sure you aren't using too much money on one ingredient. Then someone drops a lightning tornado of death on your fucking cake and all that well-thought out work gets wrecked in seconds. Jee...that was fun.

 

[phazedplasma]

This beta made me realize how much i really liked DoW2's MP

:\

 

[Vincent Alexander]

This beta made me realize how much i really liked DoW2's MP

:\

I wish I got into Dawn of War II before the scene was dead so I could experience it

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

The game is launching with a dearth of content, and they've stripped many mechanics and featured which are solidified as standard for this series, with no compensation.

Relic are the masters, of giving their fanbase what they never wanted or desired.

It was like 12 months before they patched lobbies into Company of Heroes 2. You had to automatch.

 

[F!ReW!Re]

I wish I got into Dawn of War II before the scene was dead so I could experience it

There's still a ton of people playing the elite mod online.

 

[TheVoidDragon]

Honest question, for those who actually do like it and think it's better than previous games, can you explain why? I seriously can't see why anyone would think this is better, it seems to add nothing and just takes away game mechanics from the series and replaces them with absolutely nothing. It doesn't come across as like DoW2 where it's different from the previous game but it does that in a 'positive' way where it's actually trying to improve and do something new, to me it comes across as more like they've just dumbed it all down for no justifiable reason. It doesn't have the scale or for lack of a better word, epicness of DoW1, nor does it have the tactical gameplay or weight of DoW2.


It's sort of like they haven't really thought through what they were doing. Units feel like they have no weight or impact to their movement or attacks. The vast majority of upgrades and buildings are gone from the first game and even DoW2 had turrets. Heroes don't even have upgrades like in DoW2. You can't zoom in overly far (the 'natural' scale of the game reminds me of MoBAs or SC2 with how small everything seems). The voice lines are bland and uninspired. There's no morale or suppression system. Units feel like they're just there. Even something like choosing your elite units seems lacking, it isn't like 1 or 2 where their still part of your army, if you choose Gabriel Angelos than you have him presumably just lifted right from the campaign and stuck into your army for some reason - DoW1 or 2 at least made the effort to change the colours so it wasn't like that. They've even locked units which should be a standard part of an army behind the elite system. Then there are smaller issues like no sync kills ore retreat button, they explained why but the reasons don't really feel good enough and it's not like they replaced those with anything.

There are just so many problems with it. I honestly don't understand why anyone would think this is the better game. There's a difference between "I just like it more" and "it's a better game". What does this add? How does it do things better than DoW1 or DoW2?

 

[DocSeuss]

I fucking loathe Dawn of War 2 after the perfection that was Dawn of War. Dunno how I'm supposed to feel reading these reviews.

 

[Chumley]

Honest question, for those who actually do like it and think it's better than previous games, can you explain why? I seriously can't see why anyone would think this is better, it seems to add nothing and just takes away game mechanics from the series and replaces them with absolutely nothing. It doesn't come across as like DoW2 where it's different from the previous game but it does that in a 'positive' way where it's actually trying to improve and do something new, to me it comes across as more like they've just dumbed it all down for no justifiable reason. It doesn't have the scale or for lack of a better word, epicness of DoW1, nor does it have the tactical gameplay or weight of DoW2.


It's sort of like they haven't really thought through what they were doing. Units feel like they have no weight or impact to their movement or attacks. The vast majority of upgrades and buildings are gone from the first game and even DoW2 had turrets. Heroes don't even have upgrades like in DoW2. You can't zoom in overly far (the 'natural' scale of the game reminds me of MoBAs or SC2 with how small everything seems). The voice lines are bland and uninspired. There's no morale or suppression system. Units feel like they're just there. Even something like choosing your elite units seems lacking, it isn't like 1 or 2 where their still part of your army, if you choose Gabriel Angelos than you have him presumably just lifted right from the campaign and stuck into your army for some reason - DoW1 or 2 at least made the effort to change the colours so it wasn't like that. They've even locked units which should be a standard part of an army behind the elite system. Then there are smaller issues like no sync kills ore retreat button, they explained why but the reasons don't really feel good enough and it's not like they replaced those with anything.

There are just so many problems with it. I honestly don't understand why anyone would think this is the better game. There's a difference between "I just like it more" and "it's a better game". What does this add? How does it do things better than DoW1 or DoW2?

I hated Dawn of War 2's gameplay. I haven't played DoW 1 since it came out but to me this feels like everything I liked about that only with updated graphics and more "epicness", not less.

As a casual who just wants a simple RTS to play and cool WH40k shit happening, it ticks all the boxes for me.

 

[TheVoidDragon]

The critical points in the narratives of the early reviews don't seem to match the higher scores. Based on the review narratives this effort seems like a significant departure from what fans of the previous games loved. It sounds like a MP focused game with some MOBA elements, minus many of the hallmark features that made the first 2 so good.

I'm waiting on Karak to do the ACG review (hopefully he does one).

Unfortunately it seems reviews these days might seem to have a stance of "It's not actually bad so i can't give it a low score" even if it's a terrible entry in a franchise. A similar thing happened with MGSV, where it got high review score despite the story being almost non-existent. Unless it's objectively bad, broken or just has so little effort put into making it, i don't think most games get below a 7 now from what I've seen. There's always a disconnect between the score and what they say.

From the start i was concerned about this game because of the art style they chose and especially the super thin Space Marines in the trailer. The look and feel of things is very important with W40K, bright, colourful, clean graphics don't quite fit in with that and they tried to justify it with "It's like the miniatures!" which ignores the reason they look like they - they're supposed to represent something in-universe, that's not how they'd actually look. The Art Style isn't as bad as i initially thought but it still isn't overly good.

I wanted DoW3 for years but this just isn't what it should have been.

I hated Dawn of War 2's gameplay. I haven't played DoW 1 since it came out but to me this feels like everything I liked about that only with updated graphics and more "epicness", not less.

As a casual who just wants a simple RTS to play and cool WH40k shit happening, it ticks all the boxes for me.

I don't think it compares to DoW1 at all. It's a smaller scale, there are far fewer units, upgrades and buildings, map control has turned into MoBA lanes, cover doesn't make any sense in-universe and feels placed arbitrarily, no Relics and therefore no choice what to go for and defend, no morale system, sync kills are gone, no point building other bases, melee combat lacks any proper feeling etc. DoW3 IS a bit bigger scale than DoW2 and base building is back, but neither of those seem to be done in a way that makes them reach the same level as DoW1. Looking at the DoW1 steam store screenshots, that sort of thing and the feeling they give really isn't possible in this game.

 

[zoukka]

Dawn of War 2 came out in 2009, how is this game so half baked?

A mediocre SP campaign, and one single MP game mode just isn't excusable. How isn't there Last Stand at launch?

I'm almost sad, that this is the first DoW game that I'm skipping, but it's time for me to close my wallet to Relic's fuckery.

This is just the reality of game development. The team is most likely different, new people want to change the formula, the previous game probably didn't hit sales expecations since the sequel took so long to make etc...

I can't see huge success for DoW3 just because it's so barebones and doesn't really innovate the genre in my opinion. It's pretty overwhelming soon after early game thanks to the amount of units and the clunky UI.

I fucking loathe Dawn of War 2 after the perfection that was Dawn of War. Dunno how I'm supposed to feel reading these reviews.

This is closer to the first game.

Spoiler

heathen!

 

[ISee]

I don't think it compares to DoW1 at all. It's a smaller scale, there are far fewer units, upgrades and buildings, map control has turned into MoBA lanes, cover doesn't make any sense in-universe and feels placed arbitrarily, no Relics and therefore no choice what to go for and defend, no morale system, sync kills are gone, no point building other bases, melee combat lacks any proper feeling etc. DoW3 IS a bit bigger scale than DoW2 and base building is back, but neither of those seem to be done in a way that makes them reach the same level as DoW1.

Even worse some of the new mechanics like destroying several key structures in a certain order doesn't work at all. Whenever I win a mayor fight I rather go and capture resource points to improve my economy than to destroy the shield generator. Because what's the point? I hurt my opponent more by making his income my own than by destroy a shield generator.

Also the animations: Gabriel doing a front flip while in terminator armor and throwing around his power hammer like it made out of paper. WTF?! this really pisses me off! It looks so stupid and destroy every 40k vibe immediately. Make him teleport and not do some cirque du soleil moba style acrobatics.
The same goes for the ork spin to win attack... it's so bad.

Dow 3 without the 40k setting would be an extremely boring and generic RTS, a 6/10 at best. At least DoW 1 and 2 are entertaining games without 40k on top of them (gameplay wise). The WH brand is the only thing that make DoW 3 at least a tiny bit interesting and probably the reason why it's getting passable reviews, because the brand is well accepted and liked.

 

[TheVoidDragon]

Even worse some of the new mechanics like destroying several key structures in a certain order doesn't work at all. Whenever I win a mayor fight I rather go and capture resource points to improve my economy than to destroy the shield generator. Because what's the point? I hurt my opponent more by making his income my own than by destroy a shield generator.

Also the animations: Gabriel doing a front flip while in terminator armor and throwing around his power hammer like it made out of paper. WTF?! this really pisses me off! It looks so stupid and destroy every 40k vibe immediately. Make him teleport and not do some cirque du soleil moba style acrobatics.
The same goes for the ork spin to win attack... it's so bad.

Dow 3 without the 40k setting would be an extremely boring and generic RTS, a 6/10 at best. At least DoW 1 and 2 are entertaining games without 40k on top of them (gameplay wise). The WH brand is the only thing that make DoW 3 at least a tiny bit interesting and probably the reason why it's getting passable reviews, because the brand is well accepted and liked.

It doesn't even seem to do the w40k setting overly well, though. The bright, colourful, clean art style takes away from it, then there's just silly things like Gabriel doing flips and spins, devastators struggling to hold their heavy bolter, lascannons not behaving like lascannons, the servitor referring to itself in the third person, acting disapointed when you don't click on it for a while and having enough of a person there left to know it's being punished etc suggests they might not really understand how things should be.

I also just realized that every unit in a squad is identical. The exact same models. That's not too bad for Marines and such that have helmets, but when it comes to the scouts and ones that should have a noticeable difference, that really shouldn't be acceptable at all.

 

[jabuseika]

Yeah, skipping this.

The open beta did nothing for me, this is as bare bones of an RTS as it gets.

 

[KillLaCam]

Never played any of the other DoW games. So I can't compare anything. But I had fun in the beta. Feels too small and simple for a $60 game though.

 

[cripterion]

WH40K license should just go to CA to be given at least, the proper treatment it deserves.

 

[Lanrutcon]

WH40K license should just go to CA to be given at least, the proper treatment it deserves.

40k Total War game please.

Dear god please.

 

[zoukka]

WH40K license should just go to CA to be given at least, the proper treatment it deserves.

TBF the two previous DoW games are the best Warhammer 40k games ever made...

 

[Durante]

The lack of campaign co-op moves this from a "definite day-1 buy" for both me and a friend to "may never buy".

I wonder how much impact this will have.

 

[Memory]

Never played any of the other DoW games. So I can't compare anything. But I had fun in the beta. Feels too small and simple for a $60 game though.

If you are interested pick up DOW1 Collection if you like traditional rts and can deal with slightly dated graphics and animation. There were a ton of expansions so there are plenty of races and campaigns. The mod scene is also crazy good.

Pick up DOW 2 collection if you want updated visuals and a different but great take on RTS focusing on small scale but more brutal up close combat and awesome melee sync kills. The campaigns while not amazing story wise are fun to play though.

You can get both collections for about $10-20 and they have an insane amount of content.

TBF the two previous DoW games are the best Warhammer 40k games ever made...

Which makes this even worse for us fans . They didn't even need to improve it and we would have been happy, instead they took a step backwards, four to the side and spun around.

 

[TheVoidDragon]

Just tried another match to give it a second chance, and i just keep finding more things wrong with it. Why are simple unit abilities like frag grenades for tactical marines one of the army doctrines? They can't fire while moving without the army doctrine either?

The Knight just feels so underwhelming overall. Powerful attacks felt like they had impact and weight behind them in DoW1 and 2 with small explosions and stuff like that, but here units just sit there and outright ignore hits from an Imperial Knight?

The unit roster is even smaller if you take out things that should have just been upgrades like the Predator Desctructor/Annihilator or Heavy Bolter/Lascannon devastators, those shouldn't be separate units at all.

Who thought it was a good idea to have magical locations that let units go invisible? How is that fun or something that makes sense with the lore?

The game just limits and removes so much but doesn't have anything to replace what it's lost. It's not like DoW2 where it changed things, it's just taken things away.

 

[tuna_love]

The lack of campaign co-op moves this from a "definite day-1 buy" for both me and a friend to "may never buy".

I wonder how much impact this will have.

im exactly the same

 

[Joe White]

The lack of campaign co-op moves this from a "definite day-1 buy" for both me and a friend to "may never buy".

I wonder how much impact this will have.

Some, because me and my buddy also skipped day-1 purchase for the same reason. We bought Halo Wars 1-2 instead (regardless of UWP with HW2).

 

[Turin Turambar]

WH40K license should just go to CA to be given at least, the proper treatment it deserves.

It's a very interesting comparison. I think the biggest difference is that this feels a RTS with a skin of Warhammer 40K and W:TW feels like proper Warhammer Fantasy.

I was a bit cynical when CA announced W:TW, thinking it would be a TW reskin with some monsters and magic spells, but I just played in the last weeks two campaigns and I was impressed with the care for integrating the lore into the gameplay, with the unique tech trees, victory conditions, gameplay mechanics and the rest for every faction, in both battles and campaign.
For example, a WAAAGHH! in the game it's a WAAGH! The way they can appear, the momentum you can exploit, and how they can be dissolved.

In DOW3 the WAAGH! is just your tech level? That's taking a normal RTS feature and renaming for the faction.

 

[Durante]

Some, because me and my buddy also skipped day-1 purchase for the same reason. We bought Halo Wars 1-2 instead (regardless of UWP with HW2).

Wait, does the Halo Wars on Steam have campaign coop?

 

[Joe White]

Wait, does the Halo Wars on Steam have campaign coop?

Yes, "Online Co-op".

 

[TheVoidDragon]

I really don't see how keeping units alive if something you're supposed to do. Without a retreat option there's no point trying to get away, and considering it costs power to reinforce them, that negates the whole point of reinforcing them in the first place.

 

[Steejee]

Based on the RPS review of the campaign I'm going to have to skip this for the time being. I'm not that interested in the MP and the campaign sounds pretty weak, plus I have too many other good games on the backlog to add just a meh one in.

Shame too, as I was looking forward to this game and really enjoyed DoW1 and 2.

 

[Ragnar Blackmane]

40k Total War game please.

Dear god please.

40k or totally wouldn't work with Total War as Total War is all about formation warfare. As such the "most modern" the series ever goes is early Victorian era when units were still fighting in gunline formations and using slow loading rifles, with a very few semi-auto weapons thrown in (sure, Fall of the Samurai had Gattlings, and they were completely overpowered).

Now Creative Assembly doing a new 40k Strategy IP that focuses on Total War or Tabletop (thinking 1500-2000 pts) sized battles with it's own unique gameplay and mechanics?
Hell yes, I would play the shit out of it.

TBF the two previous DoW games are the best Warhammer 40k games ever made...

And CA just made the very best Warhammer Fantasy game ever made, they can easily pull of something equal.
Also want to point out that Battlefleet Gothic: Armada is easily up there with DoW1/2 when it comes to being one of the best 40k games and it also trumps both when it comes to immersion (those cutscenes alone will make your head explode out of joy as a 40k fan) and adherence to the lore. Makes going from that to DoW3 all the more startling.

Who thought it was a good idea to have magical locations that let units go invisible? How is that fun or something that makes sense with the lore?

The game just limits and removes so much but doesn't have anything to replace what it's lost. It's not like DoW2 where it changed things, it's just taken things away.

They literally took the scrub/bushes from League of Legends and plunked them into Dawn of War, they work exactly the same and are actually even worse because units can shoot out of them while remaining hidden, unlike League.
Forgot to list that in my "things they took from MOBAs" rundown post, don't blame myself for forgetting because the list was that long already.