The Space Marine scream is back! Back where it belongs, according to many Warhammer 40,000 fans who had complained about its removal from Dawn of War’s iconic intro cinematic for the new version released to promote the upcoming Definitive Edition.
Deep breath… last month developer Relic Entertainment released an “enhanced” version of Dawn of War’s intro cinematic to accompany the announcement of the August 14 release date of the Definitive Edition. The video, below, reveals the insertion of dialogue from the 2004 Dawn of War real-time strategy game into its intro cinematic, replacing some of the original audio along the way. Chief among the changes was the removal of an “iconic” (at least, for Warhammer 40,000 fans!) guttural scream bellowed by the Space Marine who leads the forces of the Blood Ravens to battle against the monstrous Orks.
In its stead was the battlecry of Gabriel Angelos, Chapter Master of the Blood Ravens, as it is heard in Dawn of War gameplay. The thing is, that’s not even Gabriel Angelos screaming in the trailer. It’s a Blood Raven sergeant. And, Dawn of War fans said, the new dialogue compared poorly to the heroic scream it replaced.
But there were further changes that annoyed fans. The Dreadnought’s dramatic entrance was “ruined,” some said, by the addition of voice lines that distracted from the heart-pumping sound of its Assault Cannon revving up and unleashing on the enemy lines. New Ork lines were inserted, too.
I asked Relic about this… feedback at the time, and the studio responded to suggest the whole thing had taken it by surprise, and to tease a course correction.
That course correction has now arrived in the form of a new version of the enhanced intro cinematic complete with its original audio restored. Yes, that Space Marine scream is back to strike fear into the hearts of the presumably bemused Orks over the ridge.
Check the new video out below:
As a Dawn of War fan, it’s satisfying to see the intro cinematic return to its roots but also look the part. As I talked about last month, there’s something unmistakingly gritty about the original intro trailer’s look, feel, and old-school audio. It reminds fans of a time in PC gaming’s history when RTS ruled the roost, the Astra Militarum were called the Imperial Guard, and Warhammer 40,000 superfan Henry Cavill had just finished filming Hellraiser: Hellworld. The original rekindles memories of hazy summer days spent hammering out Heretics, my flatmate desperately trying to outmaneuver my attacks. The new and “improved” intro cinematic was just too clean.
I interviewed design director Philippe Boulle back in May when the Definitive Edition was announced, and we gushed over Dawn of War’s intro cinematic. Here’s why it’s so good, according to Boulle:
“It was an amazing accomplishment at the time in terms of the fidelity. We really hadn’t seen that for 40K at that time, and it really stood up as something that would reach out and grab you and say, ‘Hey, this is awesome. You need to pay attention.’ And it will still be in the game. It will be playing in beautiful 4K.
“The thing that amazes me about it when we look back at it is the directing really holds up. That I think is the undervalued key to it. For the time the rendering was phenomenal, but what really holds up is the pacing, the drama, the ending on this guy running up the hill and getting shot, planting that flag and the drop pods coming down… that just works and that didn’t need any changing obviously. That just was like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s the stuff.’”
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
