The squad-based system ensured that battles became much easier to manage compared to most RTS games that were still using the old 1 soldier per unit system. Each squad being able to recover deceased soldiers, improve equipment or get a commander attached to it meant there was more micro-management and depth to every battle. And the morale system, and how you engage with it, contributed to that as well.

The idea to make it about conquering strategic posts and fortifying, made this not only a more cerebral experience, but also more immersive and realistic. It meant that you were no longer just finding your way to your enemy's base, but fighting for the actual land, piece-by-piece, progressing forward slowly and trying to hold the positions you've already conquered. And the map having cover spots only added to the realism of the action.

Of course, the presentation was just amazing for 2004. Possibly the best-looking graphics in an RTS game up to that point. And the melee combat for the first time in the history of RTS didn't look like a bunch of guys just wailing at each other repeatedly. Thanks to animated finishers and the general physics, the battles looked more alive and real than ever. All this to the accompaniment of Jeremy Soule's perfect soundtrack.

Perhaps the only real downside to this game is the story being rather generic, but even there the likeable characters and amazing voice-acting make it so much more entertaining than it has any right to be.

There is a rather minor problem, which Detectivefail mentioned in his review, which is the pathfinding. While the exact example he showed is not a common occurrence in my experience, the one very common and similar issue I have with the original DoW is that when you've equipped some soldiers with longer-ranged weapons (like machine guns or rocket launchers), and you order them to attack, the squad will run up just close enough to the enemy that these specially-equipped soldiers can reach them, while the rest of the squad will just stand there doing nothing. Like I said, it's not a major issue, for you can just order them to come closer, but it's one that's consistent and thus becomes kinda annoying.

But really, it's easy to look back at this game and see problems with it now, but for 2004 it was an absolutely mind-blowing experience. Every magazine I read was giving it between 9 and 10 out of 10, and rightfully so. This game straight up killed the RTS genre. Going back to Warcraft 3 (which was just 2 years old by this point), the former king of RTS, was so jarring after this. It was truly some next generation shit. And, honestly, for years afterwards I didn't see another RTS that was this well-made, and I practically stopped playing them at some point, with few exceptions. The fact that this game is still so much fun every time I play it is a testament to what a masterpiece it is. And the expansions (in particular Dark Crusade) only polished it to the point of perfection.

Btw, did anybody notice how Tartarus (the planet the game is set on) is just Central-Eastern Europe + The Pontic Steppe? Seriously, look at the loading screens, they just took the actual map and removed a few mountains and water sources. You can still easily recognize geographical features, like Crimean peninsula, Carpathian mountains, Volga and Dnieper rivers, Denmark, etc.