The game: "Warhammer 40,000: Dark Crusade"

Rated: Mature

Platform: Windows XP

I was introduced to developer Relic Entertainment when I played its amazing World War II game "Company of Heroes." Curious whether that masterpiece was just a fluke, I picked up the company's "Dark Crusade," a standalone sequel to 2004's "Dawn of War." Boy, am I glad I did.

The game is set in the sci-fi universe of Warhammer 40,000, popular among pen-and-paper role-players and tabletop combatants. The Warhammer world is rich with futuristic alien and human armies, rival political factions, backstabbing and lots of combat, and that flavor shines through.

The battle this time is over the planet Kronus, and seven armies have sent troops to get a foothold. The strategic map, where you reinforce provincial holdings and plan assaults in turn-based mode, looks like a rainbow, with each color representing territories.

The game starts the same way each time, but once the free-for-all begins, it's anyone's guess how it will end. Once you initiate a battle or are attacked, the game switches into a real-time interface in which you build your armies and try to crush your foes. Each province has different innate powers, such as production facilities or a space port, so you have to plan attacks carefully.

The diverse armies include a race of undead robotic Necrons, whose units crawled from the western desert and won't stay dead, and the melee-focused Ork fighters with their bloody charges. Each army is led by an upgradeable commander and has a rich backstory that is told as you conquer opponents.

If you get tired of the single-player campaign, the game has plenty of skirmish maps. You also can play online, though you can command the Tau and Necron armies only if you buy the original "Dawn of War" game.