New weapons, spells, abilities, and vehicles are also introduced. The Exorcist is a rocket-launching church organ mounted on a tank. It's part of the Sisters of Battle's arsenal, an all-female race of aggressive fanatics bent on blasting nonbelievers to Hell. Going further with the religious theme, the Sisters employ the power of Faith, a powerful force allowing them to use various spells. By properly combining units with commanding officers, their powers are intensified. Faith will heal and it will also conjure a squad of avenging angels. The Sisters share military characteristics more closely with the Space Marines. With their dual flamethrowers and highly skilled infantry, the Sisters are almost unbeatable at melee combat. Their weaknesses can be exploited by races more adept at ranged combat.

If you're looking for a more resilient race of elves, then look no further than the Dark Eldar. They are fast, strong, and relentless, but they have a weakness with their vehicles that when targeted, can slow them down considerably. With the ability to steal the souls of their enemies, the Dark Eldar use this as an alternative form of resource energy to power spells. By employing the Tortured Slave, you can have your bases built quickly without having to relegate one of your units to do this for you. This will have you scaling the tech tree faster than other units. The Rend Soul spell renders enemy's weapons temporarily impotent, allowing the Dark Eldar to do some quick damage. By the same token, when assaulted by a massive ranged attack, the Dark Elder fell like dominoes in a wind tunnel.

Using old graphics has its advantages. While there is nothing particularly ugly about the graphics of Soulstorm, they are dated. You'll notice many similarities in the maps, which is not surprising since there are hundreds of them in the series. The textures may be bland in some cases, but at least you can easily discern a hill from a crater. Most of the maps are generally flat, although there is some terrain where you can take cover. The good thing about this is that you won't experience any latency online. Expect a smooth and solid online experience.

The cutscenes are nothing short of amazing. Showing a full-scale battle among races, they are reminiscent of the battle scene in Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. The controls and commands are easy to use and navigate. The sound effects are varied and imaginative. It runs the gambit of the hum of futuristic force fields to the gushy squish of foreign object breaching flesh. The voiceovers are well done, but can be a little over-the-top at times.

Soulstorm gives you another kick at the Warhammer cat, proving that the series may indeed have nine lives.

By Cole Smith
CCC Senior Writer