DOW II is unlike traditional RTS games as it adds RPG concepts and removes the building management aspect. As you acquire and use your squads in the various missions assigned to you they obtain experience and increase in level, at each new level you are able to assign points to various traits such as Health, Melee, Ranged [attack], and Energy. As you increase the trait the can obtain additional talents or abilities unique to that trait which give the squad leader and some times the whole squad additional abilities.

In addition, each mission usually rewards a piece of gear, and random gear also drops as you kill the many enemies you square off against. This gear can be shared among squad leaders (though some gear is specific to certain squad types) between missions. How a squad is geared can greatly change the abilities of the squad as well as their role on the battlefield. As I played through the campaign I found myself carefully reading the mission objectives and gearing up my squads to better meet each challenge. While some gear is essential such as replenishable healing charges, most can be swapped in and out to meet the missions needs or your particular play style.

During the course of the campaign you fight on three different planets, each with four to five zones or maps. Eventually the game opens up from a linear progression to a choose-your-own path, though there are consequences if you focus on one planet without helping the others. Some missions are optional and may provide you with a good piece of gear, while others continue to advance a segment of the storyline, until the final mission. This non linear mission progression allows you to continue to level up your characters with optional missions making them unstoppable gods on the battlefield or sticking with the storyline missions and facing off with enemies that pose a considerable challenge to your squads at their current level.