The dramatic re-balancing patch for Dawn of War II (read all the nitty gritty details here) adds a new menu option from the main screen labeled "Last Stand". Click it and you'll see three brand new heroes, fresh out of the Warhammer Hero Academy and rarin' to go. They all have that level 1 gleam in their eyes and a couple of bits of equipment to choose from.

When you go online, you'll be matched with two more heroes (Last Stand is always and only played with three heroes at a time). Your task is to stay alive while waves of enemies roll into the arena. There are two capture points in here, each of which adds x3 to your scoring multiplier. As you stay alive, a survival multiplier increments with each wave, resetting as soon as someone dies. Finally, there's a multiplier that counts down over time, encouraging you to hurry up with the killing. The point is points. Each kill, modified by the multiplier, improves a score shared by all three heroes.

When one of the heroes die, a buddy can resurrect him. But when all of you die -- and all of you will die -- your score is converted into experience points. As your hero levels up, he unlocks new pieces of equipment and new skills. For the early levels, there's very little variety. But as you advance, you'll get more options for how to equip your character.

Last Stand brings to Dawn of War II the same co-op gameplay as Gears of War 2's horde mode, Halo 3: ODST's firefight mode, and Uncharted 2's co-op survival mode. It highlights how effectively the developers at Relic have created an RTS that supports the same action-oriented gameplay as a shooter. But it has an extra ingredient that reminds me of Resistance 2's under-appreciated co-op mode, which also featured three types of characters who leveled up and unlocked new powers as you played. In an insidious touch that shows developer Relic knows how powerful that RPG hook can be, the post-game screen for your hero always shows you the next piece of equipment you'll unlock. It's like a small strong voice inviting you to play again because you've got a treat coming.