Sometimes, there’s no greater pleasure in life than destroying things with your own hands. Perhaps that says a lot more about me than I’d care to believe… Still, the very act of toppling dominoes, crushing sand castles underfoot, or punching through a Barbie Dream house is a pleasure I can’t get enough of.
It isn’t every day that I actually get to don the Blood Raven Space Marines’ weapon of choice, but in an effort to promote Dawn of War III, Sega offered me the opportunity to really feel the power that an inter-stellar army has at its disposal.
Weighing over 10kg, with 6kg of that resting in the CNC-milled aerospace-grade aluminium knuckles, this punching machine is an absolute beast. Using two air canisters, the Power Fist can deliver 3,000 PSI of impact alongside my already impressive right hook*. While intended for use on the battlefields of Acheron, crushing Ork and Eldar skulls and ribs, I had plenty of fun taking out my pent-up frustration on crockery, plant pots, plasterboard and a children’s doll house. In all honesty, I think the 40K universe would be a far more peaceful place if people just used these things recreationally rather than on the battlefield.
It’s a gloriously brutal device, which I’ve been told is even capable of punching straight through a brick wall. Obviously, the in-game model is capable of smashing off the side of a tank, but I definitely don’t have the physique of a Space Marine – or do I come into contact with many tanks – so it’s unlikely this real-world model will face the same tests as in Dawn of War III.
Outside of 40K lore, wielding the Power Fist isn’t as straightforward as you’d think. While holding 10kg in one hand may not sound like too much of a task, swinging it is another matter. Feeling a little like RoboCop, to use the Power Fist I first had to be strapped into a weight-bearing harness with an extra anchor point for the fist to rest on.
On my first punch, I fired the extending knuckles too early and punched a flower pot to pieces with my own momentum rather than with the aid of the Power Fist’s extra punch – which was still pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.
As far as PR stunts go, this is clearly utterly absurd. But, then again, I still got to smash a number of inanimate objects. It’s clear that Sega has a fair whack of budget to put behind this endeavor and, in all honesty, building a replica weapon from Dawn of War III is far better than carving up a beheaded goat at a game launch event – I’m looking at you, Sony.
If you’ve now feverishly started scouring the web to see how you can get your hands on your own Power Fist, you’ll be disappointed to hear that you won’t actually find it packaged up as part of some super-deluxe collector’s edition of Dawn of War III. This device is a complete one-off. So, while you may not get the chance to wield such a powerful fist, you can enjoy the spectacle that is me smashing things for fun – or for work, you decide.
If you’re wondering how Sega and Relic Entertainment went about creating this beast, VFX company Rewind helped bring it to life. You can watch a behind-the-scenes video of its creation below.
Dawn of War III is out on PC on 27 April. You can see a roundup of the reviews and find out everything else you need to know in our Dawn of War III hub.
*I can’t throw a punch, sorry.
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