Review of Ancestors Legacy

To tell you the truth, I did not believe in this studio until the very end. Yes, the debut trailer of Ancestors Legacy looked tempting (and, as it turned out, it really was shot on the game engine, no CGI), but the reputation of the developers was so-so.

Quite unexpected was the transition of Tomasz Gop, who worked on The Witcher 2 and Lords of the Fallen, from City Interactive to Destructive Creations, where he became the producer of a new strategy.

True, my personal waiting rating did not really raise it: I liked the above mentioned games.

But Ancestors Legacy is a strategy, not an RPG, and a studio … well, Hatred did. In short, there was more fear than hope.

The more surprising that the game was on top of all expectations. The Poles managed to create an excellent historical strategy, which does not slide into a silly fantasy and does not offer players in the middle of a campaign to unite Germany, suddenly enlist the support of sorcerers. The closest analogue (in terms of historicity and realism) can be considered Kingdom Come: Deliverance, only there the scale was slightly smaller.

Events Ancestors Legacy are divided into eight separate campaigns (so far only six are available), two per nation.

You can bowl Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, Germans and Slavs.

Each of the campaigns offers a look at a short period of time devoted to certain historical personalities.

For example, the Vikings have a campaign dedicated to Rurik, from the Germans to Rudolf I of Habsburg.

These stories turned out to be rather short, but moderately interesting and dynamic enough.

And most importantly – diverse.

Each campaign focuses on something of its own.

In Mieszko I, for example, the creation of the Polish state and Christianization.

In Rudolph – the struggle against the robber barons and Otakar II, the Czech king.

The game, perhaps, can be called a kind of interactive history textbook.

It’s a pity that the covered time periods turned out to be small.

But this is not the Total War – in Ancestors Legacy generally the time frame is more modest.

But the unique missions in the game is complete. Then you and night viking during the storm, and the systematic destruction of the enemy’s army with the help of cunning (and rare reinforcements), and even maps where you constantly have to fight off the enemy’s attacks, along the way conducting expansion.

Bored, in short, the developers do not give.

And, what’s nice, the tasks in the campaigns are not one-stage ones.

In some cases you have to execute three or four orders before the whole map is opened and the final goal is revealed.

Somewhere it will be necessary to capture an enemy city under cover of night.

Somewhere – to develop and implement a multi-stage plan to destroy a huge army.

Well, or vice versa – quietly sneak into the camp of the enemy and poison the whole camp.

Apparently, because of the decision to focus on the battles, the developers have simplified everything else.

The management of the base is reduced to pressing one button: the buildings are built on pre-selected sites.

The peasants themselves are running to extract the necessary resources.

All you have to do is assign a collection point for the troops and sometimes look into the barracks and smithies to study some new upgrade.

Losing your fighting spirit and the opportunity to improve the army.

The troops of each faction are similar to each other, but this is only at first glance. And then you notice that each unit on the battlefield has its own set of skills, and the local combat system immediately opens the second bottom.

For example, the Viking lancers know how to become a circle, exposing the spears before them.

British archers for a time increase their accuracy and are able to increase the damage to nearby allies.

The abilities of all the units are different, and they seriously help in the battles.

Sometimes they can even play a decisive role in the battle.

Still here the scheme “a stone, scissors, a paper” – when each detachment in a battle against one kind of troops has bonuses is realized, and from another it receives especially strongly. Archers stand out: they are equally effective against everyone, and these at the same time represent an equal danger for the archers themselves.

Even in my head I need to keep all the features of local warriors.

For example, the cavalry is able to break into the enemy system.

And with certain machinations and luck.

The archers have a friendly fire enabled by default, and if you do not pump them to accuracy (or place them incorrectly on the battlefield), you risk losing many of your warriors.

By the way, your warriors can set traps to everything else – pits with dirt or stakes.

It sounds so-so, but it’s really useful on some maps.

Separate words deserve the work of Destructive Creations with graphics.

Ancestors Legacy is based on the engine of Unreal Engine 4 and gives out absolutely fine shots.

If desired, clicking on a separate button can remove the interface and zoom the camera as close to the detachment as possible, which will allow us to view the battlefield – or a bunch of corpses on it – in every detail.

It is pleasantly surprising and a huge number of different animations for each type of warriors.

As well as excellent work with lighting.

True, for a beautiful picture you have to pay – the game sometimes very heavily loads (and heats) the computer, which does not amuse a drop.

And it happens somehow very much randomly – then in an epic batch the wall on the wall suits everything and everything works perfectly.

Then in a stealth mission where you control two units on a tiny map.

It suddenly lacks resources, and the video card – chilling.

This is probably worth writing down for bugs, because they are enough.

And there are bugs as pretty innocuous (non-drawn back cards or trees, for example), and very serious.

For example, in the final mission for Rudolph, you need to take command of a large armybringing your hero to the right point.

However, at that moment scripts flew by me, and as a result,

It also ran off into the corner of the map and as a result.

There was a round dance around the tent.

I finally won the mission (one unit, in fact!).But it took a while to do this, primarily to lure the enemies to the Allied forces. Which, apparently, did not work artificial intelligence.

With the intellect there is generally no harm: the troops in the middle of the battle can suddenly interrupt and begin to attack the defenseless hut.

Although two or three enemy detachments stand before them.

However, even despite the abundance of bugs (most developers know and are already working on fixing them), Ancestors Legacy is still worth your attention.

This is a good real-time strategy, evoking the memory of Dawn of War 2 (or Company of Heroes).

Whose authors have done everything they promised.

That is a realistic strategy about the early Middle Ages in Europe.

A game that, moreover, is not particularly demanding on the player’s skill.

Yes, to fully realize all the capabilities of your troops (especially in the network mode).

You will need quick reaction and the ability to cope with microcontrolling.

But this game will teach you during the campaign.

The mechanics themselves are simple in general – most importantly

Do not forget to monitor the resources and not run along the clean field, rushing headlong.

After all, no one knows exactly where the enemy installed his pits with stakes.

ANCESTORS LEGACY RELEASE DATE