Ancestors Legacy

Ancestors Legacy is an isometric real-time strategy game in which Vikings, Saxons, and other ancient barbarian tribes attempt to conquer medieval Europe through numerous tactical campaigns. You will participate in raids on enemy cities and settlements. You will have a wide range of tactical options at your disposal, as well as advantages from the surrounding environment.

Ancestors Legacy is the debut of the studio Destructive Creations, which previously released the brawler Hatred, in the real-time strategy genre, released for PC, Xbox One, and PS4 in 2018. The game takes place in the dark ages of the Middle Ages and tells the story of the bloody wars of European feudal lords. The developers have created a well-crafted and neatly tailored RTS, where every element is well balanced, featuring many familiar game mechanics and modes for genre fans.

With Ancestors Legacy, even a novice can get by thanks to its low entry threshold. The game has a bit of everything: base building, capturing additional and key points on the map, researching technologies, and upgrading units. There are three types of resources in the game – wood (construction), metal (powerful units and upgrades), and food (morale).

The gameplay is built around four factions: Anglo-Saxons, Germans, Vikings, and Slavs. Each has its own set of units, buildings, technologies, and blessings (which enhance the capabilities of units in attack, defense, or speed).

Unlike the Total War series, in Ancestors Legacy, the player controls a small number of squads of five different types: spearmen, swordsmen, shield-bearers, archers, and cavalry, with adjustments for faction characteristics. The combat system takes into account the type of unit (spearmen can easily handle cavalry), its position, and morale (a squad surrounded will become demoralized and scatter).

Thanks to Unreal Engine 4, the game not only features high-quality graphics but also the influence of the map's landscape and time of day on gameplay. Units hide in dense grass and forests to set ambushes, and at night, visibility is significantly reduced; any flicker of flame reveals their position.

Ancestors Legacy has two single-player modes – story campaigns and "Skirmish," where the player competes against AI on various maps.

The story consists of eight game campaigns, with a couple for each faction, but with different leaders and goals, each offering five missions of increasing difficulty. In these, the player is immersed in stories closely related to reality, inspired by events from the distant past. Units and buildings are designed in precise accordance with their prototypes to help the player feel the era.

The campaign maps are handcrafted, accurately reflecting the actions the player will take. Each mission begins with a drawn briefing explaining the disposition of the sides.

In "Skirmish," the player or AI must destroy each other within a set time or until points run out. The pace of gameplay increases immediately, requiring simultaneous control of unit selection, base upgrades, and capturing and defending resource points. The game maps are different now, balancing the starting positions of players and designed for various numbers – 2, 4, 6, but the number of teams does not exceed two.

In the network battles, Ancestors Legacy reveals itself in the best light. In the 3 on 3 mode, each side has enough units to not only engage in battle on a wide front but also to conduct encirclement, as well as keep a couple of squads in reserve to cover their own flanks.

Battles become more interesting, often the initiative shifts from hand to hand. The role of tactical links between units of different factions increases. Bloody clashes often occur when players, unwilling to retreat, bring in their reinforcements – then everyone fights everyone, and several interesting shots can be made with the action camera.

There are two possibilities for victory – one requires destroying enemy bases, the other – winning by points ("Domination"). Players fight on the same maps as in the game against AI, but now coordination of actions with other players is possible.