I was given the opportunity to try out Ancestors Legacy during the closed and open beta. And I must say right away that this RTS (real time strategy) game has extremely good potential.
“Take command of your army as you storm through medieval Europe in an extensive series of campaigns. Choosing one of the four available nations – Viking, Anglo-Saxon, German, Slav – you will be tasked with more than just conquering, raiding and pillaging enemy camps, villages and towns. Only by utilizing the full range of available tactical options, taking strategic advantage of the environment, and managing your temporary bases and settlements, will you emerge victorious.
Ancestors Legacy is a historically accurate real-time strategy game influenced by historical events in the Middle Ages. The game combines resource management and base building with large-scale, squad-based battles across vast battlefields, all rendered in great detail thanks to the Unreal Engine 4 tech. Experience medieval bloodshed like never before, thanks to the cinematic action camera that puts you right in the middle of the battle at the press of a button.” – Steam page
Good
Let’s start with what’s good in Ancestors Legacy. The graphics in Ancestors may not be a wow factor, but it’s still not that bad. Character design and environmental graphics are well detailed and give the right sense of the setting they try to show.
What they do very well is the music choice and sound design in the game, providing a good and heroic atmosphere to it.
The game in its entirety is reasonably stable and performs well, despite some server problems sometimes is expected of a game that has not yet been released. One match may take between 30-40 minutes to complete, depending on which mode you have chosen. (1v1, 2v2, 3v3). Something I think fits just fine.
What I liked very well is the way you play, because in Ancestors Legacy, the focus is not on building base or resources like in Starcraft or Age of Empires to name a few. No here, the focus is more on fighting strategies and squad tactics. And I really enjoyed the features like making traps, hiding in grass and not least day / night cycle.
Bad
The lack of tutorials and tooltips wasn’t a very good first impressions (This might be added at launch). The lack of this made it a little difficult to understand how things worked and what they “want us to do”. I did found out how things worked and found out some tactics I could use, but I missed some tips and tricks on various things that affect the actual experience and, not least, the opportunity to explore new things.
Now, I do not want to look at the lack of base construction as a negative, but the camera position on another hand, I wish it was a feature that I could zoom in and out. At times, the camera felt too far “into the game” or zoomed in, something that made it a little difficult to keep track of what’s happening or to control the troops.
Besides that, there are a lot of small bugs and polishing needed to improve this game.
I see a good potential in the Ancestors Legacy and don’t disregard if I will spend some hours in this game when it’s released.
Developed by Destructive Creations / Published by 1C Company
Features
- 4 playable nations in an extensive single player campaign inspired by historical events
- Advanced tactical options combining the use of terrain, experience and morale
- Cinematic battle camera view puts you right in the center of the action
- Outstanding visual fidelity powered by Unreal Engine 4
- Intense multiplayer battles
- Streamlined resource management and village construction
Ancestors Legacy will be released on the Xbox One (Q1 2019) and PC (22 May 2018).
