Ancestors Legacy Demo

Although there was a time when RTS games were just as hyped as shooters or adventure titles, the last few years have been pretty quiet for the genre. Certainly, series like Total War and Warhammer are still around, but they are more about the battles themselves rather than the struggle to build bases and create your own units. Thankfully, it would appear that the niche is not totally dead, especially when you consider the release of Ancestors Legacy.

Ancestors Legacy is a real-time strategy game with a focus on the tactical aspect, which means that although you still get to erect structures and create units, the battles are where the fun is at. In essence, you can think of the game as Company of Heroes set in medieval Europe, which is definitely an exciting idea. Naturally, the game was designed for strategy buffs, so expect quite a few advanced features in terms of gameplay.

The campaign revolves around the conflicts that took place in Europe during the Middle Ages, and you get to choose from four available nations: The Anglo-Saxons, the Germans, the Slavs or the Vikings. Each one of them has specific strengths and weaknesses, so you are guaranteed a new experience if you decide to play the campaign all over again with a different faction.

When you are not raiding settlements and capturing territory, you can also expand your own bases and collect resources in order to recruit more troops. Granted, this whole side of the game is streamlined to be as efficient as possible, so don’t expect something akin to Age of Empires. Even so, you definitely need to pay some attention to your base, especially if you want to reinforce your troops and gain access to better units.

The battles are visceral and bloody, but they are not mindless clashes with outcomes decided by pure numbers. Instead, there are a variety of factors that affect the troops once they engage in a fight, including the terrain, their past experience and their morale. Picking your battles wisely is very important, because even your strongest units can be taken down with ease if you don’t position them accordingly.

It’s about time we see some movement in the genre, and Ancestors Legacy certainly holds up under scrutiny. The four factions have enough unique features to make multiple playthroughs a pleasant experience, and there’s also the multiplayer mode to consider. Hence, it’s worth a shot if you happen to be a fan of tactical strategy games.