Ancestors Legacy gameplay trailer showcases 'historically accurate' medieval RTS

It's no secret that I am not a fan of Destructive Creation's previous game, IS Defense. (Its debut effort, Hatred, was mainly just embarrassing.) But the studio's new project, a "historically accurate" RTS called Ancestors Legacy (originally just Ancestors, but it was renamed to be "more unique"), looks like it might have a little more going on.

The game features four playable "tribes"—Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, Germans, and Slavs—each with unique units and characteristics, and both large and small-scale battles that unfold across a campaign "inspired by historical events and people." The Vikings who appear in the gameplay trailer, for instance, take advantage of light infantry and cavalry to be more mobile than the other races.

"Vikings play the role of aggressors in the game, so they don’t have permanent buildings that may be considered a 'base.' Their tactics are based on an ambush–attack–retreat formula, and it works frightfully well for them," the studio explained. "They do have some simple settlements, though, and it’s worth noting that they are based on military camps from the 10th–11th century. The tribe as such is based on Vikings who lived in the area of modern-day Norway, Sweden, and Denmark in the period between the 9th and 11th centuries." 

The gameplay segment in the video looks very scripted, and standing around shouting huzzahs after killing a guy in the middle of somebody's back yard—on a stealth mission, no less—looks pretty silly. But ugly subject matter aside, IS Defense is a pretty competent turret shooter, and with the experience of a couple of games behind it plus support from publisher 1C, Destructive Creations may well be able to build Ancestors Legacy into a genuinely interesting RTS. 

Ancestors Legacy doesn't have a release date yet but Destructive Creations said it's coming "soon." For now, you can find out more at destructivecreations.pl.
 

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.