Polish strategy game in the realities of fantasy, in which the gameplay model ranks among the subspecies RTS, god game and 4X. It was created by the Star Drifters studio, formed by co-founders of CI Games (Lords of the Fallen, Sniper: Ghost Warrior).
Driftland: The Magic Revival is a fantasy strategy game for the PC platform, combining elements of RTS, life simulator and classic 4X strategy. The Warsaw Star Drifters studio, founded by Michał Sokolski and Krzysztof Jakubowski - co-founders of City Interactive (later CI Games), responsible for its creation, is responsible for works on such productions as Alien Rage or Sniper series: Ghost Warrior.
Story
The action takes place on the title planet Driftland, which, as a result of a former war, waged by magicians of four races, disintegrated into many small pieces. In the face of extermination, the feuding parties were forced to make an agreement, by virtue of which they used up the rest of their magic to create a powerful spell that kept the world in balance. The war had a negative impact on the living conditions of the destroyed planet, and its inhabitants became similar to the barbarian tribes. After several centuries of progressive degeneration, a glimmer of hope appeared in the form of a rebirth of magic, allowing for the re-integration of the globe. However, the old conflict also returned with it. In the game, you play the magician, who is the new ruler of one of the races, and our task is to take advantage of the opportunity to restore balance on Driftland and make him his own kingdom.
Mechanics
Game mechanics in Driftland: The Magic Revival combines elements of several genres, such as classic RTSs or 4X strategies, based on expansion, exploration, exploitation and extermination. The entire game economy was based on resources and magic, but unlike the aforementioned types of games, the authors gave up the tedious and time-consuming micro-management, placing particular emphasis on making strategic decisions and setting and achieving goals.
The main tasks of the player include taking care of the kingdom and its development, and the key element of the game is to explore the algorithmically generated world and gradually merge individual islands to expand our sphere of influence. The strategic and tactical part is played on the same map, and during the fight we direct troops composed of a number of diverse units, who, for example, can tame and ride flying animals. During the game, however, we do not have a direct impact on the actions of our subjects, and all interference in the game world is based on issuing orders and assigning certain subjects to our subjects. Helpful in this turns out the magic, through which we can move parts of the planet, and even change the prevailing on them biomes.
Technical issues
Driftland: The Magic Revival released on the PC platform was created based on the advanced (though rarely used in strategic games) Unreal Engine 4 engine, which guarantees a high level of visual frame. At the same time, the entire mechanics were subordinated to the principle: "easy to learn, difficult to master" - thanks to which the game will include both veterans of strategic games and quite novice players.