Polanie

When spring finally arrived and Mirko set off for his home, leaving a German ground burned, words from Germans were reaching bloody neighbors of Mirko. German tribes’ messengers, sending promises with gold and silver gifts, instigated greed of Bobrzanie, Trzebowianie, Dadosesani and other Slavic tribes. And so a wave of enemies stormed on Polans’ keeps, and a cruel time it was and merciless was Krahun, god of Slavic warriors. Villages and crops were being burnt, elders and children were slaughtered. Not many Polans were spared a terror and bloodbath brought by greedy neighbors. This is what happened at spring, as Mirko was still far from familiar views. But there was none to bring a word of this tragedy to him, such was enemies’ rage, and such brave was resistance of Polans. A Mirko’s band rode through distant lands, laden with loot and with joy in their hearts, as they were about to meet their families and rest after hardships. However, they couldn’t notice Polans’ advance-guards anywhere, left after their departure and made of teenagers - not kids anymore, but not men yet. There was no sign of living soul or a dead body. So Mirko looked around, his heart filled with uneasiness and fear for his people, that he did not show to his warriors, so they could preserve their joy. But the faster he rushed carts loaded with loot, the closer to truth he was. At last they met with familiar view, with well-remembered tree, stone or rushing stream. Just forest to pass, they thought, and they are home.

Mirko, son of Polans’ duke, returns from successful expedition, longing to see his castle-town. Instead, however, he faces a view of ashes and ruins, turned into that with neighbors’ blade. Looted and burnt villages, with their inhabitants slaughtered. Mirko, blind with anger and lust for revenge, swears to avenge his people. He rebuilds his settlement, gathers warriors and makes plans of revenge. And so, the year 696 has become a curse for the young duke. Murdered wives and children, fathers and mothers. Their barrows, heaped up by Mirko’s men, are decorated with bears’ claws and wolves’ fangs as a sign of promised vengeance. Mirko himself, filled with his desire, cannot wait for Svetovid’s justice, has to fulfill his promise made to himself. But how can he fight alone with so many adversaries without fortified settlements, no supplies, with herds of cows killed or abducted? The first task of wise duke has to be rebuilding his druhzina, strengthening his castle-town and herds require multiplying too. Not that it weakens duke’s anger – not now nor ever, until all his foes will be punished for their treacherous schemes. They won’t murder defenseless anymore, but face brave Mirko’s warriors, till his revenge is fulfilled.

Gameplay

In Polans – first Polish real time strategy – players will take a role of Mirko and lead their warriors through twenty five extremely dangerous scenarios. At the first glance, it is almost identical to Blizzard Entertainment’s hit, a classic WarCraft: Orcs & Humans, but under closer scrutiny, it becomes clear that creators added a few interesting innovations.

Gameplay represents classic RTS style, divided into two parts: economy, and military. Our main resource in Polans for PC is milk, which we spent on training soldiers and building new structures. This leads to the first innovation: meadows become barren if used, but only temporarily – the grass grows again after some time, allowing further exploration. This prevents occurring of typical RTS situation, in which, after long battles, finishing scenario becomes impossible due to the lack of resources. Structures are build by workers, who also act as military units. What we can build depends on our actual resources – the more milk we gather, the more advanced buildings we can construct.

Recruiting soldiers requires a free space in their corresponding house, which leads us to another novelty: workers, for example, might live together, but knights require separate residences. This makes creating a massive army very difficult in Polanie, as recruiting even a few knights requires a lot of time and effort. It is worth noting that aside from classic warriors, Polanie there are also priests, who can cast useful spells. There aren’t as many of them to choose from as in WarCraft: Orcs & Humans, but they are a rather nice addition.

Technical aspects

Audiovisually, Polanie for PC is definitely not astounding. Houses are visibly bland and lack colors, and the construction panel for buildings and soldiers is far from being pleasant for eyes (icons are illegible). On the other hand, audio is on a very good level, both soundtrack and ambient sound, though the latter can sometimes bring a smile of pity. In general, Polanie for PC is an interesting offer for RTS’ fans, with some good ideas, but with deficient execution, though it is possible to get over this.