Empire of the Ants Review

We all know the unfortunate status of RTS games. If it's not a dead horse, then it definitely is a horse with a broken leg. That is to say, it is as good as dead. While the years have had great games as well as upcoming expectations, most seem to have failed or just haven't been as good as people thought they'd be.

Not all were failures; some have been in their own niches and stuck out of the crowd. Empire of the Ants is one such game, or at least, it tries to be. Developed by Tower Five, a console-focused studio based in France and published by Microids, Empire of the Ants is a mix between an RTS and a 3D platformer, although it likes to advertise itself as more of an RTS.

You start Empire of the Ants as Ant number 103,683. You are a worker in the fancy city of Bel-o-Kan. I call it a city, but it's basically an ant colony. You are basically the protagonist, whom everyone likes and trusts, and as such, you have to solve all their problems.

As previously mentioned, the game is a mix between a platformer and an RTS, with the mission options being split between them. To focus on the platform portion first, as you start off here, you move around in an incredibly designed photorealistic terrain.

You're a tiny ant, so you can jump incredible heights and move around nooks and crannies without much issue. The game does a good job of making the world feel small, but as you play along, the tunnel vision gets stronger, and your size starts to feel irrelevant.

The terrain is also pretty natural while still being your natural platformer. You mostly jump between twigs, rocks, and leaves. Just like in real life, Ants can move incredibly fast, and you can really breeze through the terrain as if you're in Life is Strange or Assassin's Creed. The first mission requires you to do a bunch of fetch and carry missions, talking to another ant, and completing a few objectives.

You can scan memory pheromones to find information, and most of the platformer sections are based on exploration. The platforming sections are somewhat eventful, requiring you to put some thought into what you might or might not do. And you can't and shouldn't rush things either—remember, you're an ant.

Empire of the Ants’ RTS portions let you command legions of ants; these legions are groups of a specific kind of unit, split between workers, gunners, and warriors. There are some units that you can unlock, too, but they're mostly minor. There are also the various allies and units you control, as well as variants that have their niches.

Combat works like a rock, paper, scissors system. Workers are good against Gunners; Gunners easily deal with Warriors, and Warriors prey on Workers. There are different nests that you can build on, as well as acting and field structures, and the main gameplay plays on these. You have to be effectively positioned and efficiently use your limited units to come out on top.

The combat sadly mostly encompasses over-land, with the game mostly ignoring underground elements of ant life. You can make upgrades, build structures, and get newer units [also via upgrades] to bolster your forces. You can get reinforcements as well; the combat is pretty straightforward and, at the same time, somewhat complex. You have access to pheromones that give different bonuses, and things like this add layers to combat.

The nests are your primary tool for expansion and upgrades. They have chambers where all your upgrades go, and these upgrades can do all of the things mentioned earlier and present active abilities that can turn the tide of battle.

There's no real AI to the units, as it's basically just a bunch of circles moving around and fighting whatever other circle happens to come in contact with them. Visually, your veterans and elites don't have any distinction between them. Which is somewhat realistic, but it's a damn shame. 

In a game where you can command ants, you are more likely to do good when you mostly ignore them and focus on the far stronger beetles and other support units. For fans who like a lot of strategy and organization, you will be left even more disappointed as you don't have the ability to put your legions into groups. You either command one circle or all of them.

Empire of the Ants doesn't really do a good job of switching between the two aspects of the game, and I could've really enjoyed being one or the other. The exploration parts are incredibly calming and soothing, with the atmosphere to boot.

The combat parts are intense if a little boring. Actually, intense might be the wrong word, as it becomes pretty repetitive after a while. After all, there's only so much variation you can have.

The platform sections are actually better than the RTS ones, as you are mostly left to your own tools to explore and investigate. It is a worthwhile experience, accentuated by the music and atmosphere. You hear birds, insects, and the light breeze, all while gentle music pops.

Empire of the Ants' visuals are amazing and really the main selling point. The photorealistic graphics, accented by the cinematic sections, are incredible. The world is lively, and even in between combat, you may spot bugs walking by or butterflies buzzing around. 

The UI feels clumsy, however. You have to go around and do a lot. It feels confusing to use and is presented in a weird manner. However, the game does a good job of getting information across, and you'll especially like how it distinguishes between unit types. It's not really that bad; it gets the job done, but it's no Metaphor: ReFantaizo in its UI design.

The soundtrack is excellent and keeps up with the game's visuals. Melodies and gentle tunes for exploration that ascend into roaring strings for combat. The music also does a good job of mixing in audio-visual elements, and other sounds mix well with the music.

There are a few multiplayer scenarios that you can tackle as well, giving some options beyond the single-player. However, the single-player is, by far, the most compelling piece of the two.

It's surprisingly engaging, with dialogues and dialogue options that let you into the world of the ants, their thoughts, and the sheer amount of ants makes things incredibly lively. The story with the termites and all its drama is strangely engaging and makes you enthralled by their story, edging for the outcome.

The game does have a number of issues, mainly stemming from core systems. The RTS sections feel extremely barebones and disappointing as an enjoyer of RTS games. You are also incredibly disconnected from your colony. 

You don't help in foraging, you can't build, you can't fight. You are a general of war, not a custodian, and that's incredibly sad. A lot of the elements feel barebones and unfinished, and the two aspects of the game clash. Empire of the Ants isn't a true RTS, being more of a Bannerlord or Warband.

You can't even interact with the enemy as you remain almost an omnipotent figure. Except you're not omnipotent, you can get attacked, but the only relevant thing to it is your health bar. This feels incredibly lazy and a glaring omission, considering there's multiplayer. 

So when you're in the thick of it, it's usually just a lot of un-immersive collisions and a slow tick-down of health with you having no way to deal with it except for ordering some ants to rescue you. Amongst other lazy things is the rendering for other ants, such as the 'black ants,' whose models are exactly the same as yours.

As an ant nerd, rare as it might be, you will also feel disappointed at how unrealistic the game is. From the story perspective, while everything remains intriguing, you are really left with hollow characters, and you might think, 'But they're ants!' Honestly, they don't do a dozen things that ants usually do and a dozen others that they usually don't do. The characters could've used more fleshing out and more building up.

Empire of the Ants also isn't very informational, giving you little to no info about the little critters you are commanding and lording over. What's worse is that there are no underground sections.

Seriously, for an ant game to not have one of the defining aspects of ants? What's worse is that you can't get into the big cool nest. Some segments have you talking to characters or the queen, but you can't actually move around the colony.

The crux of the issue is that Empire of the Ants tries to be two things at once. The strategic elements are barebones, but not that barebones. It opens up the more you play it, but you can't actually get to that point without becoming disillusioned with the game. As said before, it tries to be two things at once, and it does a very bad job or, at best, a decent job at both.

As an RTS, it's too simple, too restrictive, and locked behind a strange choice for a camera. You might notice that resources were barely talked about. That's because resources play a very small role. There's really no real resource management involved.

As a platformer, you don't really get much to do except explore XYZ for the 1935th time. The game could also use bigger maps, and the platforms are mostly two-dimensional; it doesn't really use its 3D environment.

Overall, Empire of the Ants is charming and detail-oriented, if a little empty on the inside. Aside from the immense atmosphere and graphical feats, however, the gameplay starts to become glaring the longer you play. The UI is cluttered and covers up most of the beautiful visuals.

The lack of informational content on ants also makes the title ring hollow as an ant game. Empire of the Ants fails to be a compelling platformer or an engaging RTS and, as a result, isn't really a recommendation for either party unless you're there just to have some fun.