Empire of the Ants Review (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, & PC)

Microids gave Empire of the Ants, based on a novel of the same name written by Bernard Werber, a first try back in 2000. However, the reception wasn’t all too great, so the video game adaptation went into some kind of hiatus –until now. With the second try, Microids has published a new version of the game in partnership with developer Tower Five. And to say the result has been an overwhelming success will pretty much be the understatement of the year. 

Listen, if you ever imagined controlling an ant in a video game, this is it. You really feel like a micro being seeing and fighting against insects many times your size. Butterflies are no longer nature’s wonders but prey –if you can catch them. Closing large distances no longer takes a few measly steps but sprinting and twisting around leaves and barks of wood. All along, you’re experiencing the world through the eyes of an ant, with everything else macro enlarged to jaw-dropping sights. 

That’s the best part of playing this game. It’s like experiencing a nature documentary through a video game; arguably, the best way to really sink in and be in the moment. You can understandably so be still on the fence about buying the game. Hopefully, our Empire of the Ants review below helps clear any cobwebs still lingering in your mind.

Think Like a Queen

Empire of the Ants’ story isn’t the most far-fetched one, even though the game is based on an exciting novel. As far as I can tell, the novel’s story has very little to do with what you’ll be unraveling in the game. Instead, you take control of constituent #103,683, finding his place in the ant world. Giving you guidance is the Queen of your colony, who tasks you with defending your home against intruders and conquering neighboring nests to expand your dominance. 

You essentially become the commander of a legion of ants, gradually increasing your numbers the more battles you fight through unscathed. The point is, the world in Empire of the Ants isn’t the most peaceful for reasons that don’t really seem to matter. You constantly run into hostile species, quite a varied number of types, might I add, and rage war against them. When not warring, you send out ant collectors to gather resources for the colony. And when not battling or gathering resources, well, you can head out into the breathtaking environments around you and simply enjoy taking in nature’s wonders.

Know Thy Self

First things first, you have to choose the unit types you need in your corner. Empire of the Ants has a decent variety of them, ranging from close-quarters units to ranged combatants and even ones who thrive in support roles. Onward, you’ll unlock many more units that expand your selection to include workers, warriors, gunners, super predators, and more. These all have such intricate detail and design, varying not just in role but also in appearance and size. Admittedly, gamers with myrmecophobia, or arachnophobia for that matter, will probably have a difficult time sitting still through the spawn animations. 

If anything, Empire of the Ants has nailed photorealism so perfectly. Every little creature looks and feels as real as an ant crawling up to you in the real world. And the environments around you brim with natural lighting, immersive shadows, and textures. It’s all so beautifully done that you can almost pause the game just to capture screenshots and pin them to your bedroom wall. And the fact that you’re but a tiny creature experiencing the stunning beauty around you from a completely new perspective just adds to the overall charm of the visual design. Oh, and the audio, too, is quite invigorating. Apparently, the chirping birds and rustling twigs are all captured from real-world French forests. 

Know Thy Enemy

Anyway, fawning over the design and audio aside, it’s time to take the fight to the neighboring nests around you. After all, as your colony grows, you’ll need more nests to exert dominance across the ant world. At first, your foes will be easy to kill with insect sizes like yours. However, soon, you’ll span out to conquering termites, firebugs, praying mantises, beetles, and all strange sorts of creatures. All, mind you, coming at you in waves, swarming all around you, so much so that you’re pushed to make split-second decisions between pushing through or retreating to nurse your wounds. 

You can always live to fight another day, allowing your legions to heal back at your respective bases. But remember, you still need to gather resources, so be sure to send out some collectors to bring back supplies. Tied together, Empire of the Ants’ gameplay works wonderfully well. I mean, sure, during combat, all you do is select the units you want to forge into battle and then sit back as they get their hands dirty for you. However, from time to time, they will need your help to give them extra buffs. These need to be physically tracked down at the base and delivered to the respective units. They can be pretty essential to winning battles, as some provide buffs as powerful as faster movement, protective shields, or regenerating health. Or they can even debuff the enemy, making them more susceptible to damage.

Sense of Duty

Still, Empire of the Ants never reaches the in-depth customization and strategic level of the likes of Company of Heroes. The combat is, ultimately, simple enough to pick up and play, especially on the controller that has often suffered in the real-time strategy genre. Any newcomer to the genre will have a blast here, while veterans will enjoy the change of pace. I guess the positive trade-off is that there has never really been a military-like RTS where you command entire armies of ants. It sounds insane, yet the gameplay works like a charm, reeling you further and further into a thrilling battle system. And the visuals remain ever pleasant, with even dramatics included like ants flying and limbs ripping off of stricken body parts. 

Despite the flood of activity on-screen, as ants go up against termites and a ton of other species, the performance remains ever so smooth. You hardly ever experience any bugs or frame rate drops, even in the more solo missions, where #103,683 goes off on his own to explore the world. You’re sprinting across incredibly detailed barks and leaping between leaves. These are the simpler platforming sections you’ll be engaging in single-player. The platforming can be inconsistent at times, where the controls don’t flow as smoothly as in all the other areas of gameplay. And some of the missions can feel dull, like the hunt for butterflies and all. These should be fun things to do, but something feels off in their execution. 

Three’s A Crowd

That’s where multiplayer comes in. Yup, if you can imagine it to be true, you and your friends can control armies of ants in battle skirmishes, competing against one another. Whether in PvP, ranked 1v1, or three free-for-all matches, Empire of the Ants lets you play against friends or AI. And the multiplayer gameplay is just as fun, too, with similarly smooth controls and easy-to-learn, hard-to-master matches. 

Verdict

Empire of the Ants has been a surprising addition to the gaming scene. It gives those players who’ve always craved to play as an ant a chance to experience the world from a microlens. The change in perspective, with trees hovering above you, brings an exciting sense of relief after a long day. It’s a relaxing experience sprinting across detailed barks and leaping off leaves. All this is enveloped by an impressive photorealistic display. Microids has really squeezed every ounce of Unreal Engine 5’s goodness to publish a stunning and gorgeous game. 

It’s so stunning you might mistake it for an actual nature documentary. This also goes a long way to bring the battle skirmishes to life. Having waves of ants go at it could have easily turned into a chaotic mess. But Tower Five has managed to withstand all the activity on the screen, still delivering a high-quality experience with flawless performance. You almost never experience any bugs or frame rate drops. Additionally, the controller works surprisingly well, which isn’t always easy to achieve with games of the RTS genre. 

That said, you may find the battle system a little too simple. There are fewer customization and strategic elements to grapple with, at least compared to the likes of Company of Heroes. The single-player missions also lack excitement and fun. Chasing down food and platforming through twigs and leaves should be a lot more fun than it currently is. In any case, what Empire of the Ants lacks in depth and strategy, it makes up for with easy-to-learn mechanics and jaw-dropping battle animations. It sounds barely enough, but the visuals and sound scores are really that good –if not pitch-perfect.