Empire of the Ants review: a photorealistic game with glitchy strategy elements

Usually, when I review a game full of bugs, I’m not a happy camper. But Empire of the Ants makes me look at the world from a different angle. A very small, albeit strong angle.

Taking control of 103,683 taught me what it’s like to be an ant trying to survive in the world, and that includes a surprising amount of termite killing.

It all comes through in stunning photorealistic graphics and real-time strategy (RTS) gameplay as you help 103,683rd place (No, really, that’s her name.) carrying out tasks for his mother, the queen, and helping his sisters when their ant colony awakens from hibernation in the spring.

Empire of Ants: what is it?

Empire of Ants – Release Trailer – YouTube

Based on Bernard Weber’s 1991 French science fiction novel Le Fourmis, which tells a parallel story about the lives of a man and an ant living in a colony in Paris. The novel was eventually translated into English, where it was titled Empire of the Ants. As for the game it’s inspired by, Empire of the Ants is a real-time strategy game centered primarily around one particular ant.

The ant, 103683rd, is part of a larger colony that is awakening from hibernation in the forest of Fontainebleau. There is a lot of work to be done as the colony needs to obtain food and other resources while fending off threats from termites and other enemies.

Empire of Ants was developed by Tower Five, published by Microids and developed on Unreal Engine 5.4 using photogrammetry to provide a hyper-realistic look of the forest and the creatures that inhabit it.

Can Empire of the Ants be played on portable consoles?

There is currently no confirmation that Empire of the Ants will be playable on portable consoles such as Steam deck or ROG Ally. The development studio stated on the Steam forums that it intends to focus on releasing the game on Xbox, PC and PlayStation first, before devoting time or resources to the portable version of the game. This announcement hasn’t closed the door on handheld devices, but it may be a while before we see the official release of a handheld version.

Empire of Ants: Story and Gameplay

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Empire of the Ants on Xbox Series X is one of the biggest games of 2024, and it's all about the bugs in the gameplay. — Players can find many animals in the forest, which are available in the bestiary.(Image credit: Windows Central)

Although Empire of the Ants is based on the book of the same name by Bernard Werber, it has undergone some significant changes in its plot to become the game we present. Werber did work with Microids and Tower Five on a game adaptation of the book, but the human element of the parallel lives with the ants is lost here. Instead, we only see 103,683’s view of the world, taking place in the forest of Fontainebleau rather than Paris. However, the forest setting presents its own challenges, dangers, and storytelling opportunities.

We see 103683’s colony tackle several challenges, from finding resources to finding missing colony members to helping a sister colony that is unprepared for a flood. 103683’s mother, the queen, insists on expanding the colony, and in 103683 she expects to commit a huge number of termite killings for her sake.

Empire of the Ants on Xbox Series X is one of the biggest games of 2024, and it's all about the bugs in the gameplay.

The ants used to make a peace treaty with the termites, but now those pesky little pests will have to go. (Image credit: Windows Central)

This brings us to a discussion of the combat and gameplay of Empire of the Ants. At first glance, Empire of the Ants is a “child’s first strategy game.” It’s simplistic and accessible, but hardcore real-time strategy fans will likely feel confused by what Empire of the Ants has to offer.

Combat missions typically focus on building the 103,683rd nest with defenses and then selecting a legion for that nest. Players are limited to a maximum number of legions of seven, which severely limits the number of units that can be used in battle. It’s hard to justify creating a legion of aphids that are fragile and weak to all enemy types when you could just have an extra group of veteran warriors or another stronger legion instead.

In Empire of the Ants there is a hierarchy of legion units and what type of units are best suited to fight all the others. However, due to the game’s fewer units and simplified mechanics, it was impractical to focus on nitpicking enemy attacks. Rather, it would be just as effective and more efficient to select all the units and simply have them beat up the termite mound or stray insect that was currently the object of my ire.

Empire of the Ants on Xbox Series X is one of the biggest games of 2024, and it's all about the bugs in the gameplay.

For a real-time strategy game, Empire of the Ants contains a lot of unexpected platforming. (Image credit: Windows Central)

If you want to spend all your time with Empire of the Ants waging war against insects, you might be shocked to learn that the game features a lot of exploration and platforming. The 103,683rd visits central cities between missions, speaking with various queens and ant sisters to learn snippets of stories. In some cases, the 103 683rd is sent on missions that have very little strategy and a lot of platforming.

The problem is that 103683 is a very small ant in a very big world. Navigating these wide-open spaces with her and trying to cross flooded zones that bring instant death with a rudimentary jump function that gives no idea where you’re going to land leaves a lot to be desired. This is a noticeable change in gameplay that negatively slows down the overall flow of Empire of the Ants.

Empire of Ants: Audio and Graphics

Empire of the Ants on Xbox Series X is one of the biggest games of 2024, and it's all about the bugs in the gameplay.

Empire of Ants is built on Unreal Engine 5.4. (Image credit: Windows Central)

To say that Empire of the Ants isn’t visually stunning is to understate its achievements. I’m old enough to remember Microid’s first attempt at Empire of the Ants in the early 2000s flopped due to poor graphics. This definitely won’t happen with the Tower Five version. Using Unreal Engine version 5.4 and photogrammetry to create a 1:1 scale photorealistic forest and insect set, Empire of the Ants’ visuals are simply stunning.

However, there is still room for improvement in the world of the Ant Empire. While it’s easy to get lost in the way light bounces through a tree’s canopy and how the tree’s bark has just the right amount of crevices, it’s hard not to notice that there’s just a little plasticity in the world. When the insects crawl through the grass for the next battle, there is no life left for the plants between their thin legs. The wind doesn’t move the leaves, and everything is too quiet.

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It’s clear that Empire of the Ants’ budget was gobbled up by the licensing and art department. The game’s soundtrack consists of individual songs for each level, but in the grand scheme of things, they’re easy to forget. In missions with larger battles, the music got louder and louder as you get closer to the final boss of that mission, which was a nice change. Tower Five recorded the sounds of the forest from living forests, giving Fontainebleau a breath of life.

Empire of the Ants: Final Thoughts

Empire of the Ants on Xbox Series X is one of the biggest games of 2024, and it's all about the bugs in the gameplay.

Don’t let 103,683’s adorable little jaws fool you. It strikes fear into the hearts of many termites. (Image credit: Windows Central)

of course there is a lot of space real time strategy a genre of accessible and accessible games such as Empire of the Ants. However, since the game is billed as a real-time strategy game, fans of the genre might be surprised to boot up the game and find themselves having to navigate a flooded forest on a platform and search for missing ants that are nearly invisible. in the environment.

Empire of the Ants also offers cross-platform multiplayer with 1v1 or 1v1v1 gameplay options. Again, streamlined strategy gameplay makes this online mode a worthy choice for newcomers or those looking to try their hand at real-life strategy games time. However, it is difficult to recommend that an avid RTS fan pick this strategy game due to the level of rock-paper-scissors strategy.

In terms of multiplayer, I think Empire of the Ants is a game that would benefit from being included in Xbox Game Pass if only to create a base of supporting players. Unfortunately, at $50 it’s a little harder to sell, even if it’s absolutely gorgeous.