As a seasoned gamer with a soft spot for strategy games, I must say that Empire of the Ants has truly piqued my interest. Having tackled everything from Age of Empires to StarCraft and beyond, this game offers a refreshing twist on the genre – one that’s as intriguing as it is accessible.
Even if you’re a regular reader of my content, you may not know about my secret, hidden passion. I am an ant guy. Or well, aspiring ant guy, I should say.
Since I was a young child exploring the soil in England’s bustling Midlands, ants have always captivated me. Their organized behavior and complex social structure, their unique biological roles, and the intricate subterranean homes they build never failed to amaze me. Such fascinating creatures I thought, only to be disappointed when my parents wouldn’t let me fulfill my childhood dreams of having an ant farm. As the years passed and responsibilities piled up in adulthood, my passion for ants seemed to disappear. But now, that passion has been rekindled once more.
Now that I’ve reached adulthood and have my own resources, I have the freedom to purchase an ant farm if I choose to do so, and this time, no one – not even my parents – can prevent me. However, my girlfriend might have some influence, but let’s not put a damper on things just yet.
It feels like YouTube’s amazing algorithm has delved into the hidden corners of my mind and started presenting me with ant-related content lately. Channels such as AntsCanada and Homemade Ecosystems have been populating my feed with an abundance of ants, making me eagerly look forward to the day when I can construct my own vivarium.
But wait, Jez, wtf does this have to do with gaming? Well, friends, I’m here to tell you about the fantastic next best thing to owning your very own ant farm. Coming soon to Xbox, PC, and PlayStation: Empire of the Ants, which I had the privilege of playing just last week.
Entire the Empire of the Ants
During Xbox presentations, I came across the initial previews for Empire of the Ants, and was instantly captivated by its intriguing insect charm. The graphics are simply breathtaking, and the video above accurately reflects what I witnessed on my RTX 4070 PC. The game is remarkably optimized, featuring enchanting tilt-shift visuals that highlight the miniature universe of ants and their kin.
In essence, Empire of the Ants is primarily a strategy game, and let me share my surprise that it’s quite narrative-driven. Initially, I had anticipated a game more like Sim Ant, but upon further investigation, I found it to be highly interactive, with an unexpected focus on storytelling and delivery.
The Ant Empire, a French science fiction novel, intertwines human life in Paris with that of an ant colony residing there as well. The narrative delves into the struggles and hardships faced by the ant society, complete with scientifically accurate details that earned it acclaim during its time. Essentially, it’s a war-themed story as the ants grapple with threats to their colony and territory, encountering unforeseen weapons from beyond their awareness, internal betrayals, and power struggles reminiscent of royal courts. The book is often likened to “Game of Thrones, but with ants,” due to its unexpected twists and turns. Interestingly, despite being separate entities, all ants within the colony could be considered kin in a sense.
In my demonstration, I had the opportunity to work directly with an early build of Microids’ showcase for Gamescom 2024. This build provided me with a comprehensive understanding of the game’s layout. The game offers multiple hub areas where the narrative unfolds. In my first mission, the Queen assigned me tasks to address logistical issues in a colony that had just emerged from winter hibernation into spring. As the seasons advance or missions progress, the environment undergoes significant transformations. This experience made me aware of how even a little rain for humans is comparable to a catastrophic flood event for ants, as the entire map became flooded after the initial mission due to rainwater. For an ant, puddles would be like oceans. The game incorporates such themes extensively in its storytelling, similar to the book, as per reviews I’ve read.
The narrative of this game is developed hand-in-hand with its original creator, and boasts music composed by Mark Choi and Mathieu Alvado, who are also known for their work on Rayman and Baldur’s Gate 3. As you navigate the central world and uncover new story elements, you’ll have opportunities to embark on strategic or exploratory missions. Microids and developers at Tower Five seem to have prioritized accessibility without compromising depth, offering two ways for players to progress the plot. If you prefer a less intense gameplay experience but still want to follow the story, the more leisurely explorative combat mode might be more suitable. It’s worth noting that Tower Five has excelled at making the strategic layer user-friendly, featuring intuitive controls and design that should feel familiar even for newcomers to real-time strategy games.
Real strategy but accessible (and fun) for newcomers
Following my encounter with the queen and pledging to launch a preventative attack against an aggressive termite colony located to the north, I embarked upon the game’s inaugural tactical mission to gain an idea of what lay ahead in the game’s meaty 20+ hour narrative campaign.
In this scenario, your helpful ant avatar serves dual roles, acting as both a commander and a navigational tool. Using the joystick, you can effortlessly traverse various terrains, whether it’s jumping onto ledges or clinging to surfaces in an authentic ant-like manner. Initially, maneuvering upside-down might feel confusing, but with time, you’ll adapt and efficiently control your six-legged troops.
In contrast to strategic games like Age of Empires or StarCraft that focus heavily on resource management, Empire of the Ants adopts a much more dynamic, swift-moving approach, emphasizing action over resource gathering.
As a researcher studying this intriguing ecosystem, I find myself focusing on strategies that center around expanding my colony by taking over rival nests of other insect species. It’s essential to ensure that smaller colonies are strategically invaded and dispersed, providing us with fresh territories for growth and resource gathering. Scouting plays a crucial role here, utilizing our primary ant as an explorer to survey the surroundings effectively, enabling us to establish satellite colonies thoughtfully.
For instance, if you notice a large piece of food nearby, it could be beneficial to assemble a team of workers quickly to establish a delivery system for that stranded food source. A consistent food supply can significantly boost your production rate, and when it comes to combat, rapidly expanding populations of soldiers, antacid-spraying ants, or airborne ant bombers becomes progressively crucial.
As you expand on the battlefield, your targets will become clear. For our demonstration, my goal was to eliminate a competing termite colony that posed a threat to ant territories. Eliminating these termites proved to be a tougher task than fending off smaller groups of emerging rival ant species. Fortunately, the game provides you with the necessary tools to meet this challenge effectively.
Using your Nest locations, you have the ability to learn techniques to issue pheromone orders that uplift, heal, and strengthen your troops in the area. Additionally, you can summon powerful units and hordes of tough insects for challenging battles; however, these are harder to obtain compared to regular units, so it’s essential to use them wisely.
I was surprised how easy and intuitive the gamepad controls were, making good use of the playable ant as a sort of “cursor” to interact with nests for spawning units and the like. You literally crawl over the UI buttons to activate them, which is quite clever, and will make it ideal for devices like the ASUS ROG Ally and Steam Deck too. It’s also easy to separate units into different categories to create separate groups and battalions, and send them across the battlefield using the camera to target specific icons. It’s not unlike being a squad commander in Battlefield, assigning orders, although your squad is actually guaranteed to listen in Empire of the Ants.
Although Empire of the Ants didn’t exactly meet my expectations as a simulation strategy game, its captivating plotline and stunning graphics make it a game definitely worth looking forward to.
It’s a bug’s life for me
In essence, “Empire of the Ants” is a strategy game with a unique twist, closer in style to games like Minecraft Legends or Overlord, rather than Age of Empires. This difference could make it more approachable for newcomers to the genre. The simplicity of gameplay adds to its accessibility, while the court intrigue, ant-based military strategies, and photorealistic graphics give it a distinctive flavor that many real-time strategy (RTS) titles lack.
As a researcher exploring the upcoming ant-themed game for Xbox, I ponder whether the combat scenarios will offer sufficient diversity and depth to prevent monotony. Despite their lack of facial expressions, I find myself drawn in enough to rank this among my most eagerly awaited titles.
Grab Empire of the Ants on November 7, 2024, for Steam, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.
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2024-08-06 18:12