Tower Five and Microids’ Empire of the Ants – another adaptation of Bernard Werber’s best-selling novel of the same name – is marching towards its November 7 launch date, and after asking creative director Renaud Charpentier about the surprising RTS and its influences earlier this year, we’ve been able to get a sample of the full thing. Long story short: You may want to keep this one on your radar.
The genre-bending footage and information released previously suggested this new take on Empire of the Ants could be quite similar to Overlord’s riff on real-time strategy and troop management. After spending one hour with the bite-sized preview, which expands on each main type of mission, I walked away convinced Tower Five definitely looked at Triumph Studios’ modern cult classics for some inspiration, and that’s a big positive, as there’s been nothing like them – except for the newer Pikmin titles – in the market for a while now.
We’ve been told the preview takes place some time into the game, which makes sense, as no tutorial was part of the hub and missions I was able to experience. That said, the (gamepad) controls were easy to learn and digest. RTS games have always been a tough nut to crack for consoles, and the better ones always were the ones that were built from the get-go with gamepads in mind. Empire of the Ants, mainly due to its third-person view, is one of these, and I was pleasantly surprised by how well it handled despite its unique, ant-related quirks.
To properly showcase an ant’s movement abilities, the one you directly control is totally glued to the surfaces it sets its feet on, only able to detach itself from them with charged jumps that can be comically long. This means the complex geometry on display in each scenery can be fully navigated, which is a double-edged sword, as you might go dizzy with the camera if you get ‘stuck’ on an especially elaborate asset. After a while, you’ll learn to better navigate the microcosm that surrounds you and the other insects, and the fact even the movement is unlike anything out there is a plus, but has its downsides too.
As the ‘main’ ant, you’re more of a commander who can give other ants and ally insects precise orders with the left and right triggers, use ‘powers’ to temporarily improve stats and boost the performance of the legions, and decide which ‘buildings’ and ‘upgrades’ are developed on the different nests that are captured. The materials that accompanied the preview suggested to play as more of an ant-sized Napoleon, overlooking from a good vantage point the battlefield, and I can confirm that’s the better way to play the game during its more traditional missions.
As teased during our July interview, Empire of the Ants’ campaign is very hub-based, at least when it comes to engaging with different characters outside missions and learning more about the world at your own pace. The preview started at an ant colony where I met the queen and several workers that have different problems that needed solving. Dialogues, against all expectations, are a thing in this game, and they’re full of fun little details and puns, such as acknowledging the stupidly high number of ant soldier legions a single colony might have, that elevate them quite a bit.
The three missions available each took me to a different location close to the colony and represented a new, distinct gameplay loop. In just one hour, I got a pretty good feel for the game and what Tower Five is going for, and I walked away excited to play more. I found the platforming and exploration-focused mission – in which the task was to find and kill three fireflies on my own – the most refreshing, as it completely dropped the RTS mechanics and turned Empire of the Ants into a small third-person adventure. Perhaps pouncing from ridiculously long distances at Fireflies was a bit too simple, but I really enjoyed the locale and the process of finding them while avoiding the water and other threats. Arachnophobes beware!
The other two (much grander in scope) quests involved escorting a giant (for an ant) snail across an enemy-infested area in under 15 minutes and expanding the workforce and army of the colony in classical RTS fashion to take care of a termite problem. Those put my mind at ease, as one of my main worries about the game was how accessible it was going to be; the pitch alone feels kind of niche and like a rather tough sell, so engaging gameplay that casual players can connect with is a must alongside the photorealistic visuals. Rest assured, the control scheme, basic mechanics, and larger systems never felt like a hassle. In fact, I believe Empire of the Ants might be a fantastic introduction to the RTS genre thanks to its unique point of view and setting… if the complete game is anything like this preview.
It appears that Tower Five was fully aware some sacrifices needed to be made in order to make the whole third-person angle work, so resource collection and management are extremely streamlined, and so is controlling nests and what they produce. You’ll need to read and make informed decisions (as well as protect already conquered territory) as the colony expands its borders, but the moment-to-moment gameplay is brisk and addictive.
Without getting into a deeper analysis (as this is still a pre-release build), I also had the PC performance set at max. Settings are very solid given the extremely detailed (and super crowded) scenes that Empire of the Ants is built on. This might spell good news for the console versions, but we’ll see how that goes. Personally, I really think it’s a uniquely gorgeous game that lovers of all things nature will be enchanted by.
By the time the preview ended after the large-scope, more RTS-y mission, I was left wanting more. Building out an army of different types of ants and other insects with support healers and siege beetles (really) was a blast, and the fact it all played so well on a basic control level and ran smoothly while looking stunning certainly raised my hype for the full release. If publisher Microids plays its cards right, this off-beat title could be one of the sleeper hits of the fall season. I’m just praying that the entire thing keeps the momentum going and doesn’t become overly complicated.
Empire of the Ants will be released on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on November 7, 2024. Standard and digital deluxe editions are available to pre-order alongside a physical release.
