One of 2024's "buggiest" Xbox games is a stunning showcase of photorealism with shallow RTS elements

Normally, when I review a game that is full of bugs, I'm not a happy camper. But Empire of the Ants has me seeing the world from a different angle. A very tiny, albeit strong, angle.

Taking control of 103,683rd has taught me what it means to be an ant trying to survive in the world, and it involves a surprising amount of termite murder.

All of this plays out in stunning photo realistic visuals with real-time strategy (RTS) gameplay as you help 103,683rd (No, really, that's her name.) in completing her mother, the Queen's, tasks and helping her sisters as their ant colony awakens from hibernation in the spring.

Empire of the Ants: What is it?

Empire of the Ants – Launch Trailer - YouTube

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

The ant, 103,683rd, is part of a larger colony that is waking up after hibernating through the winter in the Fontainebleau forest. There is much work to do, as the colony needs to secure food and other resources while fending off threats from termites and other enemies.

Empire of the Ants was developed by Tower Five, published by Microids, and developed in Unreal Engine 5.4 using photogrammetry to ensure a hyperrealistic look and feel to the forest and creatures that inhabit it.

Empire of the Ants: Story and gameplay

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While Empire of the Ants is based on the book of the same name by Bernard Werber, it has undergone some significant changes to its story to become the game we are presented with. Werber did work with Microids and Tower Five on the game adaptation of the book, but the human element of parallel lives with ants is lost here. Instead, we only see 103,683rd's view of the world set in the Fontainebleau forest as opposed to Paris. However, the forest setting provides its own challenges, dangers, and opportunities for storytelling.

We see 103,683rd's colony tackle several struggles, from finding resources to searching for missing members of the colony to helping a relative colony that is unprepared for a flood. 103,683rd's mother, the Queen, is pushing for colony expansion, and it is 103,683rd she expects to carry out copious amounts of termite murder for her.

This leads us to discuss Empire of the Ants' combat and gameplay. On its surface, Empire of the Ants is a "baby's first strategy" game. It's simplified and approachable, but hardcore fans of RTS titles are likely going to feel ham-stringed by what Empire of the Ants has to offer.

Combat missions typically focus on 103,683rd building up nests with defenses and then selecting a legion for that nest. Players are maxed at seven legions, severely limiting how many units can be utilized in battle. It's hard to justify building a legion of aphids, which are fragile and weak to all enemy types when you could just have an extra group of veteran warriors or another stronger legion instead.

Empire of the Ants does have a hierarchy for legion units and which type of unit is best to combat all others. However, because of the smaller number of units in play and the streamlined mechanics, it felt moot to focus on nitpicking enemy attacks. Rather, it was just as effective and more efficient to select all units and just have them pummel whatever termite mound or roving insect was the subject of my ire at the moment.

If you're looking to spend your entire time with Empire of the Ants carrying out insect warfare, you might be shocked to learn the game has a significant amount of exploration and platforming. 103,683rd visits hub cities between assignments, speaking with various Queens and sister ants for story bits. In some cases, 103,683rd is sent out on missions that involve very little strategy and a lot of platforming.

The problem is that 103,683rd is a very small ant in a very big world. Navigating these wide-open areas with her and trying to cross flooded zones that are instant death with a rudimentary jump feature that provides no insight into where you're going to land leaves a lot to be desired. It's a notable shift in gameplay that slows down the overall flow of Empire of the Ants negatively.

Empire of the Ants: Audio and visuals

To say that Empire of the Ants is anything but visually stunning would be to shortchange its accomplishment. I'm old enough to remember when Microid's first attempt at Empire of the Ants in the early 2000s was raked over the coals for its poor graphics. That's certainly not going to be the case with Tower Five's version. Utilizing Unreal Engine version 5.4 and photogrammetry to create a 1 to 1 photorealistic forest and the cast of insects, the visuals of Empire of the Ants are nothing short of awe-inspiring.

However, there is still some room for improvement in the world of Empire of the Ants. While it's easy to get lost staring at the way the light reflects through the tree canopy and the tree bark has just the right amount of crevices, it's still hard to miss that there's just a little bit of plasticity to the world. When the bugs crawl through the grass to their next battle, there's no give or life to the plants between their spindly little legs. There's no breeze blowing the foliage, and everything is just a bit too still.

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It's pretty clear that Empire of the Ants' budget was gobbled up by licensing and the art department. The game's soundtrack consists of individual songs per level, but they were easily forgettable in the grand scheme. In missions with larger battles, the music would pick up and increase in intensity as you neared the final boss for that mission, which was a nice change. Tower Five recorded the sounds of the forest from live forests, giving a breath of life to the Fontainebleau.

Empire of the Ants: Final thoughts

There is certainly plenty of space in the real-time strategy genre for approachable and accessible games like Empire of the Ants. However, because the game has been billed as an RTS, fans of that genre may be in for a surprise if they load it up and discover they're expected to platform their way around a flooded forest and search for missing ants that are nearly invisible in the environment.

Empire of the Ants also offers a cross-platform multiplayer mode with 1v1 or 1v1v1 gameplay options. Again, the streamlined strategy gameplay makes this online mode a decent choice for beginners or those who want to dabble with an RTS. However, it is difficult to recommend a hardcore RTS fan pick this up for what amounts to a rock-paper-scissors level of strategy.

When it comes to the multiplayer, I feel like Empire of the Ants is the kind of game that would have benefited from inclusion into Xbox Game Pass if for nothing more than to build up that supporting player base. Unfortunately, at $50, it's a bit tougher of a sale, even if it is absolutely gorgeous.