EMPIRE OF THE ANTS REVIEW: GORGEOUS GRAPHICS, SHALLOW COLONY

Ever wanted to be an ant commander in a photorealistic garden? Well, Empire of the Ants delivers exactly that – but whether that's what ant enthusiasts actually wanted is another story entirely. Like finding out your dream ant farm is just a pretty picture of one, this game is simultaneously impressive and disappointing.

PRETTIER THAN A MACRO PHOTOGRAPHER'S PORTFOLIO

Let's start with the good stuff: holy hell, this game is gorgeous. Using UE5 and what appears to be photogrammetry, the developers have created possibly the most realistic-looking insect world ever seen in gaming. Every blade of grass, every piece of bark, every tiny detail makes you feel like you've been shrunk down to ant-size. It's National Geographic meets gaming, and it's absolutely stunning.

COMMAND AND CONK-OUT

Unfortunately, the gameplay doesn't quite match the visual feast. Instead of the deep ant colony simulation many hoped for, we get a simplified RTS where you play as a commander ant ordering around circular blobs of troops. There's no nest building, no proper pheromone trails, no real ant behavior beyond "go here, fight that." It's less "realistic ant simulation" and more "what if ants played Bannerlord, but simpler."

JUMPING ANTS (WAIT, WHAT?)

In perhaps the most bizarre design choice since putting shoes on a centipede, your ant can jump. Yes, jump. Because apparently someone looked at ants and thought "you know what these efficient ground-dwelling insects need? Platforming sections." It's about as ant-authentic as a spider in a top hat.

THE CAMPAIGN OF LIMITED OPTIONS

The campaign structure is more linear than an ant trail, with missions that quickly become repetitive. You've got your basic RTS missions, your jumping puzzles (still weird), and collection quests that feel more like checkbox-ticking than meaningful gameplay. The strategy elements are so simplified that they make mobile game RTSs look like Supreme Commander.

CONCLUSION

Empire of the Ants is like a beautiful nature documentary where someone accidentally dubbed over it with generic RTS gameplay. It's got the looks of a masterpiece but the depth of a puddle. While the visuals and atmosphere are genuinely incredible, the gameplay feels like a massive missed opportunity to create something truly special in the ant game genre.

Score: 6.5/10 - Visually spectacular but mechanically underwhelming, like a supermodel trying to explain quantum physics.