I put Empire of the Ants on my PSN and Steam wishlist as soon as I saw it. It looked really unique and won a bunch of indie gaming awards. It was designed for console, so I went ahead and played on on PS5. Besides, I had a gift card balance on PSN at the time when it released, but my Steam wallet was empty, so ...
As the title implies, the game is about playing as an ant. More specifically, players are an ant "general" so to speak, and commands legions of ant soldiers in wars against other bugs. Your ant character is from a colony within a "Federation" of cooperating ant colonies, each with their own queen who are subordinate to a single "queen of queens". A flood ravishes the colonies of the Federation, and so your character is assigned to rally the troops to rebuild the infrastructure destroyed in the flood, and fight off termites, spiders, and other ant species who are trying to expand their territory after the disruption of the floods.
If bugs give you the heebie-jeebies, then this may not be the game for you...
The game combines some exploratory platforming with simple real-time strategy concepts to create a unique -- but sadly under-cooked -- experience. The bulk of the game is a series of "strategy" and "tactics" missions strung together in a story campaign. Each map contains nests (little ant hills) that must be captured by a faction's legions, and then that faction is able to construct new legions or infrastructure, upgrades, or abilities in those nests.
This game also features a wide variety of different bugs. If bugs give you the heebie-jeebies, then this is probably not the game for you. No cockroaches though...
Ant's-eye view
Empire of the Ants has some pretty simplistic strategy. There's 3 basic units, which have a simple "rock-paper-scissors" relationship: warriors beat workers, workers beat gunners, and gunners beat warriors. There are a few other types of units representing different bugs that the ants can recruit to their cause, such as beetles, wasps, snails, and so forth. These special units might provide support roles, or be powerful combat units with special abilities. Beetles are heavily-armored and immune to ranged attacks, for instance. Wasps can fly, and so can only be damaged by ranged attacks. The ability to fly also means wasps can move across the map quickly, and they can freely disengage from enemy units.
The strategic battles are pretty straightforward. What makes the game standout is its unique perspective.
There is a simple rock-paper-scissors relationship between units, and some special "hero" units.
I'm used to playing strategy games from a "bird's-eye view", with a wide-angle overview of much of the battlefield. But because of Empire of the Ants' novel premise, the view is actually quite the opposite. Instead of a flying bird's-eye view, the camera is at ground level at the ant character's perspective. This limits the player's view to only what your ant character can see. If you want a broader view of the arena and activity, you need to find some physical high ground, such as a large rock or a climbable plant, and park yourself there.
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