You’re a tiny bug. Honestly, that's the whole pitch. But once you actually load into Empire of the Ants, developed by Tower Five and published by Microids, you realize it’s a lot more than just a tech demo for Unreal Engine 5. It is a photorealistic, nerve-wracking plunge into the dirt. Most people see the trailers and think it’s just a "pretty" game. They’re wrong. It’s a brutal real-time strategy (RTS) experience that makes you rethink every step you take in the forest.
I spent a few hours staring at individual blades of grass. The detail is staggering.
The game is based on Bernard Werber’s 1991 bestseller Les Fourmis. If you haven't read it, don't worry—you don't need to be a French literature major to enjoy commanding a legion of wood ants. You play as 103,683rd, a specialized ant soldier tasked with protecting the colony. It sounds simple. It isn't. You aren't just clicking units from a bird's-eye view like you would in StarCraft or Age of Empires. You are on the ground. You are climbing trees. You are sprinting over rotting logs while wasps circle overhead like fighter jets.
The Reality of Empire of the Ants Gameplay
Traditional RTS games give you a "God view." You see everything. You control everything with a mouse click. Empire of the Ants throws that out the window. Since you are playing in the third-person, your perspective is limited by what an ant can actually see. This changes the strategy entirely. You can't see the enemy flank if there’s a giant pebble in your way.
Communication is handled through pheromones. It’s a clever way to keep the immersion high. You aren't shouting orders; you’re leaving chemical trails.
The scale is the biggest shock.
A puddle isn't just a puddle; it’s an impassable ocean. A fallen branch is a massive bridge that requires a three-minute trek to cross. Tower Five used Unreal Engine 5’s Nanite and Lumen technologies to make the forest floor look indistinguishable from a National Geographic documentary. Sometimes, it’s actually distracting. I found myself stopping to look at the way light filtered through a leaf, only to realize my vanguard was being slaughtered by a colony of rival red ants just a few inches away.
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Why the Third-Person Camera Changes Everything
Most strategy fans might find the camera frustrating at first. It’s tethered to your protagonist ant. This means if you want to see what’s happening at your northern outpost, you have to physically run there or use the tactical map, which momentarily pulls you out of the "boots on the ground" feel.
It’s intentional.
The developers wanted to capture the frantic, claustrophobic nature of insect warfare. You feel small. Because you are. When a beetle enters the fray, it doesn't just feel like a "heavy unit" entering the map—it feels like a boss fight from a horror game. The animations are procedural, meaning the ants' legs actually interact with the jagged surfaces of the terrain. They don't just glide. They scramble. They slip. They struggle.
Managing Your Legion Without a Mouse
If you’re playing on a console, specifically PS5 or Xbox Series X, the controls feel surprisingly fluid. They’ve mapped the "legions" to a radial menu. You can have different types of units:
- Warriors: Your standard frontline grunts.
- Gunners: Ants that spit formic acid from a distance.
- Workers: Essential for gathering resources like wood and food.
- Support units: Aphids that provide "honeydew" or specialized bugs that buff your troops.
The rock-paper-scissors mechanic is alive and well here. If you send warriors against a swarm of flies without support, you’re going to lose. Fast.
The game features a full 20-hour campaign that follows the change of seasons. This isn't just a cosmetic choice. In the summer, the forest is lush and resources are everywhere. When autumn hits, the environment becomes harsher. Floods can wipe out your pheromone trails. Predators become more desperate. The ecosystem isn't just a backdrop; it’s an active participant in your failure.
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The Multiplayer Meta
While the campaign is a great way to learn the ropes, the multiplayer is where the stress really kicks in. It’s 1v1 or 3-player free-for-all. Because the game is so visually dense, hiding your "nest" or your expansion points becomes a legitimate tactic. I’ve seen players win matches simply by camouflaging their movement through tall ferns and striking the enemy queen when the other player was distracted by a neutral predator.
It’s basically a game of hide and seek with high-stakes murder.
Common Misconceptions About the Game
People keep calling this "SimAnt 2." It isn't. Maxis’s 1991 classic SimAnt was more of a simulation and management game. Empire of the Ants is an action-RTS. You aren't worrying about the humidity levels of every single chamber in the nest—at least not in the same micro-management way. You’re worrying about troop positioning and flanking maneuvers.
Another mistake? Thinking the game is "slow."
Sure, the travel time between objectives can feel long because you’re a tiny bug, but the combat is explosive. When two colonies collide, hundreds of individual ants appear on screen. Thanks to the engine's optimization, there’s very little slowdown, but the sheer visual noise of a thousand legs and mandibles clashing is overwhelming. You have to keep your cool.
Technical Prowess and Performance
On PC, you’re going to want a beefy GPU to see this game at its best. If you have an RTX 40-series card, the DLSS 3 support makes a world of difference. The game relies heavily on ray-traced reflections in the water and complex shadows.
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On the PlayStation 5, it holds a steady frame rate, which is impressive given the density of the foliage. The DualSense controller haptics are actually used quite well—you can feel the "patter" of the ants' feet through the triggers. It’s a small touch, but it adds to that weirdly tactile feeling of being an insect.
Real Strategy Tips for New Players
Don't ignore the verticality.
Most RTS players are trained to think in 2D. In this game, you can climb almost anything. If you’re being chased, go up. Many units have trouble pathfinding on vertical surfaces, or they simply aren't fast enough to catch you. Use the "high ground" literally.
Also, watch the predators. You can actually bait neutral enemies like spiders or beetles into your opponent's path. It’s a dirty move. It’s also the only way to survive some of the harder missions.
- Prioritize Aphids: They are your economy. No honeydew, no reinforcements.
- Scout Constantly: The fog of war is brutal in third-person. If you don't know where the enemy is, they’re probably behind you.
- Upgrade Your Nest: Don't just spam units. A high-tier nest with defensive pheromones is nearly impossible to crack.
- Use the "Tactical View": It’s a shortcut key that gives you a brief holographic overview of the battlefield. Use it every 30 seconds.
Actionable Steps for Getting Started
If you're ready to dive into the undergrowth, start with the tutorial missions. Do not skip them. The control scheme for commanding legions while moving in a 3D space takes some "brain rewiring."
- Check your hardware: Ensure your drivers are updated, especially for Unreal Engine 5 titles which are prone to shader stutter on launch.
- Play with headphones: The sound design is a major gameplay element. You can hear the rustle of a predator before you see it.
- Study the Bestiary: Each insect you encounter has specific weaknesses. Knowing that a certain beetle is weak to acid spitters will save you from a total party wipe.
The game is a massive achievement for a smaller studio like Tower Five. It proves that strategy games don't have to look like spreadsheets to be deep. It’s a gorgeous, terrifying, and ultimately rewarding look at the world beneath our feet. Just don't expect it to be a walk in the park. It's a crawl through the trenches.