Werber's novel deserved better

The AntsMicroids' strategy game centered on these fascinating insects, has finally arrived after an interminable wait. Is this title, inspired by Bernard Werber’s essential book, worth the detour? Here is our first impression after a few hours of discovery.

The first thing that strikes you as soon as you launch the game is its visual quality. It's immediately obvious that Microids has done quite a bit of work on this front. The natural environment offered by the studio is fantastically well donein a stylized photorealistic style which benefits from great finesse in the textures, shimmering colors and quite fabulous light management which fully exploits the rendering capabilities of Unreal Engine 5. This virtual forest exudes life, is teeming with details, and we take great pleasure in wandering among the trees and roots from the point of view of these little six-legged beings.

A blessing for those who appreciate primarily contemplative games, in short… provided they have a sufficiently powerful machine. Because even if the game throws some, it sometimes leaves something to be desired in terms of optimization. Our RTX 3070 was often pushed to its limits, so much so that we were forced to make some concessions on the quality of the rendering to be able to play in good conditions. A regrettable point, because once the effects of this graphic slap faded, the excellent impression of the first moments also dissipated; we then find ourselves facing a sadly shaky game on several levels.

A problematic interface

The first element that bothered us was the interface, which often takes up too much space on the screen. It considerably harms immersion in this superb environment which is the strength of the game, especially at the start of the adventure when it comes to explaining the basics of gameplay to the player. We can't help but think that a discreet, or even downright minimalist, UI would have been more appropriate in order to remain consistent with the natural and organic dimension of the game.

It's a design choice that's all the more frustrating as the extreme simplicity of the gameplay struggles to justify this abundance of icons and windows, which are not always clear. Indeed, we realize after a few dozen minutes that the game is quite basic in terms of gameplay, especially if we decide to deal with The Ants as the real-time strategy game it claims to be.

Confusing and redundant gameplay

Resource management, for example, is shockingly poor – a real disappointment, knowing that it is an absolutely central theme in the life of an ant colony. You just click on a few collection points to collect them, and use them directly to improve your different nests through a confusing and not very functional interface. It must be admitted, however, that watching the workers dismantle a pine cone or a fruit fallen from a tree is quite satisfying – but in terms of pure gameplay, it remains far too meager to satisfy traditional RTS fans.

And unfortunately, the conclusion is much the same when we look at the clashes with the other species that inhabit the forest. In practice, The Ants plays like a traditional RTS, but reduced to the bare minimum. Mechanically speaking, the control of the units is implemented in a shaky way, in particular because of the third-person view which makes the whole thing quite counterintuitive.

This point would have been excusable if the strategic dimension was satisfactory, but it is clear that it also leaves something to be desired. The ant that we play essentially plays the role of a general, and never really takes part in the clashes.. In practice, we simply select a cohort of units then assign them a target… and that's about it. Once the initial order is given, the player finds himself practically excluded from the action and reduced to the rank of spectator, without the slightest micro-management option. Friendly for five minutes, time to watch the different species of insects compete. But even this contemplative dimension quickly hits a wall because of the third-person view and the interface, which prevent us from fully appreciating a large-scale confrontation.

Result : the fights are both trivial and confusing, and this gameplay loop quickly becomes redundant. We sincerely regret that Microids did not decide to integrate an aerial view in the style of a classic RTS, or a small layer of additional complexity to spice up the experience, for example by using the weather or the diversity of the terrain. So many missed opportunities…

A wobbly homage to Werber's work

You will have understood, it is difficult to consider The Ants like a full-fledged RTS, as this strategic dimension is discreet during the game. The problem is that the adventure side is not much more satisfying.

We expected a lot from the game at this level because of the link with the eponymous book, but the game has all the difficulty in the world emulating the narrative virtuosity of Werber ; I might as well say it right away, those who were hoping for a game that lives up to the author's work are likely to be disappointed. The dialogues, for example, are completely anecdotal, and the interactions with the rest of the colony are superficial at best.

Worse still: the almost philosophical dimension which pushes readers to question themes like intelligence and the coexistence of species is practically absent from the game, at least in the first hours.

Werber's scientific rigor and famous attention to detail, so enriching in the book, also go by the wayside for gameplay reasons. A particularly glaring example of this large gap lies in travel. In the game, our ant is capable of performing real goat jumps. But in the real world, there are only a handful of species that are capable of doing this – and none of them look like the ants portrayed in the title Microids.

A disappointing taste

Obviously, it should be clarified that this is only a first impression; it is entirely possible that these negative points will fade further into the adventure for those who have the courage to persevere.

But ultimately, this first contact with The Ants was still more than mixed. We come away quite disappointed, and with the impression that the game fails to build its own identity. Too simplistic and confusing to be a good strategy game, not engaging enough to offer a memorable adventure, not educational at all… we end up with a title certainly not devoid of interest, but which will undoubtedly have difficulty satisfying the lovers of these fascinating insects or RTS enthusiasts. Only those looking for a primarily contemplative game could find what they're looking for, provided they manage to get past this often confusing and messy gameplay. What a shame!