In a disappointing year in terms of AAA games, we saw a lot of AA studios making their mark on the market (Space Marine 2, Hell Divers 2, Black Myth: Wukong, etc…). There are also small independent studios, which are not obliged to meet the repetitive annual expectations of their publisher. The latter also continue to produce titles with little-explored themes. This is precisely the case of Les Fourmis (Empire of the Ants) which is inspired by the novel The Ants by Bernard Werber. A work that transforms into an RTS where we play a worker ant who leads his sisters on various missions for the survival of his anthill.
Presentation and History
Les Fourmis (Empire of the Ants) is developed by the small French studio Tower Five, which developed another mixed reception RTS called Lornsword Winter Chronicle. Use of the engine Unreal Engine 5 allows you to have visually impressive environments, which make you want to linger there.
Empire of the Ants ou Les Fourmis for French speakers takes place in a forest which recently suffered from a flood (on the scale of insects). It endangers the Federation, which is made up of several anthills. We control an ant, worker number 103,683, of the race red wood antwho is a great leader of legions of ants. She lives in the Bel-o-Kan anthill, which is the capital of the Federation, and is ruled by Queen Belo-kiu-kiuni.
The story is structured organically through various conversations with the other ants, but remains entirely optional to enjoy the game. The hierarchy is obviously monarchical and it is interesting to see the anthropomorphism of the thoughts of our sisters and other insects, thus providing players with an understanding of the world around them and the issues of this life.
The enemies that our ant friends will have to face are mainly termites and rival anthills such as black or dwarf ants. The bestiary is still large and the title will allow you to discover more about the nature that surrounds humans.
Gameplay et progression
Les Fourmis is a strategy game, but unlike other RTS like Command & Conquer or the Warcraft series, we control our worker 103,683 in the 3rd person. This perspective, as well as the gameplay in action very reminiscent of the games Overlord and Overlord 2. Unlike the Overlord series, our avatar 103’683 does not actively fight, but releases pheromones which strengthen his legions or weaken his adversaries.
The core of the gameplay consists of build an army, expand its territory by capturing nests, increase its defenses and research new technologies, with the aim of eliminating its opposition or fulfilling various objectives. Like any RTS, base and troop improvements are made with resources, here wood and food. These resources are either passively generated by improvements in the bases, or by resource areas scattered around the map, such as pives or thrown apples.
“Armies are made up of “legions”, a group of several dozen, even hundreds, of ants”
The missions are chosen freely in a huboften via an anthill that we aim to protect. There are several types of missions:
- Strategic – Classic RTS in all its glory, where we must capture areas, manage its bases, build an army, improve its troops and destroy its opponents.
- Tactical – We have fixed resources and an objective to fulfill. This can be an escort mission, waves of enemies to eliminate, territory defense. Honestly my favorite type of mission.
- Exploration – We only control 103,683, no bases or troops. The mission can be to scout out and observe enemy troops, rescue lost ants, find resources, etc. Generally much calmer than the other two types of mission.
Armies are made up of “legions”, a group of several dozen, or even hundreds, of ants. There are three basic types of ants. Namely: workers, bombers (spitters) and warriors.
There are also mercenary insects such as super predators like the scarabs which can attract and attack all the legions we want. Or snails that provide passive protection for nearby legions. You can therefore deal with different species.
Each nest captured during tactical and strategic missions supports one type of legion. A type of resource generation, as well as technological improvements and static defenses. Each nest has a maximum capacity for upgrades. It is therefore vital to spread as much as possible in order to support your army as much as possible.
Positive points of The Ants (Empire of the Ants)
Before you even start playing, the introduction immediately sold me on the mood and atmosphere the developers were trying to create. I immediately felt the passion and desire of the developers. The world surrounding these ants and their concerns, although smaller than our scale, are easily transposed to our human lives. This game is also one of the rare ones where I didn’t want to put music on in the background, because it is an integral part of the atmosphere of the game. Passive insect animations sometimes look adorable. The icing on the cake is that the dialogues make these insects grow a certain tenderness.
“The story is structured organically through various conversations”
The variety of missions offers three styles of play, as well as three very distinct experiences. L’exploration allows you to absorb the world without worrying about enemies. The missions strategic are much more intense because they focus on expansionism and the rapid management of our territory. The missions tactics provide a middle ground between exploration and strategic missions. They allow you to deploy more thoughtful strategies. The difficulty of these missions increases gradually, but until around the middle of the game, the only real source of failure is the player’s inexperience. Everything is controlled from the perspective of 103,683, it is important to have a good overall view of the map and to have a balanced composition of the legions.
The story is also an interesting point, but I admit that it is not very deep compared to other titles. However, as mentioned above, the anthropomorphism of these ants and their concerns provide a unique perspective the likes of which I have never seen before except in exaggerated cartoons and films about ecology.
Negative points of The Ants (Empire of the Ants)
The biggest negative, in my opinion, is the product of the game’s beauty. With such visual and audio ambiance, as well as enjoyable exploration, I find myself wishing for an open world. Explore and visit natural resources or monuments. Unfortunately this is not the case.
Despite journal entries that further elaborate on certain aspects of the ants’ environment and the insects that surround them, there is unfortunately nothing that would interest an amateur entomologist.
The controls can be frustrating at times, in that the ant tends to follow the geometry it’s moving on more than the exact direction you’re moving in. Straight on a tree trunk, can result in slight zig-zags. It’s not a problem, on the contrary this gives a natural movement from the ant’s point of viewbut less for the player.
The last point which may seem negative, depending on what you are looking for in an RTS, is the need to divide our forces on two or three different fronts, while we have no view other than that of 103,683. In more advanced missions, it is necessary to fight against several groups of legions, and therefore place your forces precisely. Something impossible unless you go there yourself. The only way to order your troops when you can’t see the terrain is to attack enemy legions or go to specific nests.
Conclusion
Empire of the Ants, aka Les Fourmis, is a third-person RTS, in which we play a worker ant, 103’683. A general of legions for her anthill Bel-o-Kan. The graphic and sound atmosphere and the anthropomorphism of the ants’ concerns offer a unique experience that I haven’t encountered for a long time. The strategic combat, while sometimes disorganized, offers enough variety and subtlety to scratch the desire for an RTS, without reinventing the wheel. Les Fourmis is an experience that takes on its full meaning with the sum of each part that contains itbut unfortunately each individual part is not satisfying enough to justify the full price of around 40CHF. However, If price is not an issue, I can comfortably say that the story, the environments, the relatively simplistic strategic aspect, and above all the obvious passion of the developers form a whole that is not found anywhere else.
Overall rating: 7.5/10
The +:
– The creation with small onions
– An exceptional soundtrack that adds adventure
– Three very different gameplay experiences
– The world from the eyes of an ant
– Overall feeling of passion
THE – :
– A few lengths at times
– The sometimes frustrating TPS approach
