It is time for another double bill! Things have been pretty busy over here, hence the lack of articles by me the past couple of weeks. It’s getting pretty cold here in the UK, which means I get to wear my gigantic wearable blanket with sleeves while I work. That counts as a win for me! I’m covering two games today, and they could not be more different.
Empire of The Ants: First Impressions
Now this was an interesting game to try! Empire of the Ants has some pretty cool features, and we need more strategy games out there. It also might be the most gorgeous strategy game I have ever seen. Big thanks to the folks at Homerun PR for reaching out to me, and this was a review copy of the game.
To get the elephant out of the room, some people are disappointed that Empire of the Ants is not a colony sim, as the third person exploration and immersion aspects would really benefit that genre. This is not a colony sim title, but a real-time strategy game instead. I get why people are feeling that as I wish it was a colony sim too, but it was shown very clearly in marketing and on the Store page that Empire of the Ants is not the deep colony sim some folks thought this was.
I’m mentioning this for transparency and for a neutral take on the matter, because I wish there were deeper simulation mechanics. This is not a particularly deep RTS, and as much as I love parts of this game, I have to say that Empire of the Ants might be missing out on its full potential.
That is not to say Empire of the Ants is a poor RTS title, because I’ve found it pretty solid in that regard. The unique perspective sets it apart from its competitors, and you have a decent number of single player missions to get a feel for the mechanics. Moving around the scenario maps as a little ant is quite delightful, and I appreciate the way it approaches gameplay. Having ants talk about logistics and dealing with enemy invasions sounds unrealistic, but this is heavily inspired by the book from the same name (Bernard Werber). I’ve always been fascinated by the way ants work, and while this approach isn’t exactly realistic, it makes sense when making a video game what it is: a game.
Missions are accepted from a hub area of sorts, which takes players into the battle maps. The RTS mechanics feel simple enough, requiring the careful deployment of resources and storage while picking cautiously the type of ant legions one can recruit. A nest can only support one ant unit at a time (without upgrades), so there are strategic decisions to make with the limited number of chambers a nest can support. Expanding across a map is important to secure more resources, and the mission objectives usually involve defeating enemy nests and defending your own territory. In later scenarios, battles can get truly hectic with thousands of rival ants fighting each other for survival.
The graphics are stunning, and I have to commend how well the performance holds up to so many units fighting on screen.
These fights get pretty violent with insect corpses rolling away and nest defenders ripped apart by invading ants. Controlling the different ant legions are done with simple controls, and I found it equally playable with a controller and with the keyboard. Controlling the armies isn’t too challenging, and I had fun working out how to use them optimally. Soldier ants are tanky and powerful fighters, but struggle with closing with ranged ants, and I tended to use these two most. Later on you can access super powerful units that act as the game finishers.
The multiplayer and skirmish modes have a decent amount of modifiers you can apply, and you can mix and match powers and starting legions at will. For those like myself who do not enjoy playing online games, playing against the AI is decently enjoyable. I wish there were more maps, however, and the game still needs some balance regarding enemy difficulty. I found myself in the odd place between steamrolling enemy nests without breaking a sweat and being destroyed. Or, I might just suck and I’m making excuses!
Right now, Empire of The Ants sits just on the cusp of ‘Mostly Positive’ on Steam, which is around what I feel about it too. For those who want a deeper simulation, this is not the game for you. What we have is a technically and visually impressive strategy game, and while I am not disappointed with the content on offer, I hope we get some more maps and missions. There is so much untapped potential in Empire of the Ants, and like an ant, I enjoy the tasty meal on offer. It can be so much more. There isn’t really another game like this on the market, and despite my gripes, it is worth looking into.
8-Bit Adventures 2
From the massed drones of the imperial ant empire, we travel into the classic era of JRPGs! 8-Bit Adventures 2 is a title I completely slept on, having launched early 2023.. In fact, I forgot it existed until the great folks at PR Hound reached out to me to wager my interest in checking it out. I have clearly failed my RPG badge…
Anyhow, big thanks to Derek at PR Hound for providing us with a review copy! Getting some impressions on the game has taken longer than I would have liked, so apologies for the delay. While 8-Bit Adventures 2 is lacking in certain quality-of-life features like controller support, it is an impressive RPG that combines the right amount of nostalgia with modern polish. While it is technically a sequel, you can dive right into this one without playing the first, which is nice.
Playing 8-Bit Adventures 2 for the first time is like stepping into a time capsule from the 1990s. It boasts some pretty gorgeous retro visuals that took me back to the SNES era, and the environments blend the old-school graphics with modern polish. While I am not the biggest fan of JRPG’s, I found myself oddly drawn to this one. The worldbuilding is surprisingly good and despite the typically slow pacing, I ended up liking the characters more than I expected. After a plodding beginning, the classic ‘young people to save everyone’ trope comes into play, but I really enjoy the story’s focus on friendship during a crisis. The main protagonist Charlie is a lovable buffoon, but he has real talent for fighting and despite his many blunders, I couldn’t help but like the guy.
The battle system is the standard, turn-based combat with modern improvements like visual indicators for enemy turns, and there are a bunch of accessibility options that should suit any player. Combined with the solid gameplay and surprisingly humorous writing, I’m a little sad I did not get to try 8-Bit Adventures 2 sooner.
I wish there was controller support, and I would greatly appreciate a faster dialogue option as some of the story scenes can drag on a little. Despite this minor gripes, I deeply appreciate what it brings to fans of RPGs.
