After immersing you in the narrative universe and bestiary of Empire of the Ants, we now delve into the grandiose insect battles, a major component of this game set to release on November 7th on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series!
Survive and Thrive: Mastering Objectives in Empire of the Ants
In Empire of the Ants, our colony will regularly face adversaries to survive and thrive. To facilitate these battles, the genre of real-time strategy was chosen by Tower Five, a studio composed by veterans from Creative Assembly (Total War series). “This genre allows us to showcase thousands of insects fighting simultaneously,” explains Damien Boussiron, Producer at Tower Five.
At the start of a game, players must first build their economy and army. They have access to an upgrade tree within their headquarters, enabling them to deploy ant legions, fortify defenses, and construct turrets. Additionally, they can increase resource production and gather intelligence on opponents. “Upgrades require time and resources, which are food and materials,” Damien specifies.
To obtain these precious resources, workers must be sent into the forest to exploit points of interest like fruits or pine cones. Another reason for expeditions: our main anthill will have a limited number of “chambers” for constructing upgrades. Therefore, capturing additional nests is essential, though some may be empty while others are inhabited by insects like firebugs!
Once the player’s army and economy are strong enough, they can launch an assault on their opponents. However, waiting too long might result in being attacked first. “The victory condition in strategy mode is to destroy the opponent’s headquarters,” Damien confirms.
A Unique Take on Strategy: What Sets Empire of the Ants Apart
Let the battle begin! A unique feature of Empire of the Ants is that players issue orders to their legions by directly controlling their general on the battlefield from a third-person perspective. This system differs from most real-time strategy games, where players act as an omniscient deity from a top-down view. “It allows players to be truly in the heart of the action and showcases the detailed environments created by our artists,” Damien explains.
Our general will be 103,683rd, the heroine of Bernard Werber’s acclaimed novel. Besides moving among her legions to issue orders, she can deploy “pheromones,” which are support abilities like temporary damage boosts or health regeneration. This is done intuitively, regardless of the control device used: “One of our goals was to create a strategy game enjoyable with a controller in hand,” Damien notes.
Another unique aspect of Empire of the Ants is the ability to tackle the campaign “à la carte.” Besides the strategic missions mentioned, the game will also offer tactical missions where the objective might be to withstand waves of enemies within a set time. Additionally, there will be exploration missions requiring agility to gather resources. Players can choose the type of mission they prefer and complete them in any order.
“This allows veteran players to focus on strategic and tactical missions, while novice players can enjoy the scenery and narrative by opting for exploration missions if they prefer,” Damien comments. “This, along our immersive third-person controls, allows us to offer a strategy game that everyone will enjoy.”
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https://store.steampowered.com/app/2287330/Empire_of_the_Ants/
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