Ant War Review

Ant War is not your average management simulator. In Ant War, you take control of an ant colony with only one goal in mind... Total World Domination!

-Gameplay-

Ant War is very similar to SimAnt by Maxis. Its almost a 2D clone except Ant War isn't that indepth. SimAnt thinks along the lines of a conventional ant whereas Ant War doesn't seem to follow any kind of convetionality at all.

The goal of each level in Ant War is to reach a total ant population quota by using 'nurse' ants to grow new ants to reach your goal. It isn't that easy though. There are factors which can help or hinder your ant growing. The weather is one of these factors. If it rains heavily on your ant colony, it could be flooded and you could lose some of the nest or even ants. Random events occur such as attacks from other bugs which could get some of your ants killed but provide valuable rewards if you arise victorious against the attackers. So you need to make the decision of pressing the attack or withdrawing the troops.

One of the wierdest parts of Ant War is the Ant shop. Here, you can buy all sorts of items using gems, which are found or awarded to you, to help your anthill grow into the mighty colossus it set out to be. You buy food, extra tunnels for you anthill, more ants, etc. You are also able to purchase certain upgrades for the different classes of ants under your control that will help them increase their productive abilities.

The gameplay isn't entirely new but fun, interesting elements added in make Ant War quite fun to play.

-Graphics-

All the sprites in the game are well done and blend in with each other nicely. The basic interface is cartoony. It looks like the game was designed for children aged 10 and under. In fact, the way the graphics in the game made me think that the game was made using Flash for a while.

-Sounds/Music-

The sound FX in Ant War aren't anything to crow about but they are still effective as they fit in well with the design of the game. Certain areas of the game such as the bridge location are where Ant War is let down. The constant, unchanging loop of cars driving, beeping, etc. will get very repetitive and even annoying after a while.

It is only noisy (probably maker's intention) and deadens out any other sounds present at the time. The music is not really noticeable whilst playing but it is nice on the main menu screen. It adds a fun and upbeat yet calm and friendly mood to Ant War. The music is nice but it would be nicer to have in all areas of the game.