Game Review – Microsoft Ants

“On my way.” “Yeah.” “Grrrrr!” These are the sounds of talking ants in the Microsoft game- Ants. Yes ants do talk in this game. They also can put bombs down, create fires, have combat general ants, swim and even steal food from others. It’s a game of getting the most points from food and killing those who try to take you down. Each ant starts off as a regular ant. You have power ups such as a firefighter hats, combats that look like bandages bandannas for thieves, scubas for swimmers and helmet/masks for the bomber power ups. You can play 1 on 1 or have up to 4 players for teams. You have your own colored ant when you play. The choices are :green, red, blue and black. There are enough power ups for each color but don’t be surprised if someone steals your power ups. Some maps have flowers that appear to be dancing with sunglasses on. Others release additional power ups. Game maps vary from as little a 4 minutes to 1 hour+. Some maps don’t have power ups. When you enter the game room you may not understand the lingo at first. Here’s some tips:

TVB= Top vs Bottom for teams

SVS= Side vs Side for teams

FFA- Free for All-No teams

187- If someone wants to play a map 187, it means no eating, only fighting.

Trez- Treasure Map

Isles- Islands Map

Pop- Popcorn maps. Today there’s over 850+ maps to play from. They are able to download in one easy and quick download at either http://www.antsmaps.com or http://www.antsss.com Single Maps are available to download as well.

BTD- Bite the Dust Maps

SB= Spicey Bit Maps

CB= Crunchy Bite Maps. Usually these 3 types of maps are often used which is why they are shorten.

Coasters- No, the person hosting the game isn’t asking you to get a coaster if you’re having a drink while playing, it’s the name of some maps.

If you’re new to this game, going to a game room titled -Beginners, Noobs- or Newbs is your best bet when starting out. Some controls you can use while playing are:

CTRL A- Controls all your ants. A good idea to use when in a fight with other ants.

CTRL O- Options for the game.

CTRL L- Tells you how many health points you have before you ants dies. You can also see others health points which help you fight which ant is going down first.

3 Step Rule- If you’re on an island and need to get over to the power ups such as the scubas, you need to bomb yourself over. An easy way to do this is to place a bomb down and then highlight the area with your mouse. Then have your ant go into the bomb. You ant will lose 2 health points each time you hit a bomb. Keep in mind that sometimes you may get a dud when going into a bomb.

Lag- Everyone has lag. In the game room you’ll see zone player names and latency. Green bars are good, red bars are awful. Lagging is where someone pulls your ant back or seems to be jumping around. Stick to green bars if you can. To help improve your own latency, close out IM’s (instant messengers) that can slow you down.

Gum and round candies are your best bet to start out because they usually equal 30+ If you’re playing Treasure map, getting the cracker in the middle is a good idea since you gather food more quickly and is worth 25 points. Other foods in the game include “Pizza in a Can” Soda, Fried Chicken, “Choco Fish” “Potted Meat” and Pretzels. Food varies from each map. What does a game like this cost to play? Free. No CD-ROM is required. All you have to do is download the game, open it and start playing. There are maps already included in the game. Oh and you need a MSN, Hotmail passport which simply is a hotmail or MSN e-mail account and password which is free also.

When playing this game you’ll have to turn off your firewall or have the website/game in the safe list of your firewall. Otherwise you won’t be able to connect to others in the game. Ants can be a lot of fun and some experts may even teach the game and some tricks. Check it out now @ http://www.zone.com/ants