Ape Out

Very cool little game with a brilliant artstyle. There's a lot of moments where the game pissed me off, especially on that second-to-last level, but it's a nice short little game with fun gameplay and great eye candy visuals

There is so much that I love about the aesthetic and graphics of Ape Out. There are four main stories that are represented as vinyl albums, with each section representing a track. Each one is different and mixes it up enough to keep itself interesting almost every time and the music and reactive sounds also sell the idea well. All of the stories also feel thematically very strong. The storylines about apes scaping are also interesting by themselves, short and wordless as they may be.
The gameplay is also very fun, thanks to one principle: there are very few controls and actions that the ape can do. However, they are extremely versatile; enough to keep the gameplay fresh every time by simply adding a new element to the world. The ability to pick up enemies simultaneously makes each new enemy both a new hazard to be wary of and a new weapon to use at will. Thanks to this and to the fact that you don't have to kill everyone to advance create a gigantic amount of room for players to express themselves and play in really any way they want.
I would recommend this game a thousand times. It's brilliant.

How can you not feel rage? You’ve been trapped in a small box with barely enough room to move your limbs. They’ve kept torturing you, hurting you, pushing you to your limit. No attempt to communicate, no interest in harmony. Nothing but violence comes from your oppressors. You aren’t made to be trapped. Nature can only be encased for so long before it bursts. Well, let’s answer in a language they understand.


Death.


The tension that has accumulated from all the bruises culminates in your first thrust. Continuous climax. It’s either you or them now, no time to think about consequences. There’s never enough time. Behind your motions, the weight of a 250kg beast. Thunderous percussion reverberates with every step. Legs are drums, arms are cymbals, your body is consolidated as an instrument of rage and power. A tool necessary, as it’s the entire world against your freedom. You’ve got to have freedom.


Power.


What are bullets to a being who denies death? The roles are flipped here, you become the unavoidable force. Quite literally, you turn their own guns against them. Behind your wake are left pools of blood and flesh. Some yours, mostly theirs. The fight for freedom will never be a painless process. And yet, you power through your wounds. Your rage does not care about their weapons and structures. Their society is meaningless to you. You will force the rules of nature upon this hostile environment.


Freedom.


The drums, your heartbeat, have accompanied your tireless struggle. Continuously rising tension, building towards a climax but not quite reaching it. That is until you break through the final cage. Like a resolution to an out-of-tune note in jazz, your release justifies every second of this fight. The incessant drums lead into a cathartic and desperate saxophone. Your rage and determination pay off. Nothing can contain you anymore. Freedom at last.




If only every human had as much fury and willpower in their hearts. They could free themselves from their own captors.

Good luck not mixing this up with Ape Escape. Also good luck not calling this "Hotline Harambe" or "Hotline Cincinnati".

The similarities to Hotline Miami are indeed striking. You are faced with seemingly insurmountable odds (plenty of heavily armed human enemies stand in your path while you are but a humble 200 kg lowland gorilla), play with a top-down perspective and have to make good use of cover and kill quick lest you be killed quick. However, you can generally survive the first two hits in any given stage and you do only need to get to its end, killing is actually entirely optional, though rather helpful.

But just like Hotline Miami, Ape Out has an integral musical streak - not in the form of a banger soundtrack, but rather by using a large library of samples to dynamically transform the gory but heavily (& stomach-friendly) stylized action unfolding in front of your eyes into a jazzy percussion treat for your ears. And that is quite wonderful. Especially when you realize that the whole aesthetic of the game is inspired by classic Blue Note cover design down to the typography (hell, the different parts of the game are called "discs", with a side 1 and 2). And the all-drums-all-the-time ambience sure as hell gets your blood pumping and pushes you forward. Though you will die and restart quite a few times of course.

On each retry, the layout of the stage you're currently tackling will be randomized. This unfortunately leads to some variance and can make your successful attempts end up a bit anticlimactic. Though even if you find that your pushing people into walls before they can pull the trigger skill is lacking, this is a short game. Took me less than two hours, I guess technically I could get a refund?

There is a higher difficulty setting and an arcade mode to add some replayability, but honestly, there is little point in that. But such brevity doesn't need to be a major detriment when it makes the whole experience so neat, with sweet and unique visuals, swift and engaging gameplay that's easy to get into, and the star of the show, the non-deterministic drum collage that you help to create. Which segues into an ending which I can call perfect in good conscience. Won't spoil it, you'll get there soon enough. But if you feel visceral thrill during the credits, that's a good sign.

Is it worth its full price? In video game terms, no; compared to a movie ticket, probably? It is a cool little game for cool little gamers.

For many years, if you asked me what my favorite game series was, I probably would've said Splinter Cell. This is like you sent a team of scientists to develop the polar opposite game.

It is unabashedly loud, stylish and raucous. There is no stealth, because you are a fuck-huge monkey. You are given no tools but your hands and the speed to run at them, because you are a big, fuck-off monkey. The tutorial is three button prompts. There's music to accompany you on your quest for freedom, battling with you to see who can best embody this frenetic energy. You don't need more.

Ape Out reminds me of Hotline Miami with the top-down, stylish, brutal killing gameplay. This time you play as an ape on the run, and can take a couple of hits before you die.

Your form of attack is to lash out, or throw objects. You can even grab people as a temporary shield or ranged attack since your hostage will fire a few rounds as they struggle. The enemy types have different guns, so you are up against pistols, machine guns, armoured troops, explosives, or flamethrowers.

It’s a good idea to aim your swipes so enemies collide into each other, or are slammed against a wall for more damage. The game does a good job of making you feel incredibly powerful, yet you are well aware of your weakness to bullets.

You make your way through various themed areas, such as offices, jungle, and cargo ship. These layouts are fairly linear with some branching paths, with doors or glass walls to smash. There’s an interesting set of levels in the dark, and you work out where enemies are by their torches.

You don’t need to defeat all enemies, but need to clear a safe path to get to the next floor. The gameplay often keeps you moving, and you need to think fast to protect yourself. If you are in range, then you need to grab or slam enemies. If you don’t think you can get there before they pull a shot off, then you may opt to flee, but turn sharply and try to get behind cover.

This leads to some stealthy moments, especially when you are outnumbered. The levels near the end where you are on the cargo ship are very challenging, and I found it really helpful to break the shipping containers as a makeshift protective tunnel to keep me out of sight and give me an alternative path.

Unlike Hotline Miami, you can’t really see that far ahead due to the camera position and all the high walls. This aspect also creates tension and makes you think fast, rather than strategically planning.

The other impressive aspect of the game is the style. It’s one of the most stylish games I have played. The graphics and colours may look simple, but looks great in motion, then has extra presentational touches like film grain. The jazz soundtrack is exceptionally good, and the way the music dynamically reacts to your actions is so impressive; with extra cymbal crashes when you slam enemies into the walls.

The levels only take a minute or so to get through, and it is a fairly short game overall, but the action is great that you won’t mind. There’s extra content to play once you complete the initial playthrough. There’s a bonus level where you break into a building, reach the end, then have to backtrack to escape. There’s Arcade mode where you try to score the most points with one life, and a “Harder” mode.