Violent games are nothing new to us. We have seen the gore of Mortal Kombat, the hyper violent nature of Hotline Miami and more, yet it has never been presented like this.
Ape Out is an exercise in aggression, in releasing that aggression and going all out in embracing the violent nature that we bury. And best of all, its all wrapped up in a game that is incredibly well made.
Ape Out sees you play as an Ape who must escape from his captors and make sure they are unable to follow him. By this, I of course mean that the captors must be killed. Gameplay follows the format of Hotline Miami with top down violence but takes its own path at the same time. Each stage introduces something new, such as grabbing objects both to protect yourself and to attack enemies. In fact, you can grab enemies and have them fire on other enemies.
It is not all that easy though, as your foes have guns and open fire right away. The Ape will drip blood to indicate damage taken, and the damage you take, the larger the pool of (orange) blood is left behind. For every new skill and trick you learn, the more aggressive your enemies become and faster you will die.
Ape Out has a very neat art style that compliments its off beat nature. As I said, the Ape’s blood is orange and everything feels detached for lack of a better word. The game’s use of colours and structure makes us feel unconnected even as we get deeper into the game and I like that. It doesn’t make us feel that we are violent, but we are just experiencing some entertainment that can also be therapeutic in a way. It lets us vent aggression as I stated above, and its the use of music that both draws us in and instantly pulls us out before things get too deep.
I didn’t expect to like Ape Out as much as I did, but its surprisingly well designed. I will gladly recommend, just be aware that it is a very intense and violent game so it isn’t for everyone.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided