Entirely silent and environmental, the narration of Ape Out does not bother with any dialogue or text, except for the chapter titles and a few fleeting tutorial inscriptions. It must be said that the scenario like the gameplay does not require long explanations. Both are seized in a few moments: you are a gorilla in a cage and must escape at all costs, even if it means slaughtering a good bunch of human beings in the process. The game offers us a top view, which will naturally bring back fond memories for Hotline Miami fanatics. But as a gorilla, your range of action remains very limited. You can push enemies with the right trigger, to smash them against a wall or another guard, or grab them with a left trigger pull, to use them as a human shield and take advantage of their uncontrolled fire to stick a stray bullet to their colleagues. And…. that is just about everything ! No other game mechanics enrich the gameplay, apart from the possibility of breaking windows and tearing off a door or two on very rare occasions. This simplicity has positive consequences, such as immediate handling and a total absence of downtime in action. We have fun right away, and the sensations are extremely good. Despite its low resistance to bullets, the gorilla offers us a very good feeling of power, and the primitive pleasure of smashing fragile human beings with a chain is reinforced by the display on the screen of large sheaves of blood. Simple and efficient. In return, we must recognize that the action somewhat lacks variety, and that a certain repetitiveness emerges from the game. Fortunately, the developers have provided many tricks to minimize this small defect.
BEWARE OF THE GORILLA
Thus, the adventure is divided into different small levels and symbolized by musical vinyls with an A side and a B side, which makes it easy to play in small sessions. With four albums and about four "pieces" per side, we are therefore entitled to about thirty levels which are all checkpoints. Each death puts us in effect at the beginning of the level, but this "die & retry" aspect is never penalizing. Not only is there rarely a long way to go, but the randomized generation of enemy architecture and placement also helps sweeten the pill. In addition, each album addresses a particular theme. We must thus escape at first from a laboratory, then from a skyscraper, then from a military camp, and finally from a boat. The decorations evolve significantly each time and sometimes offer some subtleties. For example, we will be entitled to a few power cuts in the lab, which will force the guards to use flashlights. The building makes it possible to throw the enemies into the void and obliges to face units which disembark by abseiling. Escaping from the military camp will require avoiding enemies with flamethrowers and explosive barrels. Finally, we can hide briefly in the containers placed on the boat and the port of the last album. The artificial intelligence is rather well simulated, since the adversaries tend to gain confidence when they are several and well armed (shotgun, rocket launcher...), while an isolated guard equipped with a simple pistol will generally favor leakage.
No other game mechanics enrich the gameplay, apart from the possibility of breaking windows and tearing off a door or two on very rare occasions.
Good point also for the trails of blood left by your injured character. Not only does their size give a visual indication of the gorilla's state of health, but they also allow the most attentive guards to follow your trail. Despite its very particular graphic style, made up of grainy filters and garish color tints, the game is always extremely readable and, surprisingly, quite pleasing to the eye. Same observation of efficiency for music, minimalist and almost entirely made up of percussion. Despite its experimental and jazzy aspect, the soundtrack perfectly accompanies the gameplay. It must be said that it uses a procedural generation system, which allows it to evolve according to the action represented on the screen. Cymbal claps with each enemy hit, and other accelerations of rhythm when you chain the executions, reinforce the pleasure of the game. But this one is unfortunately short-lived. It only takes two hours to get to the final credits. This certainly allows you to unlock an additional difficulty mode as well as an arcade mode (which rewards the player with a score based on the number of enemies killed and the time taken to complete each level) but, unquestionably, Ape Out leaves behind him a taste of too little.
