#ape out

Ape Out is one of many cool experimental titles published by Devolver Digital. It's a project mainly developed by one person, Gabe Cuzzillo, who worked on it while studying game development at university. Other contributors to Ape Out include Maxi Boch and Bennett Foddy; the three went on to collaborate on the recently released Baby Steps, but I played it not because of this relevance but because I wanted more ape action after Donkey Kong Bananza.

With the trappings of a top-down stealth game, your ape character ostensibly has to sneak through a facility where by appearances cruel animal testing has led to the deaths of their compatriots. What you’re actually doing is smashing your way out in a rampage of revenge. So the whole game feels like the frantic action sections of a stealth game after you’ve been spotted.

The ape’s available verbs are punching, grabbing, and throwing in a simple two-button control scheme. Humans with guns will try their best to stop you, and you can take a couple of shots before going down, but to survive you will need to slam every one you see against walls or into each other with huge explosions of blood painting the floors. You can also grab them to use as temporary shields, whereupon their guns will go off, also to your advantage. The simple but chaotic loop of running through labyrinthine corridors and rooms, grabbing fools, aiming their shots, chucking them around… it’s very visceral and satisfying, and as the stages get harder learning the layouts and the puzzle of violence adds another compelling layer.

When you do eventually ape out of the building, more adventures unfold. Now the ape is maybe a pet in a rich penthouse flat, so you smash your way down the cramped floors of a tall building. Now they’re on a boat, dipping between shipping containers and mooks with rocket launchers. Now you’re in a warzone with all the added danger that entails, and a zoo breakout ends the proceedings with a nice reversal of the balance of power, other animals joining your crusade. The epilogue challenge, breaking back in to the facility to rescue a child ape and bring them out, is a lovely capper to the escalating difficulty and the lightly-told story. Of course there’s a harder campaign variant and a score-chasing arcade mode if you’re still after more primate carnage.

While the core gameplay has been polished well (and there’s some randomisation to the layouts for replayability), an equal strength is the aesthetics. The striking monochrome look that shifts with the game’s events and settings looks stunning while also serving the quick-reaction gameplay; meanwhile the grainy texture and the way the walls bend around your bird’s eye view add to the unique vibe. The soundtrack mainly consisting of jazz drums that react to your actions are the result of Boch’s aural expertise, lending a classy air while also matching the wild brutality brilliantly.