Ape Escape (PS3)

PlayStation exclusive

It's time for some monkey business on PlayStation 3!

Released: 9 December 2010
Platforms: PlayStation 3
Genres: Shoot 'em up Shooter
Developers: Japan Studio
Publishers: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Series: Ape Escape
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: First person
Themes: Action Comedy Party
Engine: Havok
Country: Japan
Age ratings: CERO A ESRB E10+PEGI 3

About

PlayStation Move Ape Escape, simply titled Ape Escape in Europe and known in Asian countries as Ape Escape: On the Move! and in Japan as Furi Furi! Saru Get You, is a 2010 rail shooter and party video game developed and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is part of the Ape Escape series.

The game was originally announced at the Tokyo Game Show 2009 as one of the titles supporting the PlayStation Move controller. It was released on December 9, 2010 in Japan, on June 24, 2011 in Europe, and on July 5, 2011 in North America.

Keywords

playstation move
playstation move support

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Unlike other games in the Ape Escape series, the game is an on-rails shooting game rather than a platformer. Players view the game from a first-person perspective with the motion controller acting as a gadget on-screen which include a floating net, a slingshot and a harisen. Players cycle through their arsenal using the Move button while either pressing the trigger button or performing gestures to utilize the gadget. For example, players swing the net to catch monkeys, press the trigger button to fire slingshots and wave the controller to use the fan.

Players traverse from area to area via an on-rails method. Each area is filled with monkeys and players must ultimately catch all of them using the net. Each gadget is used for a different purpose: slingshots are used to annoy monkeys, destroy objects, and shoot banana power-ups, while the fan is used to blow away debris. To shift the camera players press either the "X" or "O" buttons to turn left or right respectively.

Development

An Ape Escape game for the PlayStation 3 (working title "Ape Escape") was confirmed as a PlayStation Move title in Tokyo Game Show 2009 in September.

A trailer for PlayStation Move was released. It displayed a one-second clip of the game, which involved the player catching monkeys with a net, using the move controller, in first-person view. Another image was released by Ape Club. It contained a picture of the "Gadget Widget", displaying the gadgets, and a new addition showing batteries. A full trailer for the game was finally released which was shown at the Tokyo Game Show 2010 on September 16.

Reception

The game received "unfavorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. IGN's Jack DeVries disliked the game and found that it was "missing a lot of shooter fundamentals like additional weapons, co-op, and challenge", concluding that it was "an embarrassing, shovelware shooter that feels more like a bargain bin Wii title than a first party affair". In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of three sevens and one six for a total of 27 out of 40.