Posted on: September 12, 2023
Louard_le_Barbare
Possesseur vérifiéJeux: 294 Avis: 124
A jazzy, stylish and imperfect gem.
The main selling point of Ape Out is clearly its unique and breathtaking art direction. There are definitely a lot of good vibes here: everything is made of simple shapes and bright colors, put to great use to create evocative environments and vibrant, satisfying visuals. It’s also pretty cool to hear the game “improvising” a jazz soundtrack based on the rhythm of the on-screen combat. The controls are perfectly serviceable and satisfying in spite of (or perhaps thanks to?) their minimalism. You can punch, grab and run, which is more than enough for a game where you play as a giant gorilla who turns its enemies into puddles of blood. It’s pretty hectic, and there even is a surprising amount of depth to be found in the gameplay: the enemy types are quite varied in their armament and behavior, and each of them can have their weapons turned against other assailants! Yet, despite its undeniable qualities, I have mixed feelings on Ape Out... To be precise, I'm not a fan of its randomly generated levels. I get that this is a way to amp up the challenge in an otherwise short game, and frankly I’m biased against procedural generation so take my complaints with a grain of salt... but to me, not only do most of the environments lack groundedness (which is fine considering how stylized they are), those labyrinthine places are just sort of bland and uninteresting to go through. You’ll usually find the exit very easily by going in the straightest line possible, and there’s nothing to be gained by exploring. The difficulty is also pretty random: sometimes, you’ll find yourself facing five gunmen with nowhere to take cover, before reloading the level and finding it almost devoid of enemies. In the end, I probably won’t replay Ape Out again and really think it may have benefited from having hand-crafted levels... But it’s an art piece first and foremost, and a compelling and unique experiment which I would definitely recommend to those interested in weird indie games.
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