Although I don't have as much interest as I used to back when I was using my previous deviantART account, I can't help but express what I think of the new Playstation Move Ape Escape game for the Playstation 3's Move.
Before I saw any pictures or videos of the game, I thought it would be a great comeback for Ape Escape in North America and places outside Asia. It has been a while since Sony released an Ape Escape game (Ape Escape 3) outside of Asia. To them, it's probably time to bring it back to North America and Europe, but to me, they are somewhat too late. I mean, they didn't released 3 Ape Escape games outside of Asia over the past 5 years, and those are frigging good games (Ape Academy 2 came out in Europe, so it's not counted).
I could go on with how the other 3 games should be released outside of Asia, but I don't want to get carried away and focus more on this game.
Gameplay (2.5/5):
After watching the gameplay footage of the game, I was somewhat disappointed with the new gameplay. I am not going to jump on the bandwagon and hate this game. To be honest, the gameplay is not that bad, but it doesn't feel like a big game. It's more like a mini game in Wii Play or Wii Party.
It's great for new gamers or casual gamers, it's questionable for an Ape Escape fan, but I don't recommend it for hardcore gamers.
The rail-on shooter gameplay is not bad, but couldn't they make the game harder? This game is way too easy. To make it even more easy, they removed the health bar. You would be bored after swinging the Move controller for an hour and you can only swing in 2D. Why can't I use my net to reach out for a monkey from a far distance (3D depth) and why are they coming to you? Shouldn't the monkeys be running away from you because you have a net? Instead they are just mindlessly running at you. I thought those Pipo Helms have made them smarter, but in this game, they made them dumber. From what I heard the difficulty increases constantly, and that the last levels can make you swing your Move controller all over the place.
I think Sony should made more use of the motion sensing. Ape Escape has so much potential when it comes to motion-sensing. Back when the Wii came out, I had so many great ideas about how Ape Escape can revolutionize the gaming world with motion sensing. After all of these years, is this the best Sony can come up with?! A rail-on shooter game style and all you have to do is wait for those crazy monkeys come to you so you can catch them? This game makes the Wii Remote look more superior than the Move and Mario Party 8 more fun.
Story (4/5):
I was looking at the game's main website and I was surprised that the only character that came back was Specter. There are four new characters in the game, two teenage female twins named Touko (Did the name made you think of Touko/Hilda from Pokemon Black and White) and Tsukushi, a professor named Haru and this mysterious blue-haired guy. I don't know who is that, but I assumed it's Kei/Satoru from Ape Escape 3 due to their similarities in appearance. The characters are not bad, but I would like to see characters from previous games.
The storyline is surprising heartwarming. Specter doesn't seem like an evil villain but more of a lost and confused monkey who was launched into space by mankind in order to win the space race to the moon. I have to admit, the story does compensate for the gameplay.
Controls (3/5):
The controls for this game isn't really much of a big deal. If you have played Wii titles like Zelda Twilight Princess or Super Mario Galaxy, this game would be super easy. Judging from the gameplay videos, I think there are only three to four gadgets to use in the game. I think the gadgets could have been better. The net needs a big improvement, the slingshot is not so bad, and I would rather use a fan to hit those
monkeys instead of debris in the air. Why are there ONLY three gadgets? In Ape Escape 2, you had 12 gadgets. In Ape Escape 3, you only have 8 gadgets but they compensate the missing four gadgets with a variety of transformations, but in the game there are ONLY THREE TO FOUR?!
Graphics(4/5):
The graphics for the PS3 is not that bad. It's really colorful for an Ape Escape game.
Overall Impression:
Overall, the game is more of an experiment and Sony playing around with since this is the first Ape Escape game that uses motion sensing.
I think this game would have done better if it was released in 2006. However this is 2011, NOT 2006.
By now, gamers already have an idea what a good motion sensing game is, since the Wii made a huge breakthrough
with motion sensing with games like Zelda, Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Party, and etc. For fans of Ape Escape in the US and Europe
who have dying for a US release of an Ape Escape game for 5 years, this game would only pleased a small number of them. I do not recommend getting the game, but I do recommend watching the cutscenes from the game. The story melts your heart. I don't think this game is a sequel to Ape Escape 3. At least this game is NOT as brutal and cruel as Ape Escape Academy. It's more of a spin-off, so fans of Ape Escape, please don't take this game too seriously and give this game a chance.
For the final grade, I give Playstation Move Ape Escape:
(3 out of 5 stars).
Now let's hope they release Piposaru Racer and Saru Saru Daikusen here before PSP retires.
My Other Comments:
When I watched IGN's review, I was terribly surprised that IGN or any of the game reviewers did not make any mentions about the 4 Ape Escape games that never got released outside of Japan over the past 5 years. D8
My impression of IGN's review of this game:
I think they are too harsh on this game especially by comparing this game to superior on-rail shooter games in the PS3 library of games. I saw the walkthrough of the game and I think it's an okay game.
It's not revolutionary, but it's not too bad. I think western video game critics and western fans of Ape Escape expect too much from Sony because it has been 5 years since Ape Escape 3. We were just too desperate for another Ape Escape game that our expectations for a new Ape Escape game has skyrocketed.
My recommendation is to listen to what the owners of this game have to say. They are better critics than IGN and myself. My review is based more on research, my own opinion, and people who own this game's opinion. I never own or played the game, but I have encountered games that have similar game to Playstation Move Ape Escape.
*Update as of July 20th 2011*
I decided to change my score on this game to 3 stars because 2.5 stars out of 5 is close to 3 stars out of 5, and decimals don't sound appealing in a 5-star rating system.
Playstation Move Ape Escape cutscenes
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