APE OUT

Ape Out is a fantastic experience. I use that word rather than "game" not because it isn't one, but because I don't find that to be its most appealing quality. As the game not so subtly makes clear from its opening moments, it's very themed around music. Every world is an album and every level is a song. This goes much deeper than just the soundtrack though, as Ape Out is probably the shining example I would point to as an argument for dynamic music in video games. I've always found dynamic music awesome, and Ape Out proves exactly why by punctuating every moment of gameplay with an alteration to the soundtrack. But the gameplay isn't alone in this, as the visuals even get in on the action to create an experience that looks exactly what it sounds like. My favorite two examples being Red Alert and Rough Seas, with the former timing the red flashing lights with a snare drum that makes the song itself sound like a blaring alarm, and the latter having intermittent blackouts that cause all but one instrument to stop playing until the lights come back on. Honestly the visuals alone would earn this game its flowers by virtue of how much they communicate through the simplicity. Again, the game likes to play around with light, with one of the earliest levels having you navigate around it in the dark, which causes all of the colors to invert, and giving the enemies flashlights that diegetically displays their line of sight. The gameplay is obviously good too, but it's a pretty simply kind of beat-em-up. You really only have two buttons: grabbing and throwing, and attacking (which is basically just an instant throw). There's some minor strategy going on when it comes to knowing when to attack, when to grab enemies for defense, or when to just run, but for the most part it's a very arcadey run-and-gun that you'll mostly end up blitzing through, which certainly isn't a bad thing. Like I said, if nothing else, this game is worth it for the soundtrack to be experienced as intended. It's a great game that has a bit of a steep asking price, but is more than worth the price when on sale.