''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 , is a 2010

rail shooter Rail shooter, also known as on-rails shooter, is a subgenre of shoot 'em up video game. Beginning with arcade games such as the 1985 '' Space Harrier'', the gameplay locks the player character into a set path, only allowing for limited or no di ...

and

party video game A party video game is a genre of video game that stems from in-person party games, involving player-to-player interaction as the central gameplay element. These games are often defined by simple controls which can be easily picked up and understoo ...

developed and published by

Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...

for the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

. The game was originally announced at the

Tokyo Game Show , commonly known as TGS, is a video game trade fair and convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publication ...

2009 as one of the title supporting the

PlayStation Move is a Motion controller, motion game controller developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Initially released in 2010 for use with the PlayStation 3 home video game console, its compatibility was later expanded to its successor, the PlayStation ...

controller. The title was released on December 9, 2010, in Japan, then in 2011 on June 24 for Europe, and on July 5 for North America. An English version of the game in Asia was also released January 31, 2011.

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 The is a giant paper Fan (implement), fan, usually made in a closed fashion. It is most traditionally used as part of a act, in which the straight man () smacks the double act, funny man () in response to their jokes or idiocy. In popular cu ...

. 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 (named "Ape Escape" working title) was confirmed as a

title in

2009 in September. A trailer for

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

2010 on September 16. An English version of the game was released in Asian countries like Singapore along with a PlayStation Move bundle in 2011, under the name ''Ape Escape: On the Move!''. ''PlayStation Move Ape Escape'' was released for the US PlayStation Store during the Summer.

Reception

The game received "unfavorable" reviews according to the

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

''s Jack DeVries disliked the game and found that it was "missing a lot of shooter fundamentals like additional weapons , icco-op, and challenge", concluding that it was "an embarrassing,

shovelware Shovelware is a type of video game or software bundle known more for the quantity of what is included than for its quality or usefulness. The metaphor implies that the creators showed little care for the quality of the original software, as if t ...

shooter that feels more like a bargain bin Wii title than a first party affair". In Japan, ''

Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...

'' gave it a score of three sevens and one six for a total of 27 out of 40.

References

External links

* {{Ape Escape series 2010 video games Ape Escape games Japan Studio games Party video games PlayStation 3 games PlayStation 3-only games PlayStation Move-compatible games PlayStation Move-only games PlayStation Network games Rail shooters Single-player video games Sony Interactive Entertainment games Video game sequels Video games developed in Japan Video games using Havok