Parents' Guide to Ape Out

Sometimes in entertainment, style occasionally beats out substance, and this action game tries to adapt this formula with a unique and flashy style, but little depth. Ape Out is extremely simple to pick up and play, though it does throw a lot at players to ramp up the difficulty relatively quickly. This also means that most stages don't take too much time, which tends to work in its favor because it's one of those games that gets way too repetitive way too quick. It's not long before you're just going through the motions for no reason other than trying to eke out a little extra distance over your previous run.

One way Ape Out tries to keep players' interest is through pure shock value. At first blush, the game's unique silhouette look seems like it's going to be pretty tame. That is, until the first time players hit one of the guards and send him flying into a nearby wall, where the guard virtually explode into a gory mess of blood and body parts in the otherwise sparkling clean hallways. It's a stunning contrast to the rest of the game's minimalist art style and catchy soundtrack. Of course, that's also a bit of a one-trick pony. Once you've seen the carnage the first time, it loses its surprise and quickly feels commonplace. From that point on, it turns into almost every other old-school arcade experience out there. The only thing missing is a stack of quarters and an "Insert Coin" prompt.