Ape Escape 3 / Saru Getchu 3

[AndrewTS 0]

"We have to capture all of those monkeys, and stop their TV shows!"

 

It's been available in Japan since June of '05, but finally it's available in the US.

 

Ape Escape was pretty much the first game to make use of both PS1 analog sticks for anything other than camera control (you can use the right analog to select the direction you strike, plus twirl it around to do a spinning stun club attack, for instance).

 

The plot's silly--monkeys who have acquired special helmets get human intelligence...yet remain mischievious as heck. They run around causing havoc, and your task is to capture them with a handful of gadgets (you acquire more over the course of the games). However, in this 3rd installment, the twist is that instead of just causing mayhem, they're putting on incredibly stupid TV shows that are turning people's brains to mush, and you have to put a stop to it.

 

The first Ape Escape was a critical and financial hit, but the 2nd game was passed over by Sony for publication in the US (Ubi brought it stateside instead, and tough competition plus low distribution made kept it from garning much attention). In comparison to the brilliant first game, many found Ape Escape 2 to be painfully average, and short.

 

Anyway, I just snapped up 3, and while the dubbing is rather weak--not coming close to the excellent production values of platformers like the Ratchet and Clank / Jak series, they do a great job of giving you a break and driving the silly story forward.

 

It's the finest game on the market where you can club a monkey over the head and throw a net over him (although so far I've had my club stolen from me, and had to fend off some attacks from the monkey, corner him, and catch him in the net to get it back).

 

If you haven't tried the series, hit up your nearest EB/Gamestop where you should be able to find the original Ape Escape for about $4.99, before taking the $39.99 plunge.

 

(And if you only played Ape Escape 2 and liked it, by all means get this one ASAP--it's way better).

 

Oh...and as far as the ape/monkey confusion...they seem to be built like chimps, but none of them seem to have any visible tails. *shrug*

[Special K 0]

I had fun with both Ape Escapes. The monkeys did seem quite a bit smarter in AE 1.

[AndrewTS 0]

New review: http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/apeesca...tml?sid=6142542

[AndrewTS 0]

Ukkison--a chainsaw-wielding, hockey-mask-wearing monkey (that appears in a horror-themed level, BTW) kicked my BUTT repeatedly. Even in knight form I couldn't capture him.

 

...but I'll try him later with the Wild West Kid form. He has rapid-fire guns, and trick bullets (ones a seeker, another is a net bullet).

 

1up's review for the game sucks.