Planet of the Apes (video game)
An action-adventure game set in the Planet of the Apes universe.
Planet of the Apes is a 2001 action-adventure video game and the first video game in the Planet of the Apes franchise. It was released as a tie-in to the 2001 film, though its plot draws from Pierre Boulle's 1963 novel and the 1968 film adaptation. Fox Interactive co-published the game with Ubi Soft after development delays caused it to miss the film's release date.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Visiware (PC and PlayStation); Torus Games (Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color)
- Publisher
- Ubi Soft; Fox Interactive
- Producer
- Tim Hall
- Designer
- Jean-Francois Graffard; Raffi Messant
- Programmer
- Matus Kirchmayer
- Writer
- Jean-Francois Graffard
- Composer
- Lionel Gaget; Raphaël Gesqua
- Platforms
- Windows
- Game Boy Color
- Game Boy Advance
- PlayStation
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Planet of the Apes is an action-adventure game with a third-person perspective. The player controls Ulysses, using unarmed combat, clubs, knives, and firearms against intelligent apes. Levels can be explored in Normal, Athletic, or Stealth modes. The game includes puzzle solving, such as finding key cards, and progress is saved only upon completing each level.
Synopsis
In 3889, astronaut Ulysses crash-lands on a planet where intelligent apes dominate primitive humans. Captured and taken to a medical center, he escapes with help from a human slave named Jonah. Ulysses learns he is on Earth and that his arrival fulfills a prophecy of a savior. Human rebels give him one piece of an ancient relic; he retrieves the other two from a ruined city and the State Archives. Along the way, he frees Nova, discovers General Ursus plans to misuse chimpanzee Dr. Cornelius' genetics research, and convinces Cornelius to destroy his work. Jonah dies after revealing the final relic's location. The three pieces form a map to the Forbidden Place at the Statue of Liberty, leading to the Pentagon. There, Ulysses learns that after a devastating war, humans bred apes as slaves; the apes rebelled, killing most humans, while survivors hid in an underground Ark Project. Ulysses contacts the Arkanites, advanced humans living below, and encourages them to reunite with surface humans. He exposes Ursus before the Ape Palace council; Ursus is arrested, and Ulysses departs with Nova as human and Arkanite forces prepare to attack the apes.
Development
Fox Interactive began developing a Planet of the Apes video game tie-in in 1998, after 20th Century Fox greenlit a film remake. When director James Cameron dropped out and the film stalled, Fox proceeded with the game, confident a remake would eventually happen. It was the franchise's first video game; an earlier attempt for the Atari 2600 was abandoned in 1983. Fox contracted French developer Visiware to create the game. With the film in limbo, the team crafted a story inspired by Pierre Boulle's novel and the 1968 film. They targeted PC, PlayStation, and Sega Dreamcast, but scrapped the Dreamcast version when Sega discontinued the console. Fox chose to co-publish with a third party rather than publish alone, a move seen as a sign of decline and causing major delays. The game was announced at E3 1999. Tim Burton's film, released in 2001, had a substantially different story. Fox launched a marketing campaign in 2000, but the game missed the film's July 27, 2001 release. On September 6, 2001, Fox announced a co-publishing partnership with Ubisoft, enabling release. The PC version launched in North America on September 20, 2001, and later in France, the UK, and Australia. A PlayStation port followed in 2002.
Reception
The PC and PlayStation versions received negative reviews. Metacritic gave the PC version a score of 41/100, indicating generally unfavorable reviews; GameRankings calculated 48.79% for PC and 60.00% for PlayStation. Critics called it an ugly, boring Tomb Raider clone with weak environments, combat, and puzzles. IGN found the controls and gameplay mediocre and graphics outdated. AllGame enjoyed the dialogue-heavy story but criticized the interface and movement. GameZone praised sound and graphics but said the game does not toe the mark. The Game Boy versions received mixed reviews: Metacritic scored the Game Boy Advance version 54/100, and GameRankings gave it 59.44%. IGN rated it 6.0/10, calling it a decent side-scroller that fails to impress.
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