Planet of The Apes: Last Frontier

Review

The year is 2027 and winter is approaching at a chilling pace. On the plain lives a band of survivors who are counting what’s left of their food reserves. What they are unaware of is that an Ape tribe has taken refuge at an old mine located on a mountain close by. As the food resources have vanished on all sides of the peak, and hunger settles deep in their bodies, their leader, the Ape Khan, sends his three sons out to hunt together, but warns them not to go to the plains where they’ll be seen by humans, and not to take their foods. Welcome to Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier!

Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier is a narrative adventure and choice matters game where, as a player, you swap between the humans and apes all the way through the game.

The game consists of 6 chapters, including a prologue, and can be played on a single player mode or with up to four people on your local computer. The game also offers 19 different endings, and that will all depend on the choice you make with both the survivors and the apes.

I know that the game is advertised as a narrative adventure game, but to me it is pretty much a cinematic experience; extremely well-designed and splendidly executed. The graphics and animations are top notch all the way through, and each of the characters is well crafted. Personally, I enjoyed discovering all the characters on both sides and truly felt the tremendous drama each of the groups were experiencing.

The leader of both groups has they own predicament to deal with. Each side has good and bad characters, and the fact that you are consistently swapping and seeing the story from both points of view is very cool.

Within each of the chapters, you’ll be prompted regularly to make a choice between two options, and occasionally you’ll have to execute an action, which is often shooting at either an ape or a human.

My first playthrough was around 3 hours, and I was entertained right up to the end! In my first ending, Jess’s son was killed, and the Apes ambushed a train full of military personnel after being derailed. Looking back on my first gameplay, I can pinpoint several specific moments where the story might have changed dramatically, which gives this game good re-playability, and makes me want to discover all the alternative endings.

After finishing all the chapters, you can either restart the story from scratch, or jump directly into your favourite chapter. However, I am not sure if by doing so, it will lead you towards other endings.

Graphically, it’s brilliant and the animations are fabulous, especially when the Apes are using their hands to communicate with each other; I even wondered if they were Italian Apes at one stage! In terms of the story and characters, it’s very well done. Mind you, I would have liked to have had more than two choices when prompted. That is probably the only small negative I have for this game.   Can’t have it all!