Planet of the Apes

by Ubisoft

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005OOOX
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: September 18, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #28,449 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

The good news is that this Planet of the Apes retelling isn't quite as bad as the Tim Burton film. Though not directly tied to any of the movies, this ape adventure is based in the world of the original 1960s movie and book. As stranded astronaut Ulysses, you find yourself in a decidedly inhospitable world run by apes that have a penchant for keeping captive humans running around in loincloths. There are some friendly primates and humans to be found, but it's the mean monkeys that are bent on stopping you from learning their many secrets.

Sadly, the game's many blemishes include boring combat and a horrific save system that only works between levels. The overly familiar Tomb Raider-ish gameplay features plenty of button pushing, important object locating, and ledge grabbing. But the outdated visuals, droning voice acting, and occasionally awkward controls will keep seasoned gamers from coming back for more. With a little more care this title could've been a top banana, but sadly the gameplay is overstylized and underripe. --Mark Brooks

Pros:

• Outdated but functional graphics that should run on older PCs
• Should be very familiar to anyone that has played any of the Tomb Raider games
• Better than most Planet of the Apes films

Cons:

• Almost completely unoriginal gameplay
• Boring combat
• Pitiful save system that only allows you to store your progress between levels

Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you didn't like the Burton flick get this! You'll lov it, October 16, 2001

By 

Black Cat de La Bear "see that dark shape o'r... (those dark halls) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Planet of the Apes (CD-ROM)

This is a creative twist on the original film(Heston, McDowell) It starts out with Astronauts Ulysses(very Taylor-like), Sophie last name unspecified(who looks -a lot- better than Landon but gets gunned down, darn!), and Romulus(doesn't like the heat, much like actor Jeff Burton), and Rodrigis(a rotting corpse like Stewert) crashlanding on a 'host planet' as the ship calls it in a desert(Forbidden Zone. kewl!) and abandoning the self-distructing ship and going through desert, widlerness, and corn field(not giving away plott, all in movie) and getting clobbered by apes(gorrillas). This is where the similarity ends. I'll say no more.

Planet of the Apes is an action/adventure game where the main character is a two-fisted ape whacking space ferrer(Captain Kirk, Taylor, Han Solo, ect.) But it is not like the original in that the Apes are stronger than he is and acting covertly is more often than not, the answer. Most fights I've been in with the gorillas have left Ulysses bruised severely and critically wounded. Being stealthy is important here. If you like Quake or Unreal, you may not like this, their is more hand to hand and less power wheapons to waste the apes. The only wheapons in this game(worth mentioning) are the rifle, and the Laser rifle. The Laser rifle is at a much later stage(I haven't conqererd that level yet.) You don't actually start using projectile wheapons until much later, like the second half of the game. This game is as much about adventure as it is abot action, and thier's a lot to explore in the Ape city alone. Levels 4-7 are almost completely devoid of Apes, only two I've encountered total, however, it is very interesting and if you like adventure games you'll love that section of the game!

My only gripe with this game, is the keyboard only interface, which is keeping me from winning those ape brawls I keep getting myself into. Ulysses ain't as strong as the apes but at least give me a good interface to keep him fight'n. Keyboard only! Not mouse, not controller like it says on the box. I have written Ubisoft about it and hope for a reply within 3 days.
Limited save games would not be an issue with me except for the input problem. I can't fight as well with keyboard. ALT(or any other key) doesn't respond like a mouse button or good ole controller pad. Keep your distance. When you get a gun, shoot'em in the back of the neck like they did your astronaut friend at the beginning. That'll show them damn dirty Apes! Once they start forward, that ALT key is slow!
That aside, it's a great game with an excellent sound track and good special effects. Whether you thought the new movie was a flop or not I highly recommend giving this game a try, you can always take it back if you don't like it. This game deserves some credit.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Planet of the Apes redux!, January 1, 2002

By 

Alexander Liu (Somewhere in Time) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Planet of the Apes (CD-ROM)

Like most other reviewers said, the beginning of the game is more or less a rip-off of the original POTA movie with Heston, even going to the Stewart corpse and crashlanding. Even the set is exactly like the original albeit with a modern twist.

Anyway, being an avid Planet of the Apes fan, I was pleasantly surprised by meeting all the old characters (Cornelius, Zira, Dr. Zaius, and even General Ursus!). But this is where my biggest gripe about the game comes in. The voice acting! I can stand the keyboard only interface and outdated visuals, but the protagonist sounds like he has a lisp, Cornelius sounds like he is in his eighties, and Ursus is just plain bad. The fact that the other humans talk don't help much. My other gripe is the lack of in-game saving, but since this game is quite easy with low enemy placement, that didn't present a problem.

Nova is introduced as a red-haired Lara Croft like gal who kicks ape butt, but she seems to be well versed in the English language, which kinda confuses me, as in BTPOTA, Nova is having a tough time to speak... Taylor even helps her out by going (No...oo..ova... Ta..aa..aaylor... No.oo.ova!). I kinda think it is possible that humans speak, as we do meet mutants in the second movie, but every human in this game can talk, which kinda contrasts with BTPOTA, where Zira says the only human she knows who can talk other than Brent is Taylor, but enough about that.

The controls are reminiscent of Tomb Raider, and the camera work is quite lacklustre, to the point of giving me multiple headaches. Actually, come to think of it, this game is really similar to Indiana Jones: The Infernal Machine in both controls and graphics.

If you are searching for a shoot-em-up type game, this isn't for you. A vast majority of the time, you have to put up your dukes against damn dirty baboons, and the few weapons in the game that I have found include a club, knives, a gun, a machine gun, and a laser gun. All variations of the gun are essentially the same, with the only differences being effects and small physical alterations. The combat is remniscent of boxing arcade games, where you press back to dodge blows, and then beat the heck out of the other guy... I mean ape. And don't expect realistic effects with the guns either. The only gun with any visible effects is the laser, while all others just cause smoke to billow up and you cant see the bullet or any markings of damage. It also takes roughly the same amount of hits to kill an ape with a gun as it does with your fists, and the hits are not body specific. One weird thing is that all the enemies I encountered have some sort of honor system, whereby they take turns attacking you. While you duke it out with one ape, the other one waits patiently for his turn.

Do look forward to tons of fun RPG action, as you get to enjoy revisiting the Planet of the Apes, and my particular favorite was finding out where the humming in BTPOTA was originating from. There are tons of surprises, and even lots of cool scenes.

All in all, a cool game which is sort of Indiana Jones on the Planet of the Apes in a loin cloth. Don't be put off by the controls or the visuals, as they kinda grow on ya after a while, and if you do buy this game, don't go reaching for your hintbook or put off by what seems to be impossible puzzles, as running around experimenting helps alot. On a personal note, this is probably the first game I played looking at the walkthrough once only! And lastly, let me quote a previous reviewer:
Must buy.
Get this game.
Its Planet of the Apes
Enough said

2.0 out of 5 stars Planet of the Ape the plurals don't have it(much), March 12, 2008

By 

Kid Prometheus "The Lad from Hades" (danger zoned) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Planet of the Apes (CD-ROM)

It is a good game for a casual action/adventure(graphic adventure) fan if only it worked in Windows XP. In fact, aside from its native OS it doesn't work at all! Very rigid flaky program. The content and gameplay is really quite fun, not anything breathtaking or revolutionary but a nice ride. I am willing to write about it not working in XP but it will never work because unless some win 98 emulator comes along(via a selfless 3rd party like DOS Box's Sourceforge), this game will be long forgotten by all. Such is the world of "The Planet of the Apes". If you have an operating PC that is compatible with 98 don't ever run it off the CD-ROM it is the worst experience ever, always do a full install of both disks and you'll never be kicked out of the awesome climax of movies(what little thier are). Like the animated series, the apes and "primitive' humans sound very civilised. "Nova's" voice is more pleasant than a phone operator's(since it is also "Zira's" not to mention every other female character in the game) and she is not the primate that that character concept was written for. Your main character, Ulysses is taken from the book, and is the most savage of the bunch(despite his lisp). Just because you can just walz in and take out a bunch of chimps doesn't mean you should. Play it with the better half of valour for a real experience. The gunsite navigation is cool(you dodge based on the point of view of the ape sniping you), remensecnt of the animated series with the Pink Panther style inky black-to-vivid contrast colors and garish post-appocoliptic atmosphere, especially the artwork in the city. The end game is cheesy.