Most modern games are basically collections of menus, different gameplay mechanics, and cut scenes that gel together to provide rich cinematic experiences where players have some control over the action. This applies to the big AAA studios, indie developers and everyone in between. Every so often, there comes a game that revels in its simplicity and provides an experience that is unmatched in the pure enjoyment it delivers. Ape Out is that kind of game.

The idea of simplicity starts with the story. You play as an ape that's trapped in a cage. Angry at your situation, you break out and try to escape, killing everyone in your way. That's it. What you're essentially getting is a story about as deep as an average Atari 2600 game, with no need for cut scenes since everything is self-explanatory from the moment you pick up the controller.

The game is presented in a top-down viewpoint, and your main objective in each level is to find the exit and reach the next level without getting killed in the process. Any enemies you encounter can be dispatched in any number of ways, but those moves only require the two action buttons, plus the right analog stick if you want to fine-tune your aiming. One button shoves enemies a great distance, resulting in an instant kill if they collide with another enemy, a wall, or a pane of glass. The only way they survive the encounter is if you shove them into an open space, as they'll stumble and be stunned before getting back up to attack again. Your other button is a grab button, which lets you grab any enemy and use them as a human shield. Every enemy you grab fires off one shot, so you can also use them as impromptu guns if you time things correctly. Eventually, you'll grab onto large metal doors to use them as shields and large projectiles, and you'll also grab onto large machines for the same purpose.

Those few options give you plenty of opportunities to play every stage any way you want. You can go for a more cautious approach and grab anyone you see for extra security, while also trying to avoid as many conflicts as you can before hitting the exit. You can go for a loud approach and pummel everyone you see without repercussions, since enemies don't respawn. The only thing you have to worry about is your health, as you can only take three hits with most guns before you get taken down. While restarting a level is effortless since there are no load times, every level is randomly generated, so your routes and strategies change for every run.

With such a simple premise, Ape Out does a great job of mixing things up whenever possible. For your locales, that means going from heavily armed labs to high-rise buildings to even warzones, each with new methods for enemy disposal. For example, the labs contain buzzsaws that don't hurt you but splatter enemies rather nicely, while the high-rise gives you plenty of opportunities to throw people out of windows. Enemies also vary rather quickly; you start off with enemies that have simple rifles, but that quickly escalates into people with flamethrowers, grenades, machine guns and shotguns. There are even enemies that explode the moment they die. Like everything else, each new enemy forces you to think on the fly, and that keeps things exciting.

Based on this alone, the game has obviously struck upon a formula where wanton murders are addictingly fun, and dying is just another chance to extend the enjoyment. With that said, the presentation goes a long way in keeping you engrossed in the title because so few games ever attempt something like this. On the sound front, the gunfire and other related effects are as clean as can be, and the voices are limited to yelps at being captured and screams when falling through windows. What carries this area of the game is the music, which is improvisational jazz that you create with your actions. Do nothing, and all you'll hear is ambient noise. Grab someone, and the drums start to beat, with the rhythm getting heavier once more people come into play. Cymbals crash when people go splat, and before you know it, you're creating a track that is wildly different at every run.

Graphically, the game is striking. If you're a film buff and familiar with some of the 1950s classics, like "Psycho" or "The Man With The Golden Arm," then you'll recognize the style. There are lots of solid colors and angular shapes, all with a filter that feels like a mix of film grain being placed over crumpled construction paper. Blood splats go big in bright red, and the game isn't afraid of changing up the color scheme on the fly. Kill a power generator, for example, and the game goes for gritty black-and-white look where flashlight beams stick out vividly. With no HUD in place, the vividness of your own blood to indicate how close you are to death is easily recognized, as are the markers indicating the level exits. It's all eye-catching and playful, and when combined with the jazz music soundtrack, you can't help but feel that this is a game that heavily invokes the spirit of title screen director Saul Bass (albeit with more violence).

With so many things going right, about the only thing people might object to is the game's length. The main campaign takes about three hours to beat, and once you do, you can either replay everything on a harder difficulty of play for leaderboard placement in Arcade mode. Even in an era where games are losing the stigma of length equating to value, that still seems jarring for some players. At the same time, the counterargument is that the game is smart about not dragging along. After all, as cathartic as it may be to smash humans into tiny bits, it can get old. By keeping things short, the game never gets boring, so unless you're going after all of the Steam Achievements, there's no chance to grow tired of the title.

Ape Out is the kind of game that makes you glad the indie scene exists. It defines the type of game that is very easy to pick up, but it takes some real practice to conquer. It places pure action over story, with the reward for surviving every encounter being pure satisfaction. Failure is met with an immediate desire to try again instead of groaning in frustration. It's a gorgeous game, but more importantly, it ends way before the premise wears thin. In short, Ape Out easily goes on the list for one of the best titles of the year.

Score: 9.0/10