It’s rare that games are announced and released within a window of around six months. At least games of quality. It is also rare that we see a game tackle a licensed property and do it justice.  It is even rarer that we see both of these things done simultaneously, by a brand new independent developer. Ok. So what am I talking about?  I’m talking about Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier.
The game will be a cinematic adventure set between the events of 2014’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes. This tie-in looks promising from its reveal trailer, but what proof do we have of the quality of this upcoming title.
The game is being developed by The Imaginarium, better known as the performance capture studio run by Planet of the Apes lead actor Andy Serkis, who executive produces here. Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier is even being developed on-site at the company’s historic Ealing Studios headquarters.
Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier, which is being directed by Quantic Dreams (Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls) veteran Steve Kniebihly, hopes to blur the lines between films and games. Last Frontier is between 2-3 hours long (the average length of a Planet of the Apes film) and is a cinematic experience created frame by frame using the same motion capture utilized in the blockbuster trilogy it is based on.
You will switch between the perspectives of a small group of apes who have broken away from Caeser’s tribe and taken refuge in the Rocky Mountains and a group of humans who live in the valley below. As these two groups interact with each other you’ll be forced to make countless morally ambiguous decisions and craft your own story. With a fresh cast of characters, unseen in the films, there may be countless outcomes for you to explore.
So there seems to be a lot going for Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier. It will release sometime this fall for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. For more on this intriguing announcement, stay tuned to The Nerd Stash.
