Crisis on the Planet of the Apes
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| Crisis on the Planet of the Apes | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| VR/AR | VR |
| Developer | Imaginati Studios |
| Publisher | FoxNext VR Studio |
| Platform | PlayStation 4, SteamVR |
| Device | PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive |
| Operating System | Windows |
| Type | Game |
| Genre | Action, Adventure |
| Input Device | PlayStation Move, Tracked Motion Controllers |
| Play Area | Standing |
| Game Mode | Single Player |
| Release Date | April 3, 2018 |
| Price | US$14.99 |
| App Store | Steam, PlayStation Store |
Crisis on the Planet of the Apes (also marketed as Crisis on the Planet of the Apes VR) is a first-person action-adventure virtual reality game developed by Imaginati Studios and published by FoxNext VR Studio, the virtual reality division of 20th Century Fox's FoxNext unit. It was released on 3 April 2018 for PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive at a list price of US$14.99.[1][2] The game is set between the films Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. The player is an intelligent ape held in a heavily guarded research facility who has to climb, jump and shoot a way out with other captive apes.[3][4]
It was the first VR game released by FoxNext VR Studio.[2] Critics praised its climbing and cover mechanics but criticized its short length, fixed-path movement and repetitive shootouts. On Metacritic the PlayStation 4 version holds a score of 49 and the PC version 54.[5]
Gameplay
Crisis on the Planet of the Apes is played from a first-person view. When players hold out their hands they see ape arms rather than controllers or human hands, and the developers kept on-screen interface elements to a minimum.[6] Ground movement uses arm-swing locomotion: the player points at a translucent ape outline placed ahead, presses a button and swings both arms to walk toward it, and an upward swing of the arms performs a leap.[7] Players also climb walls and swing along pipes on ceilings; UploadVR compared the climbing to The Climb and To The Top.[8][7]
Combat is cover-based shooting against human guards. Players can grab the edge of cover to hoist themselves up for a shot or drop down behind tables and desks, and blue guide lines mark surfaces that can be grabbed.[8][7] Guns are drawn by reaching over the player's shoulder, and The Sixth Axis noted that two guns can be carried slung on the back.[6][9] Weapons in UploadVR's review included a shotgun and an assault rifle, and IGN's review counted three guns in total, with magazines that the player picks up and snaps into place.[8][10] UploadVR also described non-combat moments in which the player communicates with other apes through body movement and distracts guards by beating the chest.[8]
The game is single-player.[4] On PlayStation 4 it requires PlayStation VR, the PlayStation Camera and two PlayStation Move controllers.[11] The Steam version supports SteamVR and Oculus PC headsets with tracked controllers, in a standing play area, and is VR-only.[4]
Setting and story
The story takes place in the fifth year of the Simian Flu epidemic, between Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. The player character, Specimen 139, is captured by the military and taken to a remote scientific facility in Northern California. There the player faces Sergeant Richter, who regards any ape as a threat, and Dr. Eva Devon, who is searching for a cure for the Simian Flu. With fellow apes Bone and Spear, the player tries to escape and rejoin Caesar's tribe.[12][6][3]
Development
The project began at 20th Century Fox's Fox Innovation Lab. At CES in January 2017 the lab said it was making a Planet of the Apes virtual reality experience with Imaginati Studios and showed a short teaser clip, set in a forest by a campfire, in which the viewer as an ape meets Koba, the antagonist of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.[13] Variety later wrote that the game, produced in partnership with UK-based Imaginati Studios, was first announced at CES 2017.[2]
FoxNext VR Studio announced the title, release date and price on 27 February 2018.[2][1] Fox had earlier released VR tie-ins including The Martian VR Experience and Alien: Covenant In Utero.[1][2] Brendan Handler, senior vice president and general manager of FoxNext VR Studio, said: "We set out to give the fan a lead role in this dark Planet of the Apes world, to feel the ape's strength, power and movement as he fights his way to safety."[2] Martin Alltimes, CEO of Imaginati Studios, said that "the Apes franchise supplies the perfect opportunity for players to become part of an apocalyptic world from the perspective of a different species for the first time ever."[3]
Ben Miller, FoxNext VR Studio's director of VR production and design, wrote that players would have to "learn how to move like an ape, swinging your arms in the real world as an ape might move", and described the game as "an exciting couple of hours of visceral VR gameplay".[12][6] According to the launch announcement, the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive versions include surround sound developed with DTS.[14]
Release
The game launched on 3 April 2018 on all three headsets.[3][14] The PlayStation Store lists the PlayStation 4 version at US$14.99 with an ESRB rating of Mature for blood, intense violence and strong language. The Steam store lists the PC version at US$14.99 with a PEGI 16 rating.[11][4]
| Platform | Headset | Release date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| PlayStation 4 | PlayStation VR | 3 April 2018 | Requires PlayStation Camera and two PlayStation Move controllers[11] |
| Microsoft Windows (Steam) | HTC Vive, Oculus Rift | 3 April 2018 (Steam store lists 2 April 2018) | Single-player, tracked controllers, standing, VR-only; UploadVR's hands-on used Oculus Touch controllers on Rift[4][3][7] |
As of 4 October 2026 the game remains listed for purchase at US$14.99 on both the PlayStation Store and Steam, still under the FoxNext VR Studio publisher name.[11][4]
Reception
| Publication | Platform reviewed | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Metacritic (PlayStation 4) | PlayStation VR | 49/100 (14 critic reviews)[5] |
| Metacritic (PC) | PC | 54/100 (6 critic reviews)[5] |
| IGN | PlayStation VR | 3/10[10] |
| The Sixth Axis | HTC Vive | 5/10[9] |
Reviewers disagreed on length. UploadVR finished it in just over 60 minutes and The Sixth Axis in just over an hour, DualShockers estimated 40 minutes to an hour, and IGN put the campaign at about two and a half hours.[8][9][15][10]
UploadVR's Jamie Feltham called it "a surprisingly likable movie tie-in with several great ideas behind it". He praised the combination of climbing and cover-based shooting but found the arm-swing controls "janky", missed free roaming, and wrote that the combat wore out its welcome in drab environments.[8] IGN's Calum Marsh was far more negative. He wrote that walking only along fixed lines to set destinations made the game feel like a rail shooter, that a gun was dropped if the player's finger slipped off the button that also controls walking and climbing, and that tracking problems, crashes and a conservative autosave forced him to replay sections. His verdict called it "clumsy, superficial, and in many ways fundamentally broken".[10]
The Sixth Axis found the HTC Vive controls unintuitive and reported geometry glitches, concluding that "all we have here is a VR tech demo".[9] DualShockers praised the cover system and climbing but criticized the linear design, repetition, short length and the lack of comfort options for motion sickness during climbing.[15]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Carolyn Giardina (2018-02-27). "'Crisis on the Planet of the Apes' Set for Virtual Reality Release". The Hollywood Reporter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/crisis-planet-apes-set-virtual-reality-release-1088658. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Janko Roettgers (2018-02-27). "'Planet of the Apes' VR Game Coming to Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR This April". Variety. https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/planet-of-the-apes-vr-game-1202710961/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Scott Hayden (2018-04-03). "'Planet of the Apes VR' Launches Today on PSVR, Rift & Vive, Launch Trailer Here". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/planet-apes-vr-puts-heart-ape-revolution-launching-april-3rd-psvr-rift-vive/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 "Crisis on the Planet of the Apes on Steam". Steam. Valve. https://store.steampowered.com/app/713420/Crisis_on_the_Planet_of_the_Apes/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Crisis on the Planet of the Apes VR". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/crisis-on-the-planet-of-the-apes-vr/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Ben Miller (2018-02-27). "Play an ape & escape a military camp in movie tie-in Crisis On The Planet Of The Apes, out 3rd April on PS VR". PlayStation Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://blog.playstation.com/archive/2018/02/27/play-an-ape-escape-a-military-camp-in-movie-tie-in-crisis-on-the-planet-of-the-apes-out-3rd-april-on-ps-vr/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Ian Hamilton (2018-03-09). "Crisis On The Planet Of The Apes Will Make You Hate Humans". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/crisis-on-the-planet-of-the-apes-hands-on/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Jamie Feltham (2018-04-03). "Crisis on the Planet of the Apes VR Review: A VR Tie-In That Doesn't Monkey Around". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/crisis-planet-apes-vr-review-vr-tie-doesnt-monkey-around/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Dave Irwin (2018-04-26). "Crisis On The Planet Of The Apes Review". The Sixth Axis. https://www.thesixthaxis.com/2018/04/26/crisis-on-the-planet-of-the-apes-review/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Calum Marsh (2018-04-11). "Crisis on the Planet of the Apes VR Review". IGN. https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/04/11/crisis-on-the-planet-of-the-apes-vr-review. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 "Crisis on the Planet of the Apes". PlayStation Store. Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP8823-CUSA11072_00-0000000000000002. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Ben Miller (2018-02-27). "Crisis on the Planet of the Apes Comes to PS VR April 3". PlayStation Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://blog.playstation.com/2018/02/27/crisis-on-the-planet-of-the-apes-comes-to-ps-vr-april-3/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ Carolyn Giardina (2017-01-05). "CES: Fox Developing 'Planet of the Apes' Virtual Reality Experience". The Hollywood Reporter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/ces-fox-developing-planet-apes-virtual-reality-experience-961096. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Elisha Deogracias (2018-04-03). "Go bananas with Crisis on the Planet of the Apes VR today". Gaming Trend. https://gamingtrend.com/news/go-bananas-with-crisis-on-the-planet-of-the-apes-vr-today/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Taylor Lyles (2018-04-15). "Crisis on the Planet of the Apes Review -- No Monkey Business Here". DualShockers. https://www.dualshockers.com/crisis-on-the-planet-of-the-apes-vr-review-htc-vive/. Retrieved 2026-10-04.