Ape Escape 3, as the title suggests, is the third main installment in the popular Ape Escape series. The game has the player acting as one of two children who explore various areas in an attempt to capture monkeys to stop them from brainwashing people through television. The player will explore levels filled with plat-forming challenges and various puzzles throughout the game.

Educational value of the game rests mostly in problem solving and developer creativity. Problem solving in the game involves finding the correct paths to certain monkeys and discovering the solutions to various obstacle-based puzzles. Creative features of the game include its story and concept, as well as some unexpected features such as the ability of the player to change costumes in order to use different powers.

Subtitles throughout the game require basic reading ability. The game also features some basic charts and simple math.

By the Player:

Room for the player to be creative is tight in Ape Escape 3. The game is quite linear, forcing the player to proceed on a set path in order to complete it. The player is sometimes given a choice of weapons to choose from, but the game does not ultimately give the player too much creative freedom. Catching monkeys will often require the player to carry out different actions, but in the end the player must rely on his net to make each catch.

By the Developer:

Ape Escape 3, in premise, is an extremely creative piece. The storyline - a group of children hunting down and capturing monkeys because they are brainwashing people through television broadcasting - is certainly quite unique. The areas and puzzles of the game are also designed creatively and are consistently fun to play through. The game features a number of different items - from a light-saber to monkey radar - which the player will use to solve certain puzzles or to assist in actual monkey-catching. The game also features a horoscope/love forecast feature that manages to be pretty entertaining.

Business skills are represented minimally in Ape Escape 3. The player collects coins throughout the levels of the game to be spent on items from various shops in the game. Some of these items will prove helpful in completing the game, while others act more as distractions than anything else.

Ape Escape 3 does not help to build people skills. There are no points in the game in which characters develop or show real emotion. Many computer-controlled characters will react to how the player treats them (monkeys will fight back if attacked, for example) but the player is not able to really affect any of the outcomes of the game through their actions.

Problem solving in Ape Escape 3 is most often done to reveal hidden paths that will lead to more monkeys. Opening paths is often done by finding and pressing certain buttons. Many times the player will have multiple buttons to press and will have puzzles to solve in order to get to all of them. Solving these puzzles could include anything from box-pushing to using the various items available to the player in different ways. While these puzzles are simple in nature, they are heavily present in the game and grow in complexity as the gamer progresses.

This is not a simulation game.

Ape Escape has been favorably reviewed by most publications available.

The Ape Escape series is known for its sense of humor, and Ape Escape 3 is no exception.

There aren't many options in the game other than the usual audio and visual options.

Ape Escape 3 received an E10+ from the ESRB with descriptors for Cartoon Violence and Crude Humor.