Channel 4 has built up a respectable gaming division with All 4 Games. The first game Fire Fu bagged a well-deserved Bronze Award back in February, and Super Arc Light skirted the edges of brilliance last month.
Unfortunately, the latest effort - Apestorm: Full Bananas - wears out its welcome far sooner than it should.
But there's monkeys, planes, bananas and bombs.You think I don't know that? Normally these things would sway my judgement, but not today.
Yes, you play a monkey pilot who flies a plane around in the sky, and yes you're constantly listening to banana bants while dropping bombs on buildings in order to complete a set amount of objectives, earning the highest possible score.
But sadly that soon stops being satisfying. Both due to being dull and in terms of the created context.
The Steampunk-themed escapade sees three rogue apes steal a bomber in order to destroy warehouses and factories designed to save nature from man using explosive devices and revolutionary technology.
In response, the monkeys destroy vehicles, outhouses, garages, and yes, even residential homes. Eek.
The reasoning for the wanton destruction is to stop the obliteration of the natural world - which means dropping bombs on trees or flying into birds deducts points - but actually, the ape's retaliation also leaves a little bit to be desired.
Suffice it to say, the game treads a little bit on the controversial side, though there are some interesting themes at play here, such as freeing animals from captivity and the closure of slaughter houses.
Each mission has five available objectives and in order to progress onto the next you'll need to complete at least 3, earning a banana in the process. These bananas then stack to unlock further powerups and upgrades.
The upgrades do add some replayability and keep the action semi-interesting, such as the bouncy bomb which gives score for successive hits, and the shrapnel bomb which splits into clusters.
You can also change things up cosmetically with different zeppelins
But it's not enough to distract you from other games sat on your phone or waiting for you on the AppStore.
It doesn't seem that bad, though?There's nothing particularly wrong with Apestorm - apart from some questionable motivations and themes - but there's nothing especially captivating about it either.
It exists, it's fun for a while, but you won't feel compelled to replay or revisit it once you're done.
One neat feature is the ability to move the thumbsticks around the screen and put them in a place that's most comfortable for you. This actually responds very well to finger presses and rarely disrupts the action.
Some of the settings also look genuinely nice, especially the night-time and sunset levels.
But if the annoying looping soundtrack doesn't put you off, the ham-fisted dialogue almost certainly will.
Apestorm: Full Bananas tries to mix successful elements found in many other games, but ends up falling flat, feeling rather shallow as a result.
Apestorm: Full Bananas - Plains, no trains, and explodey automobiles
Apestorm: Full Bananas is only ever fleeting fun, and makes for a mostly forgettable experience
Ray Willmott
When not objecting to witnesses in Phoenix Wright or gushing over Monkey Island, Ray does social things for Steel Media. He also pretends to look like Han Solo in his profile picture.