The origin story of Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier is one of fortuitous timing. Former VP of Disney Interactive Martin Alltimes had planned to leave his post with the goal of setting up a nimbler, independent studio focused on narrative-driven games. Andy Serkis' The Imaginarium, a production company specializing in motion capture, had finished work on Ryse: Son of Rome and thought an in-house video game arm would be a sensible expansion. A few pitches later and The Imaginati Studios was born, with Alltimes at the helm and a license from 20th Century Fox in hand.

The game is set between the events of the last two movies in the rebooted franchise. It follows a shrewdness of apes that left San Francisco after their chosen leader, Koba, was defeated by protagonist Caesar (the climax of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes). Fearing reprisal, they journeyed hundreds of miles to the Rocky Mountains to start their own community, arriving in spring. We join the story as winter is setting in and food is scarce, forcing the apes to come into contact with a human compound occupied by mid-western farmer types that are themselves most concerned with quiet survival.

Both camps have similarly messy internal dynamics, and it's your job to decide how those take shape and, ultimately, how interactions between the groups play out. On the side of the apes, you assume the role of Bryn, one of three sons of troupe leader Kahn. On either side of him, you have the aggressive and warmongering Tola, and the fearful Juno, who has a genetic deformity that makes other apes see him as weak and expendable.

This simpler, high school-esque hierarchy is in contrast with the more political power struggle looming over the human camp. Jess' status as leader is vulnerable, since she inherited the title from her late husband. She's a relatively diplomatic member of the group, and must contend with more pragmatic views and manage the aggressive nature of trigger-happy, ape-hunter types.

By playing as both races, you are encouraged to empathize with each side, making no decision truly black or white. And Last Frontier is all about decisions. It's more like an interactive movie in that respect, as choosing what road the story takes is the sole gameplay mechanic. When Last Frontier is released later this year (no firm launch details as yet), it'll be priced to reflect that. I'm told around the $20-25 mark -- somewhere in between the cost of a cinema ticket and triple-A title.

Alltimes was inspired to go all-in on the storytelling side of things by some of his favorite games, such as Until Dawn, Life Is Strange and particularly, Heavy Rain. "I thought what they did at Quantic Dream was really groundbreaking. They took a big risk. They put storytelling front and center, they didn't rely on traditional game mechanics," he said.

Setting a narrative game in the Planet of the Apes universe felt like a good fit. The Imaginarium already had a long relationship with 20th Century Fox, the technology to capture lifelike and emotionally engaging performances for the game, and it was an easy way for investors to understand how that expertise could be leveraged by an in-house development team. Importantly for Alltimes, though, it's a compelling storyline.

"[Planet of the Apes] gave me a great basis for a choice-based game because it meant I could have legitimately interesting endings. So you've got this morally ambiguous universe where both sides of the story have good and bad sides to them and where there are legitimate reasons to their behavior -- because bottom line, they're both trying to survive."

Keen for Last Frontier not to appear as merchandise, the game includes an all-new cast of characters and isn't timed to coincide with anything from the film franchise. And by doing the exact opposite of sticking an ape on a horse, handing it a machine gun and turning into an action game, Alltimes hopes it'll be judged on its own merit. Making you play as both sides of the conflict and toying with your loyalties is also key. "Otherwise, there's no tension. There's no drama."