APB Review

By Rob Fahey Published 2 July, 2010

Any cop?

Initially, I blamed the weather. The hottest week of the year, with the blazing sun promising lazy afternoons in London parks with cold beers to hand, is a pretty uncharitable time to start plugging hours into a massively multiplayer game. I was clock-watching, glancing at the time after every couple of missions, wondering if I'd played enough for today and could justify switching off the PC and marching out into daylight.

Within the first ten hours, however, I knew that something was wrong that had nothing to do with the weather. I didn't really want to go out into the dazzling sunshine - I'm Irish, for God's sake, our reaction to the sun makes vampires wince sympathetically - I just wanted a reason to stop playing APB.

In itself, that's not unusual. Game reviewers end up playing all manner of dreadful stuff, and are honour-bound to play for several hours longer than any sane human would ever wish to. Yet APB doesn't tick the boxes that usually point to a bad game. For a start, it's from a studio - Realtime Worlds - whose last game, Crackdown, remains one of my personal highlights of the Xbox 360's catalogue, and whose creative bosses cut their teeth on little projects like, oh, inventing Grand Theft Auto.

'APB' Screenshot 1

San Paro's approach to law enforcement is unique. He won't be doing that again, that's for sure.

For another thing, APB is a remarkably polished and accomplished game in many ways. I've played many MMOs at launch, and if they share a single trait, it's bumpy starts - server issues, unstable, buggy clients, half-finished content and unimplemented features are the order of the day. Not in APB; the game isn't technically perfect by any means, but it's closer than any launch MMO I've ever played.

If my lack of enthusiasm for APB could be blamed on easily patched technical issues, it would offer a glimmer of hope. It's a lot harder to patch fun into a game which has seemingly forgotten to add any.

That's a sweeping statement, so let me clarify. APB is a game about driving and shooting. It takes the basic template of Grand Theft Auto and attempts to place it into a massively multiplayer environment.

A lot of thought has gone into how that is accomplished, and some very clever solutions have been created, but the core idea is simple - you pick a faction for your character, either a Criminal or an Enforcer, and whenever you start a mission, the game notifies opposing players in the region and offers them the task of stopping you.

'APB' Screenshot 2

Enforcers can subdue criminals with non-lethal weapons and earn bounties for cuffing them.

It's an entirely player-versus-player game, then, where the opposition you'll encounter during quests is made up of other players, not AI-controlled enemies. Each engagement generally ends up with a handful of players on each side, either playing in a team together or shoved together temporarily by the game's matchmaking system, all battling for a variety of objectives scattered around the city district.

Since you can only attack opposing players who are directly involved in your mission, the result is that each sprawling district ends up with multiple gun battles and high-speed chases going on at once, ensuring that there's always plenty of action to watch even if you're just cruising around the city.

If you ignore the conceit of having several of them going on in the same district at once, however, these battles are just third-person multiplayer shooters, pitching a handful of players against each other in a variety of objective-based scenarios. This is the initial surprise for many new players of APB - it has vastly more of its DNA in common with online action games than it does with MMOs. There are few stats, no concept of levelling up in the traditional sense, and no numbers floating around above people's heads in combat. It's a game about shooting and driving.

Unfortunate, then, that so little attention has been paid to the crucial task of making the shooting and driving entertaining. Instead, this is a game whose combat bears all the finesse and refinement of the early 3D GTA titles, and whose driving, although greatly improved since earlier betas, remains a reasonable facsimile of attempting to sail a bathtub down a canal.

The mission structure compounds these problems. Each mission is generally made up of a number of stages, in which you either have to complete objectives or defend objectives from opposing players. In general the final stage will be a lengthy one where you need to capture and hold a location, or grab an item and keep it away from your enemies until the timer runs out.

The weakness of the game's combat is brutally exposed by these missions. Like many games with poor shooter mechanics, camping is heavily favoured, so the second team to arrive at the objective will generally find themselves running in, being shot, waiting to respawn 200 yards away, running the whole way back, and then being shot again. I make no claims to be any great shakes as a gamer, but in general, if I arrived at the objective first, I won the mission; if I turned up second, I died over and over again.

To add insult to injury, on some occasions a team is wiped out with only a few seconds left on the mission clock, only for their foes to capture the location and hold it for a grand total of about five seconds before winning the mission - Realtime Worlds having determined, bizarrely, that victory should be based on who holds the location when the timer runs out, not who has held it for the majority of time over the course of the mission.

'APB' Screenshot 3

The game adopts Modern Warfare's health system - strawberry jam on the screen means you're dying.

Things get even more tedious in the "hold an item"-style missions. In general, the first player to grab the item will make his way to a vehicle as quickly as possible, and drive around the city at high speed until the timer runs out. There's not much you can do about this, especially if the player has a bit of a head start. Unless he makes a mistake and crashes his car (which, admittedly, is fairly plausible given how badly the vehicles handle), the timer is going to run out and he's going to win.

These huge weaknesses are all the more annoying because they undermine the vast amount of intelligent thought and clever design that has gone into the structure of the game. There's something intensely satisfying about APB's meta-game, which gives you the ability to carry out a variety of free-form activities (stealing cars, mugging pedestrians or ram-raiding shops as a Criminal; witnessing crimes and taking out their perpetrators as an Enforcer) and then feeds a steady stream of optional missions to your in-game PDA. These might be new missions for you to undertake, or invitations to join other players who have called for backup to tackle a tough objective.

'APB' Screenshot 4

Criminals can ram-raid shops and steal stuff. Enforcers can raid criminal dens and, er, steal stuff.

The backup system, in particular, is a great concept. In essence, it means that if you're playing solo in the game, you can drift from group to group, playing one mission with one group of people before moving on to another group when the next backup call comes through. The game is heavily focused on team play, but the backup system makes soloing possible - and although you'll often be matched up with idiots, as is the case in any online game, at least it'll only be for a few minutes before the mission ends and you can find a new team to play with.

Unfortunately, it's not just the weak shooting and driving which undermine this system. The matchmaking engine which underlies the whole APB experience is also crippled. At first, I assumed that it was simply an ill-conceived piece of code, but I soon realised that the more fundamental problem is how few players it actually has to match up against one another.

In general, there are only a few dozen players in each instance of the zone at once - the maximum number is around 100, meaning that there aren't actually very many players to match up against one another. (One could argue that this also means APB isn't really an MMO, but as it offers persistent character progression and a large shared social area, I'm going to stick with the MMO terminology.)

The result is that many of your match-ups will be incredibly unbalanced, and it's easy to be put off, early on, by running up against players who have spent vastly more time in the game than you have, and whose equipment is miles ahead of your own. APB doesn't level up your stats like a conventional MMO, but players still gain access to better weapons and equipment as they progress, and of course, those who have spent longer in the game will generally be more skilled. With only 100 players to choose from, the matchmaking system is stymied, forced to throw raw newbies into utterly unbalanced match-ups against seasoned hardcore players - a rather off-putting experience for both parties.

Although it's possible to pay a monthly "unlimited" subscription for APB as you would any MMO, Realtime Worlds expects to cover most of its costs by selling pay-as-you-go game time (20 hours for £5.59). This only applies to the Action Districts, with time spent in the Social District being off the clock. It's a fair enough proposition, but it might not work out for the studio; currently, it's hard to imagine many players exceeding the 50 hours supplied free with the game.

'APB' Screenshot 5

Although it's a good-looking game, with only two districts to see, there's no real sense of exploration.

Did I find anything at all to love on the mean streets of San Paro, then? Well, yes. One aspect of APB which has received almost unqualified praise is its player customisation, and that's certainly the high point of the game. There's an enormous range of customisation possible for your character's physical appearance, and that's only the tip of the iceberg - as you progress you unlock options for clothing, vehicles, decals and even the ability to compose theme tunes that play when you defeat an enemy.

The range of built-in creative tools is truly amazing, and players are already turning out custom clothing, music tracks and vehicles which they can exchange with one another through the in-game auction system. Customisation even offers an alternative advancement system - spending time in the game's Social District, a non-combat region, working on your clothing or customising your vehicles will unlock higher ranks of achievements such as "Fashionista" or "Tuner", each delivering new items to play with and a cash injection for your account.

'APB' Screenshot 6

The character customisation is the best part of the game by far. It's like Barbie dress-up for violent lunatics.

This is perhaps one of the most confusing things about the experience Realtime Worlds has created. The player customisation options are extraordinary, the game client solid and polished - yet the most basic aspects which APB needed to get right, the driving, the shooting and the mission structure, seem anaemic and neglected. There are only two Action Districts in the game, which while large, offer very little variety of scenery, and the missions you're asked to undertake will start repeating themselves within a matter of hours. It feels, for all the world, like the developers were so busy fussing over the interior design and soft furnishings that they forgot to build the house itself properly.

Coming from a team of Realtime Worlds' calibre, it should be no surprise that APB isn't dreadful - as I've pointed out, it's polished and accomplished, and certain aspects of it, such as the meta-game structure and the player customisation, are fantastic. Even so, there's no escaping the fact that the game is hugely disappointing. The flashes of brilliance only serve to throw the mediocrity of the game into even sharper relief.

6 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Rob.

About Rob Fahey

Rob Fahey is a former editor of GamesIndustry.biz who spent several years living in Japan and probably still has a mint condition Dreamcast Samba de Amigo set.

Read more articles from Rob by visiting the Rob Fahey archive page.

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Comments (114) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • lambtron #1 2 years ago

    Oh oh.

  • muscleblade #2 2 years ago

    The most talented devs went over to Ruffian to make Crackdown 2 maybe?

  • ybfelix #3 2 years ago

    To think what Crackdown 2 would be like if all these effort went into it.

  • the_dudefather #4 2 years ago

    Better than Darkfall! ;)

  • Nillsens #5 2 years ago

    Saw this coming during the beta.

  • Sunyavadin #6 2 years ago

    If my lack of enthusiasm for APB could be blamed on easily patched technical issues, it would offer a glimmer of hope. It's a lot harder to patch fun into a game which has seemingly forgotten to add any.

    Really? And here I was thinking most people's lack of enthusiasm was mainly down to their insane pricing system.

    And yeah, it does look like the cream of their devs went to Ruffian...

  • Ryboy #7 2 years ago

    A bloody shame really. This could have been mental...

  • Lestat1898 #8 2 years ago

    Wait the games goes live today, in Europe, and you are doing a review?

    Maybe you should change the title to BETA Review, no?
    Anyway, too bad you didn't like the game, I bet there are thousands of players that don't agree with you.

    buh bye.

  • davisorle #9 2 years ago

    Liek i said ever since i was in the Beta... This is going to dissapoint many people. I didnt like it at all and the vocal ads announced a couple of days just sounded like a total joke on top of it.

  • Darren #10 2 years ago

    Looks a bit rubbish from the gameplay videos I've seen actually. Realtime Worlds would have been better off focusing their attention on Crackdown 2 instead of giving it to a third-party, maybe then we'd have had a sequel that looked less like a remake set in the same bloody city!

  • Hunam #11 2 years ago

    I've played the beta and the keys to the city event and I really can't disagree with Rob here. Many issues can be fixed, but the driving and shooting isn't very good. It can be a blast but only for a handful of hours. There is no real sense of progression and you'll end up recycling content very quickly. It's probably better than GTA4 multi though.

  • a8a #12 2 years ago

    Wait the games goes live today, in Europe, and you are doing a review?

    Early access has been open all week.

  • Paperghost #13 2 years ago

    "Realtime Worlds having determined, bizarrely, that victory should be based on who holds the location when the timer runs out, not who has held it for the majority of time over the course of the mission."

    Wow - that's amazingly silly.

  • mingster #14 2 years ago

    Yup 100% agree with the review. It is exactly what i thought when playing the beta.
    The character customiztion is great but the shooting and driving is rubbish.
    Definately would not pay to play this at all.
    Uninstalled the beta to save 8gb of hard disk space that i considered more useful than this game.

  • Kentlad #15 2 years ago

    Yep, spot on with the review.

    Game is just dull dull dull! Played it through most stages of beta and the pre-launch thing.

    I would not be surprised to see this the way Global Agenda has and be free to play within a few months.

  • Valver #16 2 years ago

    I played the beta a few times and was quickly of the opinion that APB was utter bilge water. It's just not fun. So not suprised by this review at all...
    Edited by 1 at 02/07/10 @ 08:45

  • Oli Verified Reviews Editor, Eurogamer.net #17 2 years ago

    @Lestat 1898

    Although the game is released in shops today, live European servers have been open since Monday 28th and we've had access since then. This review is based on impressions from play on live servers this week, as well as the Keys to the City preview event which ran earlier in June.

  • thewool #18 2 years ago

    Quite relieved in a weird kind of way as it's another game I don't have to buy/play.

    The older I get the less time I have so have to be picky... and still have the Fallout 3 expansions to get through.

  • PlugMonkey #19 2 years ago

    @ mingster: Same here. I was really surprised by how much it felt like a generic mmo in its structure. I know they want to build in a scale of escalation, but do they really have to start me off doing what amounts to little more than chores? Does my character have to start so shit that they are incapable of shooting an enemy at point blank range?

    I was expecting GTA online, and I got gimped version of World of Warcraft with guns and gang tattoos.

    Meh.

  • faselei #20 2 years ago

    Erm no... no... this was meant to be awesome, it was meant to finally be the mmo I was going to play, it was meant to get a 9!

    Bah!

  • Doctor_What #21 2 years ago

    "Barbie dress-up for violent lunatics."
    Okay, so that bit sounds quite fun just to decide what clothes I should wear today. I think I'm slowly morphing into my Rock Band avatar, so I think it's about time I set the bar higher :D

  • Thedni #22 2 years ago

    What a missed opportunity. I wouldn't bother picking this up if you are running a 32 bit OS either, no matter what specs you are rocking you'll be locked with the lowest graphic settings [Unless this was changed recently, which I doubt somewhat].

  • berelain #23 2 years ago

    Can't say theres much I disagree with here, though I was slightly kinder- I gave it a 7 , mainly based on a few great moments I've had during play that show APBs real potential.<a href=http://www.g ameshard.net/apb-review.html>

  • Stompy #24 2 years ago

    This reviewer admitted to not liking the game . Yet there is no outcry about it.

    Hmm. Is it just because we don't like people reviewing our games when we haven't accepted them as gamers? I hope the answer isn't this facile.



    @darkmorgado (a comment posted after this one):
    reviewers aren't allowed to dislike a game? Seems a bit idiotic, no?

    I am complaining about that tendency, which was shown in the international cricket 2010 review currently on the front page.
    Edited by 1 at 02/07/10 @ 10:45

  • muscleblade #25 2 years ago

    @thewool

    I know the feeling. Based on the demo i think i might enjoy Crackdown 2 quite a bit though.

  • the_sas_man #26 2 years ago

    After the Beta this is no surprise. Had such potential.

  • levitate #27 2 years ago

    I received a key to beta but I never used it. I've played and loved all the GTA games but this seems like a bland copy of it.

  • Dylbot #28 2 years ago

    From my beta time, I found that the missions and the combat were pretty much an annoyance that you had to deal with if you wanted to do some more of that sweet, sweet customisation. It's half a brilliant game and half a shit one. Which is a shame, because it had the potential to be an absolute monster.

  • CaptainQuint #29 2 years ago

    But at least it's in HD, right? At least the visuals are excellent, right? At least it runs at 60+ fps, right? Isn't that ALL that really matters to the pc elite? Gameplay itself is of little consequence, is it not? That's the impression I always get, anyway.
    Edited by 1 at 02/07/10 @ 09:29

  • Scimarad #30 2 years ago

    Why do games with decent character editors (Spore/Champions/APB) almost always turn into mediocre games. It's really, really annoying!

  • Eraysor #31 2 years ago

    Having played the beta I can totally agree with this review. The most irritating thing for me is that for some reason if you have a 32-bit OS the game forces the graphics settings very low, despite the fact that I happily run Metro 2033/Crysis maxed out...

  • andywilkie35 #32 2 years ago

    Wahey! Absolute Pointless Bollocks!

  • schnide #33 2 years ago

    Wow, didn't see this coming - I thought this had pedigree. But then I've only read about it, not played it.

  • Quint2020 #34 2 years ago

    I bet the Ruffian guys are glad they jumped ship when they did.

  • Whizzo #35 2 years ago

    I was pretty excited by the game to start with during my time in the beta but as I spent more time in it that ebbed away and no matter how many improvements got added over the different builds it never actually got better as a game.

    APB is a nice idea and the customisation is indeed great but it's not a lot of fun, charging by the hour rather than going the Guild Wars route is also insane.
    Edited by 1 at 02/07/10 @ 09:34

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #36 2 years ago

    Such a shame.

  • Skurmedel #37 2 years ago

    Scimarad: I'm guessing so much time and thinking goes into the customisation tools the rest suffers. I'm no game developer though. I feel more or less the same about The Sims, when I play it, customisation is the game. When I don't cheat or don't have any money to pimp my house, I stop finding it fun.
    Edited by 1 at 02/07/10 @ 09:36

  • jellyhead #38 2 years ago

    A real shame. I was excited about the game but as time went on i became less and less interested. They said in interviews that they had a whole slew of ideas they'll implement and that they'd listen to the community and change the game accordingly so it'll probably be worth checking it out in 6 months once the community have spoken and there's more user-created content in-place.

    I don't know if it will live long enough get that chance though. Shame, still there's always Crackdown 2 out soon!

  • MaxiSleep #39 2 years ago

    Another Leet PvP MMO disaster. When will they learn.

  • strelok #40 2 years ago

    "Realtime Worlds having determined, bizarrely, that victory should be based on who holds the location when the timer runs out, not who has held it for the majority of time over the course of the mission."

    Wow - that's amazingly silly.

    Nothing silly about that. This mode has been around since forever and works perfectly in a lot of games.

  • darkmorgado #41 2 years ago

    @Stompy

    This reviewer admitted to not liking the game . Yet there is no outcry about it.

    Hmm. Is it just because we don't like people reviewing our games when we haven't accepted them as gamers? I hope the answer isn't this facile.

    By your logic then, all games should get good reviews, no matter how bad they are, because reviewers aren't allowed to dislike a game? Seems a bit idiotic, no?

  • mingster #42 2 years ago

    I have said this before but unfortunately RTW have put so much time and resources behind this they can't back out or overhaul it radically now it is too late. This game is very likely to send them into recievership. They just won't be able to afford the ongoing costs of running the servers and bandwidth when they don't have the amount of subscribers they are hoping to generate. It is going to be a very high profile flop.

  • Shinji #43 2 years ago

    Nothing silly about that. This mode has been around since forever and works perfectly in a lot of games.

    It's rather silly in this context. Actually, I've just been having a conversation on Twitter about that point in the review - what I was getting at is the fact that rather than an arbitrary timer, most games with C&H objectives use a point system. RTW's decision to use a timer is odd and frustrating, because while it makes the last 20 seconds frantic, it means that the preceding 4 or 5 minutes are dull and pointless, since there's no benefit to actually attacking the objective in that time.

    There was a better solution available to the designers, which other games have used for around 15 years (and probably before that, too), so it's frankly baffling that they used this system instead. Combined with the poor combat and heavy bias towards camping, it pretty much ruins this type of mission.

  • kiroquai #44 2 years ago

    I actually find the driving alright - once you get used to the weight of the cars and stuff it's decent enough. Agree on the general gunplay being a whole load of rubbish though - at the moment it seems like players with the sub machine guns can win pretty easily by simply jumping around spraying bullets everywhere.

  • dadrester #45 2 years ago

    "The most talented devs went over to Ruffian to make Crackdown 2 maybe?"

    The Ruffians who left RTW were working on Crackdown before they left. There's more than one team in Scotland's second largest developer.

  • Spekingur #46 2 years ago

    I really liked the fact you could create a hot computer woman in this game. Same as with AoC. Being able to create hot half-naked computer women in a game will always lure in gamers.

    Driving can be fixed and I have no doubt that the shooting could be too - those were my major annoyances for my short time in beta. Hadn't the time to find out the rest of the not-okay things that Rob mentioned. I'm guessing that the game is going to require an overhaul soon if it is to be successful.

  • Azmat #47 2 years ago

    I don't know. I've played KttC and been playing since Monday aswell. So far, the fun i've had has outweighed the negatives for me. I do think that the key to having fun is to be grouped up with buddies/friends. It really is a lot more enjoyable when you can coordinate, even on a basic level. And although the ingame voip is great, few people bother to use it, and of those who do, only few use it to communicate with others (example: French keep talking french, even if you try to reach out and coordinate an attack).
    With friends however it gets real fun. Crawl in a car, drive like a madman, and have your buddies shoot up those wannabe pursuers. Succesfully take a point where the enemy got first (it's really not impossible).
    And hell, i find the car handling to be good enough. Sure - some handle like a barge, others act better. For example, i like the power of the Cisco Charger, and you got to be careful not to swing its rear out when you use the handbrake.

    My major concerns however are: the matchmaking by far. I don't know how it works, but so far it seems to look only at your threat level, and then throw in opposition until the total of the threat levels of enforcer team matches that of the crim team. So often enough, you get some unbalanced numbers, and though it's not always too bad, it can be annoying enough. Or be pitted against a team with superior equipment, yet low threat levels. Blows.
    Also, i hope numeric balance remains between enf-crim, as it seems enforcers are the favoured choice atm.
    And districts with more players would be nice! Even though there is quite some action with 80 people in a district, lots of places still are very quiet and away from all that action. Some more people would probably liven things a bit up, providing the missions don't send 2 or 3 teams to the same crossroad ofcourse x_x

  • JEPC123 #48 2 years ago

    'French keep talking french'

    Les Français parlent toujours le français? Quelle idée! The sneaky bastards, speaking only their language :p

  • WMain00 #49 2 years ago

    6/10? That's lenient compared to what I played of it!

  • spekkeh #50 2 years ago

    It always irks me that skill-based games try to implement character progression bonuses. To me it sounds like incredibly dumb game design that better players get better weapons (and is one of the main reasons I hardly play modern FPSes online). How come nobody else figures this out? Good job for pointing it out in the review.

  • CaptainQuint #51 2 years ago

    ^ Virgin.

  • kutsurogu #52 2 years ago

    So. This is weird. I've lost count of the number of times that RTW emphasised that APB wasn't really an MMO, but an online-action game with strong community elements, and yet here they are, getting criticised for not being an MMO. Amazing!

  • mAc062 #53 2 years ago

    The beta was pretty boring

  • brseg #54 2 years ago

    :-( such a shame. I've been following all the news/dev articles about APB, though I havent played the beta. It sounds like they were trying to achieve too much? Concentrate on half of the features but do it better -- or find whats fun and unique in the gameplay and focus on that, I dunno.
    Is APB still coming to xbox? Beginning to look unlikely.

    Goes back to GTA4 multiplayer free roam, its a laugh.

    ( PS I fear the same for Crackdown 2, its got 6/10 written all over it.)
    Edited by 1 at 02/07/10 @ 11:14

  • BobsUncle #55 2 years ago

    @Raining_Upwards

    This game has been in development for 5 years, and was being developed in parallel with Crackdown so no, they didn't give up Crackdown 2 for this.

    It's not like they finished Crackdown and thought, "What shall we do now, Crackdown 2 or a totally new IP?"

  • ShineDog #56 2 years ago

    I'm going to throw one in for really liking this and disagreeing about the gunplay being crap. I think the lack of headshots is something that plays into the games favour, turning it into a game about position and manouver instead of precision headshots. I actually like that.

    Driving is... it's weird, but after a while I warmed to it. it's not perfect, but the nature of the car chases outweights the faintly off handling. The back and forth firefights while weaving through traffic is fun, and the collision physics lead to some amazing flips and rolls. (Collisions with flat walls are horrible though, you just stop)

    Mainly, I just cant see it as boring. Crazy, interesting shit happens all the time. Last night was full of cars flying through the air with people firing at the people below them while upside down, full of sneaky manouvers, and a kind of elaborate on the fly planning that I've rarely encountered in other games.

    None of this happens played solo, however, where it's a big old pile of shit. Getting matched with boring pubbies who dont talk and plan ruins everything, and 1v1 games are terrible. If you dont have a group of 2 or 3 friends to go in with, then yes, none of the group tactics or ridiculous carchase stuff will happen, because it's mostly contingent on having friends to work with.

    It's pretty damn rough around the edges yes, but honestly this game has so much weird fun happening I cant hate it.

  • MiniAmin #57 2 years ago

    @ Captainquint

    virgin

    Quint, I have already told you, I won't sleep with you just because you keep insisting I haven't had sex "the proper way yet".

  • Oli Verified Reviews Editor, Eurogamer.net #58 2 years ago

    @kutsurogu

    I don't think the review does criticise APB for not being an MMO (it both is and isn't one in my opinion); I think it takes it on its own terms. The only area where the game is criticised for its player numbers is a specific issue to do with the effect of the 100-player instance cap on match-making.

  • viper_h #59 2 years ago

    In this review: Reviewer got butthurt because he played criminal solo and sucks, and so downrates the game to feel good about himself.

    This game is mental with just one friend. Get a gang together and it's fucking superb.

    Go back to WoW, Fahey, you obviously love it.
    Edited by 1 at 02/07/10 @ 11:47

  • Lestat1898 #60 2 years ago

    @Oli

    Thanks for the info, I had no idea the servers were up a few days before the official launch dates.

    As a reminder and the why I don't agree with games being reviewed this early, there is always a patch on launch day - usual for online games. I'm not saying there will be a miracle, but there will be tweaks and fixes for sure.

    In my opinion, this is too early to do this review.
    Edited by 1 at 02/07/10 @ 11:51

  • Sonic_D #61 2 years ago

    Gutted, really wanted this to work and be the first MMO I'd want to play. Unfortunately in recent months it was becoming clear that this would not be the case.

  • Ryze #62 2 years ago

    I couldn't even get teh damn beta to work using a 360 controller. Faffed around for 15 minutes, the sacked it off after trying to drive around using the arrow keys.

    This isn't a BBC micro or 1986, it's a Core 2 Quad in 2010. The 360 controller should work AUTOMATICALLY. The controls should map similar to GTA IV AUTOMATICALLY.

    I tried to reload the beta and it started moaning about a password and wouldn't start. Again - it's 2010 and I can't be fucked messing around with broken game design.

    I hope they fail hard, and fold.

  • viper_h #63 2 years ago

    @Ryze - The 360 controller is by no means a standard, and the game wasn't designed for it. You would get raped using a 360 controller anyway.

    Driving with the arrow keys is really easy, you just suck.

    Edit: Also you keep banging on about it being 2010. You should understand then that no-one on the internet gives a damn what you or I think.
    Edited by 1 at 02/07/10 @ 11:57

  • Oli Verified Reviews Editor, Eurogamer.net #64 2 years ago

    @Lestat1898

    The timing of the review was set by Realtime Worlds themselves, who set the embargo at 8am this morning and informed us that it would be OK to review the game as it has been since Monday.

    I agree in the sense that there's never a perfect time to review an online game; they're always changing. That's why we have our re-review system and I'm sure we will come back to APB in future. However, I believe people interested in buying the game deserve to read an accurate reflection of its state at launch as soon as possible, if it's possible. In this case, it was.

  • Ryze #65 2 years ago

    @viper_h

    er...no.

    I'd rather aim on foot using a mouse, but drive using a controller.

    Thanks.
    Edited by 1 at 02/07/10 @ 12:01

  • strelok #66 2 years ago


    It's rather silly in this context. Actually, I've just been having a conversation on Twitter about that point in the review - what I was getting at is the fact that rather than an arbitrary timer, most games with C&H objectives use a point system. RTW's decision to use a timer is odd and frustrating, because while it makes the last 20 seconds frantic, it means that the preceding 4 or 5 minutes are dull and pointless, since there's no benefit to actually attacking the objective in that time.

    There was a better solution available to the designers, which other games have used for around 15 years (and probably before that, too), so it's frankly baffling that they used this system instead. Combined with the poor combat and heavy bias towards camping, it pretty much ruins this type of mission.


    I haven't played APB so I can't judge.
    All I am saying is this system is not silly by itself as there are games where it works perfectly. Guild Wars, for example. Creating a build that can both capture AND hold is a part of the game.


    Edited by 1 at 02/07/10 @ 12:04

  • berelain #67 2 years ago

    @MiniAmin - just trying to share my views and give a different opinion. Would you rather i'd done a ridiculously long post as a message on here instead? The link was only there to back up what I was saying. If the EG staff have a problem with it, I'll take it down, its not a big deal. Thanks for reposting it, though ;p

    @ Lestat - I know what you mean, but sites like EG have a 'moral duty' if you like to get you a review as soon as they can. Given that EG normally does re-reviews a little later in the game's lifespan, I think thats fair enough.

    EDIT:

    @ Ryze - glad its not just me that prefers to use a 360 pad for driving games. Give me analogue over digital keys for steering any day.

    @ Shinji - I couldnt agree more about the timer thing, btw. Its all too easy, especially in one-on-one missions, to kill the other player a few seconds before the timer runs out and take the objective, knowing full well that they will never have enough time to respawn and stop you from winning.
    Edited by 1 at 02/07/10 @ 12:11

  • sneetch #68 2 years ago

    @Lestat1898

    "Launch day" was when the servers went live on the 28th for early access and not the public launch today. I don't believe there was a patch today and even if there was with an MMO there'll always be another patch that may fix some of the problems. The game has to be reviewed as is: they can't delay a review for this kind of game because some theoretical patch in the future may fix some of the problems especially as delaying a review of an MMO until a week or two after launch makes the review itself sort of redundant.

  • MiniAmin #69 2 years ago

    @ Berelain

    Yeah in retrospect I think I was unnecessarily harsh, your comment was entirely reasonable, i'm sorry, I apologise.

  • Apollo #70 2 years ago

    Spot On review Rob, I felt the same way about the beta as I piloted my vauxhall astra around the city...

  • chadmango #71 2 years ago

    This is probably the first Eurogamer review I haven't fully agreed with. Driving is an aquired taste, but it works in the context of this game. The shooting element is an interesting one, by removing locational damage there is more emphasis on the correct range, the right tool for the right job, cover and movement. The 'Headshot' is the great leveller of the online shooter, so it takes a bit of getting used to when it's removed. Mactch-making is OK(ish)... had issues with this all the way through beta. Comments about missions - The notion that the first team to the control point wins is way off in my opinion. But I do agree that the capture mechanic makes little sense.

    On a moment to moment basis I have yet to encounter an online shooter / persistant MMO(ish) game that offers as much fun as APB. I played through the shitty early builds almost a year ago, and I'm still playing.

  • insincere_dave #72 2 years ago

    To be fair, you only really had to look at RTW's previous game Mobile Forces to see their mediocrity...

    [link url=http://ww w.mobygames.com/game/mobile-forces
    ]http://ww w.mobygames.com/game/mobile-for...[/link]

    ...as for Ruffian taking the most talented developers, maybe we should just wait for the Crackdown 2 reviews to come in first before painting such a black and white picture.

  • kutsurogu #73 2 years ago

    @Oli

    Yeah, except, I find it pretty surprising that anyone could complain about that. In my experience I've been flooded with missions and backup requests every time I've played it, to the point where I'm declining most of them. 100 people is more than enough, given the small sizes of the districts.

    And the comment about the matchmaking is ridiculous. Whenever you get a call for backup, or a mission involving other players, you're told how many you'd be opposing and what their Threat Level is. So if you don't want to go against some hardcore players, you just decline it. I've never played a mission where the system has brought in unbalanced opposition against me. I've had a hell of a lot of experiences where bringing in opposition has turned a humdrum driving mission into a nerve-wracking clusterthrust, though.

    I dunno. APB is not 'amazing', I'll give you that, but it does do some things incredibly well, and the matchmaking and dynamic flow system is definitely one of them. To see it get short shrift in a rushed-for-release review is pretty sad. But hey. Look where we are.

  • CaptainQuint #74 2 years ago

    @MiniAdmin

    Please, don't flirt with me

    x

  • SEVQA #75 2 years ago

    I'm sure drive by shooting around Dundee streets is more exciting than this game!

  • local_celebrity #76 2 years ago

    Shame about the game, but an excellent review nonetheless. Nice one, Rob.

  • ShineDog #77 2 years ago

    ^^ matchmaking guy

    In addition to telling you the threat of players you are going up against, They have seriously nerfed the weapon upgrades since pre KTTC beta. It's +15% max damage and health over default weapons, which works out as maybe 2 extra bullets on either side of the fence, and I've not once encountered a player who has unlocked anything better than quicker reloads/extended clips since the game went live.

    Is this speaking to pre KTTC balance? Because I absolutely dont agree that you get matched against complete destroyers any more.

    Also, agreeing with whoever said the gunplay is fine (other than me) missing headshots is the only thing that sets this games gunplay down from other games, and having played around with that a bit I honestly dont miss it. it means battles draw out a little more, allowing manouvre and tactics to come to the fore, and weapon ranges to really be exploited.

    With a group of players on voice com, the game is full of impromptu tactics and its a lot of fun. most of the camping areas are, once you learn the maps, hopelessly compromised by back alleys and rooftops. Working together as a team allows you to take a huge dump on campers heads. Theres still a definite defencive advantage, but it's also hugely important to be fluid and ready to move

    If you werent part of a group of players on voice though, then yes, it can seem horribly campy because there just isnt the teamwork around to shift people from the fortresses they set up.

  • jumpdeveraux #78 2 years ago

    Regarding cap and hold surely the opposite extreme is also undesirable ... i.e. if Team A holds a location for the first 2:31 of a 5:00 game why would Team B even bother attacking after that point as it's a guaranteed loss - they might as well put the controller down and go make a sandwich for the second half of the mission as the outcome is still the same.

    At least if there's a chance you can in the final seconds and win you're guaranteed a 5 mins of both sides trying like crazy to defend/attack.

    The reality is the design should mean ownership should switch within the time limit relatively fluidly.

  • Anufea #79 2 years ago

    @strelok

    Yet Guild Wars PvP rewards you for the time you actually held the flag, no? So it's not like APB in that regard at all!

  • Distributor #80 2 years ago

    6/10, the game plays still more like 4/10. Rubbish.

  • Stifler #81 2 years ago

    I found quite a well written review (admittedly by an average joe) here:

    [link url=http://rev-depot. com/category/pc-2/
    ]http://rev-depot. com/category/pc-2/
    [/link]

    It has its problems but rolling as a big grp I found it to be hugely entertaining.

  • varkdm #82 2 years ago

    Well I'm really enjoying it, I played it during closed beta as well and whilst it deffinitely had problems, the fun and free form nature of the combat makes it unqiue in my gaming repertoire.

    The reviewer also has it wrong, although I suspect this just strenghtens the point he wants to make, the action district server population cap is 80. If you play this game solo, then it 80% of the time it really is shit, there is deffinitely very little fun to be had on your own. However, its bloody easy to find a group, make a clan, build up regualr team mates in game. I usuall prefer to play my mmogs solo, only grouping when necassary, so it's unsual for me to actively seek groups and to enjoy it more because of it.

    The driving.. when I first started playing I hated it. Now I love it. It takes time to get used to, deffinitely, its not simple or polished.. but.. it deffinitely works. All the cars, trucks and vans handle and perform differently - and of course being able to purchase and customise your own car is just fantastic. Like any game, its just a case of getting used to how it functions, delicate use of throttle when cornering, a lot of people just seem to hammer the handbrake all the time .. god knows why.

    The gun play.. yea.. its no COD or BFBC2, but.. that doesnt really matter. Skill does count for something, but its not just twitch skill. The good players learn when to commit, when to run, when to use or cook their grenades. There are some issues with certain areas of the maps being too easy to defend if an objective happens to fall there.. but its rarely impossible to shift even the most dedicated and well equipped defenders. It takes tactics and cooridnation, change your main choice of weapon, often those high points are very exposed to heavy sniper fire for example. A lot of people moan about the balance of weaposn in the game, but they are actually well balanced, you wouldnt expect a sniper rifle in any game to be good in all sitations, you would expect an assault rifle to be a good all rounder, shotguns & smgs to be great up close.

    My only gripe with the game is the damage weapon upgrades, players who have put a lot of time in will get access to these guns far quicker than average players and it will give them an unfair advantage.. but.. you dont go up against them that often. The balance system is based around your win/loss ratio as a group of players and it will try its hardest not to match high "threat" players against low threat ones.

    This game is deffinitely suck it and see, dont just read a review of someone who even stated in the title that quite frankly he couldnt be arsed with it - cant have played it that much because he surely would have seen the servers capped at 80 players ...

  • ShineDog #83 2 years ago

    If your big gripe is the weapon upgrades then know that no upgrade can take you over 15% in terms of doing damage or surviving it. It's certainly something but it's not a critical advantage.

    Lot's of the upgrades are (still important) things like reload faster or extended clips, as opposed to straight up KILLING YOU MORE.

  • gummy52 #84 2 years ago

    Honestly, I smelt foul play after reading thiss. This isn't a review, it's propagandist smear.
    My heart weeps for the hard working artists that made APB.

  • Zaiz #85 2 years ago

    The shooting controls were insanely wonky and not at all solid, camping was everything, and holding a point for four minutes and 55 seconds to see someone take it in the last five seconds is absolutely the worst idea ever. The driving controls were also insanely loose, which made me feel like I couldn't drive the cars at all. Until I found the garbage truck. Did you know those things didn't swerve all over the street when you drove them? Too bad they were sooo slooow.

  • icematt12 #86 2 years ago

    Has anyone pointed out yet that if you have a 32 bit OS, then you will have really restricted graphics? As in the hours spent making an impressive top in the customisation will be reduced to this mess of squares when you are in a Social or Action district. You could have deleted a few lines in the ini files to stop this, possibly resulting in out of memory errors after a while, but they have now changed the updater to replace any altered files.

    I really can't see this situation being changed anytime soon. Might this game deserve 2 ratings, one for x86 and one for x64?

    Minused for pointing out facts? The game even says this when you are in the graphics settings of options. I'll see if I can find a good img on the APB forums to demonstrate.
    Edited by 2 at 02/07/10 @ 16:28

  • Zaiz #87 2 years ago

    @icematt12

    Hahahaha, nope. That is really funny though, considering APB uses the Unreal 3 engine. Which, you know, can run on just about any PC that was updated in the past seven years.

  • ronuds #88 2 years ago

    Guess I don't care if this comes to consoles anymore! :p

  • Waldo #89 2 years ago

    Shouldn't somebody be posting something about how the reviewer only played for two hours, at which point the review gets pulled with promises of a new review to follow, only it never does?

    That seems to be the standard MO with MMO reviews around here. ;)

  • Nozzinja #90 2 years ago

    This review was totally on point. I felt exactly the same way after a few lengthy beta sessions. The customisation is truly the best part of this release..

  • strelok #91 2 years ago

    @anufea

    Not in the modes I am talking about. Hall of heroes and somesuch.

  • anomagnus #92 2 years ago

    I'm really not sure about this review at all. Firstly, it reads like the review is going to savage it and gave it a 4, and it was very surprised when he gave it a six. Secondly, and i know that forums are hardly accurate, but it does read like he solo played it, and its not a game for solo play.

    Eurogamer, and to be fair, they aren't alone in this, aren't good at reviewing MMO's. There's little point in giving a static score to a game that could be very different in 6 months. I know there is a re-review, but the same problem still exists, the game could change again after the re-review.

    Really, they should have several people review MMO's, and gave opinions as solo players, and as group experiences.

  • a8a #93 2 years ago

    Honestly, I smelt foul play after reading thiss. This isn't a review, it's propagandist smear.

    Ok, time for you to take a step into the wonderful world of perspective. 6/10 = 3/5. If Empire rates a movie 3/5, is that a "propaganadist smear" against it? Your hyperbole has just demolished any other argument you make.

    My heart weeps for the hard working artists that made APB.

    If you can only score a game in the 8+ bracket for fear of upsetting its developer, then reviews wouldn't be very useful.

  • a8a #94 2 years ago

    There's little point in giving a static score to a game that could be very different in 6 months. I know there is a re-review, but the same problem still exists, the game could change again after the re-review.

    The problem with this is that by your logic, an MMO game should either never get reviewed at all, or should get reviewed based on the potential of what it might become, neither of which are particularly useful for those who see reviews as a buyer's guide. Take the launch review of AoC as an example of what happens when you try to review based on potential. I think having a "fresh look" review every time the game goes through a major change is the best compromise you can give in this situation.

    Personally, my feelings on the game so far are slightly different from the review - but I understand the reasoning behind each point. There are plenty of great elements to set this game apart from its peers, but a poor implementation of the core mechanic weakens the whole package. A 6 is fair, I think - although for me, that's enough for a game that interests me to be worth a try.

  • Firejack #95 2 years ago

    I disagree with most of this review.

    Laying my cards out before I share my thoughts why. I've played 100+ hours in APB since early April during closed beta. I've just purchased a 90-day unlimited APB pass. I have started my own APB Clan.

    In terms of weather APB is an MMO or not I ask you. Would you call a Battlefield 2 server with 20 players and 60 spectators an MMO? No, neither would I. And thats exactly the scale we are talking about. There maybe 80 players to a district but you can only interact with those on your mission. You'll rarely see mission bigger then 10 vs 10.

    Driving isn't hard at all. I can only imagine the reviewer made a newbie mistake of not moving the camera to the central position while driving? As others have said vehicles have different characteristics. Some are fast, some are slow, some turn sharply, others not so. Its no driving simulator but does an excellent job in making car chases exciting.

    There are no headshots true. I don't think thats a bad thing from a gameplay point of view. APB isn't a FPS shooter its a 3rd person action game. I would prefer a FPS option but since we don't have one, 3rd person + headshots don't really mix.
    The gun play is fun, exciting and dramatic. There are few static shootouts. Rarely are you pinned down by snipers. The mix of weapons and balance is good. Especially after the last round of balancing.

    In terms of progression I don't think the current system adds much to the game. Nor do I feel it is unfair to new players. After 20 hours of play you'll of likely unlocked all the basic weapons and cars. Then it comes down to how your team uses them and which team has the best tactics to decide a winner.

    Also can't say I'm a fan of the marketplace or the RTW points nonsense. Getting myself signed up for 3 months took a lot longer and was more complicated then it really should of been. The sooner we lose the Mickey Mouse currency the better.

    Camping certain static objectives is a problem for time based missions, especially in 1v1. However time based mission in a group on a moving target is bloody fantastic! Imagine the Criminals are getting away with the cash in a security van and have a large headstart over your Enforcer group. If the team who held the item for the longest won. The crazy dash and pursuit across the city would not take place. AI pedestrians would not lay dead on the side walk. Cars would not be flipped upside down or left smoking by the sides of the road. And in those dying seconds of the mission you wouldn't have one of your Enforcer team mates facing down certain death with his last grenade to destroy the security van in the dying seconds just so your team could win!

    There have been random moment both inside and outside of mission where I've been crying with laughter so hard I've had to turn off my mic. You just can't forget those moment when you arrive at speed to help, only to bump into a badly damage car that explodes killing you, your team and every member of the criminal gang!

    Overall an excellent game. Could be a great game with some basic changes.

    Best thing Eurogamer could do now is get 4 of the guys in the office together one afternoon and go lay down the law on the streets. I challenge anyone of them after 4 hours of chaos to give the game 6/10 then!

  • icematt12 #96 2 years ago

    Zaiz - based on my understanding of posts on the APB forums it is not down to the Unreal engine, purely the limitations of the machine. A real strain seems to be the main selling point - the customisation. Apparently the game seems to like remembering the customisation of other peoples cars and clothes, just in case.

    I have seen people post how the game takes up 2 Gigs of RAM, throw in Windows and you are surely reaching the maximum capacity a 32 bit OS can manage (not taking into account any other processes running at the time). Myself, the game ran at literally millions of bits. Didn't make a note, but was 19 followed by at least 9 or 10 different numbers (/fps command).

    There choices are understandable, but I don't get why they didn't render the player's customisation as normal but lower those of everyone else.

    No joy finding an image of a district running on 32 bits yet, wouldn't take a genius to work out people who have a 32 bit OS would take a pic inside the customisation tool which runs at the settings defined in the options.

  • Khorrax #97 2 years ago

    Having played this in the beta, I think it's a very good review and for the most part, I completely agree. I was really looking forward to playing it, but I won't be buying it for now. There are numerous things that turn me away from doing so.

    The first and most important, the poor performance and limitations to the 32 bit OS users. My PC may be old, but it didn't stop me from playing (with max details in 1280x1024) other Unreal engine powered games. And after reading some replies from the developers, it doesn't look like they will be fixing this. Someone reported today that simply switching to 64 bit OS (with no hardware upgrade) will dramatically improve performance and the visuals. But I have to ask myself if it's even worth the hassle. And the answer is "no".

    As pointed out by the review, key gameplay mechanics are weak. I certainly am not very good at shooter games, but I'm certainly not terrible. Yet playing this game I simply didn't feel in control - there is no feedback from the guns. It may have to do with the fact that there is no positional damage and "spraying" with your gun is encouraged over having accuracy. It may also be connected with the poor matchmaking system which is tied to your threat level and doesn't take into account the difference in equipment. Before entering the beta, I had always believed APB will not feature upgrades and the likes, nor levels of any kind. I was wrong. You want to have better equipment? You increase your standing with the 2 organizations on each side. It wouldn't be so bad however if it didn't require you to do the same missions over and over again. It would also help if you knew what you unlock with each contact. Unless you check the forums, odds are you'll have to take your chances and max out a contact only to find out you got some crappy weapon you didn't want. What's even stranger, you are never told exactly what you unlocked. You have to check it yourself, as in browse through all the unlocked stuff and figure out if you already had that piece of clothing before, or it's the new unlock.

    One might argue that playing in a group vastly improves the experience, and I can't deny that. It certainly feels great answering a back-up call and jumping into a team-mates car in order to follow that criminal. Or witnessing a crime and busting the offender. The lack of the AI is both a strong and a weak point. You can meet great people and have a lot of fun achieving your goals. That's if the matchmaking system works in your favour. Otherwise, see my impressions in the paragraph above.

    But ultimately, I don't find the game fun in the long run. Too repetitive and grindy, coupled with performance and gameplay issues. Plus, I can't justify paying anything other than the box for this game. But I can totally understand that people enjoy the game, particularly if they got some of their friends by their side. I will wait for further patch notes to decide whether I should reconsider my position.
    Edited by 1 at 02/07/10 @ 19:23

  • HATREDacolyte #98 2 years ago

    I've played this game since the beta and I think it is a great game but I seem to find world of warcraft nothing short of horrible boring trash. What does that say? I think it says most if not all the people commenting are wow fanboys and expect every MMO to be like their shitty game.

  • Tkozy #99 2 years ago

    I played my 10 hours of KttC and I generally agree with this review. I thought the driving was an acquired skill and was actually great fun over time.

    It was truly refreshing to be able to customize my ultimate police badass. Having a unique character is where this game shines.

    My main issue was the gunplay.I think it takes WAY too long to kill someone and the weapons do not regain accuracy fast enough. I found that after three bursts, the burst-fire assault rifles became totally unusable. The same can be said for the machinegun. Another issue is that your bullets don't necessarily go where your reticule is pointed, you have to make sure your weapon is clear of obstacles. This makes sense, but it's actually difficult to tell in the heat of things if your barrel is touching a wall or not.
    Weapons power seemed to favor SMGs. Combat in APB generally takes place in the short/mid range simply because of the structure of objectives. Maybe 1/5 of my missions had a long-range component where a sniper rifle would have been effective.

    Simply driving around to avoid capture is an issue, but I imagine an organized group could take different routes to intercept a vehicle.

    My takeaway from the game was that with a solid group of friends or an organized clan, it could be one of the best experiences ever. Unless you have a group, don't bother.

    Performance-related P.S.: This game sucks up about 3.5 GIGABYTES of ram. I figure it just stores the entire environment and character customizations in your memory...

    @Khorrax- They totally need to tell you what you've unlocked when the dialogue box "You've unlocked a gun/car/etc." pops up. I hate scrolling though menus only to find that the new car part is for a car I don't even have or haven't even unlocked....

  • actionfitz #100 2 years ago

    I have to agree that starting off with the shit default gun and the pea-shooter handgun, and being matched against two guys - one armed with a fucking M60 heavy machine gun, one with a bloody great big riot shotgun... with fekkin Uzi's as their secondary weapons...

    yeah that felt rather balls.
    and unfair balls at that.

  • PearOfAnguish #101 2 years ago

    I also played the beta and hated it right away. It wasn't just the dull, irritating combat and driving mechanics, but the game world is so bland and generic, too.

    Really hope Realtime hasn't sunk so much money into this that it brings down the company.

  • timberwolf #102 2 years ago

    they add the word MMO to everything... i thought an MMO was hundreds of players playing together in huge worlds like WOW or Everquest. Phantasy star, Monster hunter... APB are they MMOs? what's the definition?
    Edited by 1 at 03/07/10 @ 03:58

  • FreakyZoid #103 2 years ago

    > 3rd person + headshots don't really mix

    They do. Even Crackdown had them.

  • Gurrah #104 2 years ago

    I think the 6 is really generous, I'm in agreement over the editor and customisation but there is just no game where there should be one. It's a glorified editor with the thinnest paper macheé stage depicting a game available to developers, and you know you will crash through that facade the first time you step into a vehicle, which is minutes after starting the game.

  • Alivada #105 2 years ago

    6 is too high.
    Would of given it a 4.

  • Kerome #106 2 years ago

    Can't really argue with the details in the review. Personally, no exploration + experienced vs noob pvp matchups means I'm not even going to bother with a demo or other reivews. If you get those basic, basic tenets of the genre wrong, chances are there will be so many other flaws that I'll be overwhelmed just trying to read the reviews.

    For those interested in the style, maybe trying some of the super-hero MMO's like CoH or Champions might be a more polished experience, they have a bit of shooter-style stuff.

    @ BobsUncle who wrote: " It's not like they finished Crackdown and thought, "What shall we do now, Crackdown 2 or a totally new IP?" "

    That's probably exactly what they thought. APB is clearly pretty Crackdown-derived and heading in an MMO direction, it's just that they didn't do the transition very well and didn't end up anywhere near a sensible halfway house.
    Edited by 1 at 03/07/10 @ 22:04

  • Crea #107 2 years ago

    @Kerome

    As someone else has pointed out, APB and Crackdown had overlapping development schedules - there is more than one team at RTW. APB was not chosen 'instead of' Crackdown 2, Crackdown 2 fell through for RTW because Microsoft had not decided whether or not to commision a sequel by the original's release. By the time MS HAD decided, RTW had by then commited to something else.

    RTW were very keen to work on Crackdown 2, it just didn't work out.
    Edited by 1 at 03/07/10 @ 22:29

  • Pooty #108 2 years ago

    Great blog post. Oh wait, this is a review? Terrible.

  • cjb110 #109 2 years ago

    Agreed, the beta unfortunately showed the same issues, and I'd hoped it was just because it was in beta. The driving and shooting are appalling. If they were even a patch on GTA the other issues would probly be forgiven (esp with the insane customisation, that's doable even for people like me that would struggle to paint a white wall well :)

    The devs need to address that quickly before people move on, start from scratch...Crackdown 1 and 2 both have decent driving and shooting, nick it from them!

  • Kerome #110 2 years ago

    @ Crea: You sure about that? I heard RTW had the choice, and decided to put more effort into APB instead of doing CD2.

    Either way, it's amazing that a whole bunch of things that went right in the original Crackdown ended up going wrong in APB. Driving for one seems worse, and you could point at a few others.

  • JediMasterMalik #111 2 years ago

    Never did get the excitement for the game, and playing a bit of the beta cemented that belief.

  • mingster #112 2 years ago

    The main reason this gamre sux is YOU HAVE TO PAY MONEY TO PLAY IT. Are you all mad? Do you want this pay model to succeed? No thank you.

  • brseg #113 2 years ago

    Generous review compared to 1UP.com - they totally ravaged it.

  • mingster #114 2 years ago

    O dear 1up gave it D what does that equate t in score 20%?