Reviews - APB: All Points Bulletin - PC

[HEXUS]

Ready for a beating? The verdict on RealTime Worlds' online law enforcement sim.

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[Marenghi]

no wonder they had a review embargo of whatever it's called in the business. played the beta and seemed incredibly bland to me

[Firejack]

As a regular reader of Hexus I don't want to be rude. However, to post that opinion on the game and call it a review is a bit of a joke really. Not to mentioned the ALPHA (pre-alpha even?!) gameplay video footage on the first page. AND...

And perhaps its biggest draw, the fact that it’s an MMO, is really under-utilised.

Its not an MMO RPG/FPS/whatever *sigh*. If you're going to review the game at least put some effort into it and get your facts straight first.



Right where to start? Driving seems a good one. APBs driving system is easy to master. You just need to understand a few basics.

Firstly, position the camera correctly before you move off. You can free-look with the mouse in APB while on foot or in a vehicle. If you get in a car with the camera at an angle looking to one side of course you're going to find it hard to drive. Move the target cross hair to the front of the car between the 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock position and wait 1 second while the camera auto-centres. Now put on the in car stereo and drive

Now you need to understand like in real life each car handles differently. If you are in a van its going to be slow. Its going to corner like a pig. Get in a sports car though and you'll have a nippy little ride around the cityscape of San Paro in APB.

Car handling is no simulation I agree. Saying there is a delay in response time is something I've can't say I've experienced in 125+ hours of game time in APB (since April closed beta). What spec machine did you do the review on out of interest?

Finally like in real life if you take a tight corner at 100mph you'd expect to fly off the road. Tap the brake or handbrake and corners are no problem.



Trying to clear up what APB is..... You should not compare APB to an MMORPG. It simply isn't that type of game. Some games I've played with similar elements to what you see in APB include other action games like Planetside, Battlefield 2 and Team fortress 2.

Would anyone call Team Fortress 2 boring even those you execute the same "missions" over and over again? I don't. I'll happily push that payload all day long because its fun to do so and every time you play that same mission on the same map 1000 different things can happens because you have human not AI opposition.
This is the same for APB.

Sure you might have to pick up that same camcorder and transport it across the city but with an opposing group trying to stop you by any means possible. Fun chaotic mayhem is sure to follow. Do you attempt to run to the drop off? Do you run to a garage and spawn your car or do you just yell taxi and steal the ride of a innocent cabby who just happens to be driving by?
And what about the opposing team? Will they assemble a road block? Camp the roofs above the drop off point with sniper rifles? Pursue you in a 4x4 with team mates hanging out the windows sending hails of bullets your way?
This is just a sample of what could happen. There are some epic multi-stage mission later on. That have you picking up barrels of nerve gas that are too big to fit in your car so you end up searching the nearby streets to carjack a pickup. I love this little mini games you have to complete. Really fun addition to your typical deathmatch type of multiplayer games modes.


The maps of APB are great. Really excellent design. Remind me a lot of the City maps in Battlefield 2 in terms of the combat. You will be rushing down side alleys, flushing out buildings with grenades, braving a storm of bullets and drive brazenly straight at the enemy in no time. The streets are filled with AI characters. Criminals can mug them for cash. Or you can gun them down. Or my favourite. Get a fast car and play punt-the-pedestrian while you wait for the next mission. Think my record is about 50 metres so far

About the lack of feedback on guns. With a little practice (under 30 minutes I'm talking) you can quickly get quite good at shooting. Just find yourself a crowded shopping centre and start shooting the pedestrians. The 3rd person shooting system is fun and rewards teamwork, using cover, flanking more then individual skill with a weapon. There is none of that MMORPG nonsense of a random number generators working in the background like World of Warcraft or something.




I strongly recommend people try APB for themselves (not solo....with a group, preferably friends for humorous results! ) before reading any more of the APB reviews that have been posted so far.

Just remember when you play APB it is a Persistent Online Action Game. There will be people more experienced or better equipped then you so I'd recommend declining mission offers against high threat level players.

If you get stuck search the net or watch some youtube videos for tips.

[McPhee]

The missions weren’t designed, they were a “press F” afterthought; the entire world is bland and boring; the music is purely an irritation; I’ve had more fun driving in submarine simulators; and the weapons are bland and boring, with no opportunity for any kind of tactics.

Sums up how I found the beta. Very poor game and at the time it ran like a two-legged dog too (might be fixed now?). Honestly found the multiplayer in GTAIV to be better, this was basically the same but set in a less inspiring and less lively city and with some bad MMO elements thrown in (not to mention the cost).

[Kerogi]

As for the driving imput lag mentioned earlier i did notice it, quite alot... Press the key to turn left and about a second later it did, it fealt horrible. Dont get me wrong maybe it was my pc getting more and more sluggish before it decided to blow up, Maybe if there is a free trial in teh future ill give it another go on my new soon to be arriving more powerful pc

[gtech]

Haven't tried the game yet and probably wont seeing as the reviews are so poor.

[Steven W]

It's 100% an MMO. Even Realtime Worlds executive Colin Macdonald describes it "as a Grand Theft Auto MMO."

Haven't played it mind, so can't comment on anything else.

[GheeTsar]

Nice review. Based on the beta (so I could be talking out of my arse in relation to the final product) I agree with your findings, particularly the driving parts. I also suffered from terrible lag and shocking frame rates.

[murixo]

Im gonna be plain and simply honest...

Wish I had not wasted £34.99 in buying this game!!!

Simples

[Firejack]

£34.99... that was the recommended retail price wasn't it? I only paid £26.99 and even got a couple of £'s knocked off via Quidco. I see its £24.99 with free delivery from Amazon.


-GheeTsar, you shouldn't of been getting any lag and bad frame rates that spec in your profile. What version of Windows 7 you using GheeTsar? 32-bit or 64-bit? What ISP you using?


Having re-read your replies and many others from new players on various other forums/review sites. APB has one main issue that I agree on that can hopefully be fixed quickly.

Information, lack of - This seems to be the critical problem. The tutorial is useless and people aren't finding their feet in the game before they are pitch into combat and quickly dispatched by groups of clan mates or more experienced players. Fingers crossed this can be resolved when the www.apbvault.com website goes live (no clue why its not online already. Since it was on the old beta website). That will contain basic guides, explanation of controls, player stats, contact/ organization info and tips for missions.


Since that resource isn't available I'll try to give you a couple of quick tips:

Weapons
Star 556 - Starter weapon, assault rifle that is great over medium range but has a slow rate of fire. Its great for car chases!
OCA-EW 626 - Once you've completed 2-3 mission you should have unlocked this and have enough cash. Go buy it! Most early missions are close range and this MP5-like SMG is ace at short range. Particularly useful in Financial district.
[Enforcers] Stabba - PIG - *The* most overpowered weapon early in the game, at close range this secondary taser gun can stun faster then any other weapon can kill. Its unlocked early and cheap.
N-TEC 5 - Another assault rifle thats been heavily nerfed during beta. The jack-of-all trades gun thats useful in 70%+ situations. Can't recall when its unlocked for Criminals but Enforcers get it at level 6 with Prentiss Tigers.

That should be enough to get you started and able to hold your own. Remember using the right weapon for the right job is the most important thing to remember.

Missions
You do not have to accept every mission. Be picky. Don't just choose the first option as you'll probably end up against a high threat group that everyone else has been rejecting missions with. In the mission offer box there will be some symbols that represent the threat level of each player. New Criminals should avoid Enforcers with golden stars in their symbols and Enforcers should avoid the golden skulls. Unless you feel brave!
Its worth noting Criminals will get Bounties put on their head (missions they can't refused). This will be because you've been killing people, stealing cars, stealing TVs, mugging pedestrians. Its easy to earn cash in these ways as a criminal but be aware Enforcers will be sent to stop you!
On missions where you suddenly find high threat players have been matched against you. Don't attempt to take them on alone. Sit back and call for backup! You will have this option if groups are unbalanced, look under the names of your team mates listed top left for the call for backup option.

Unlocking weapons, levelling contacts
I'm in a small Clan of 17 people so we've not won any of the league rewards yet. So In many ways I'm in the same situation as many new players. I'm still using the basic OCA-EW 626 I got minutes after playing on my character for the first time for example. And I'm Rank 115-ish.
There are a couple of ways to even the score. Buy off the market place if you have deep pockets or level contacts quickly. My clan is doing the second option. Best approach is to level each contact to level 3 at which point they will refer you to the next tier up the organisation. Complete the contacts in that tier to 3 and repeat. You should also concentrate on one organization at a time for fastest progression. I'm only a few mission away from the 3-slotted OCA-EW 626 "Undertaker" you've no doubt had the misfortune of facing while trying to learn the game!


I still have faith APB will be a success. Just hope more people give it a try with a helpful Clan. Also worth noting those 50-hours of gametime you got with the game never expire. So you can try the game in a few more weeks when hopefully something will be done to help new players.

[Flawless101]

From what I've played of it, for being based around driving the driving isn't that great. Then there is the combat which again just isn't that great.

To me it seem like it has hit the problem of many MMO's, released too early not enough content.

[Steven W]

The article has been updated. According to our Right2Reply rules we let the publisher/developer respond to our reviews.

They were obviously disappointed at our score and opinion of the game and have asked that we do mention the customisation options which were ommited from the review. We think this is only fair as it's a big part of the experience.

We've published this at the end of the review.

[Barrichello]

Wish I had not wasted £34.99 in buying this game!!!

Where do you shop for your games? Harrods?

[GheeTsar]

They were obviously disappointed at our score and opinion of the game and have asked that we do mention the customisation options which were ommited from the review. We think this is only fair as it's a big part of the experience.

Fair enough, but aren't PC gamers too old for dressing up simulators?


Firejack - 64bit Win7 and 8 meg broadband provided by Waitrose (!). I rarely suffer from any lag at all in other online games (only MW2 occasionally). I couldn't understand it either - all other Unreal Engine games run smooth as anything.

[Firejack]

Where do you shop for your games? Harrods?

Even if he did thats cheap compared to the £44.96 you'd pay at Scan if you follow the link on the front Hexus page to the APB article



In terms of that right to reply. They pretty much touched on all the features I'm not too fussed over. I spent around 5 minutes creating my character. Another 10 customizing him with Shades, dogtags and an "I was in APB beta" t-shirt and thats really about it. Oh I put a decal on my car that someone else made and changed the colour of the car too.

In fairness the marketplace is proving useful. Even though I tend to avoid Auction sites and Auction type systems in games. Already made enough to buy myself another months subscription so far.

Really would of liked to see him push the team play aspect of APB. I just don't think any game can beat 4-man groups causing all kinds of laugh-out-loud moments.

[noTHINGface]

<sigh> It did have some potential but it's just not much fun... Well, I found it dull and consider the reviews fairly representative of my experience of the game. Now filed in the 'not for me' section.