APB is a terrible game: PC gamer

[CptStern]

There are moments in APB where I found my heart pounding out of my chest, beating faster than my assault rifle could empty ammunition. APB’s San Paro is a online city where the criminals fight the police on the streets, both sides player-controlled. When it works, it’s incredibly exciting. The problem is, it doesn’t work.

Floaty, unresponsive and with an odd mixture of under- then severe oversteer, APB ’s cars feel like petulant automotive teenagers, never willing to do what you ask. In a game where you’re expected to drive fast after other cars driving fast – and you are expected to do this a lot – the handling model is wilfully sadistic, forcing you to plan turns a good few hundred metres before intersections.

Floaty, unresponsive and with an odd mixture of under- then severe oversteer, APB ’s cars feel like petulant automotive teenagers, never willing to do what you ask. In a game where you’re expected to drive fast after other cars driving fast – and you are expected to do this a lot – the handling model is wilfully sadistic, forcing you to plan turns a good few hundred metres before intersections.

Frustration is built into the game at all levels. Eventually getting the jump on one of the guys terrorising my poor newbies, I unloaded threeshot burst after three-shot-burst into his back. Flipping round, he fired back and killed me. He had a better gun, so he won. Realtime Worlds may deserve some credit for taking MMO combat away from behind-the-scenes dice rolls, but this is no level playing field: someone who has played the game for longer will have a better weapon and a more powerful character than a new player. The system is supposed to compensate, matching smaller groups of the best versus big gaggles of initiates, but inevitably, the most experienced and best equipped players always win.

In APB , the lack of locational damage means a bullet in the finger has the same effect as one in the brain-stem. Realtime Worlds argue this is to tempt the casual player and reduce the propensity for online snipers.

In its current form, Realtime Worlds’ take on the MMO is draining: beyond the end of my time playing the extended beta, and the finished game, I’ve had no desire to play the game further. For a persistent online game, that’s not a good sign.


rating 55%

http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/07/02/apb-review/

sort of saw this coming. the premise fo the game is a little thin to begin with

 

[B_MAN]

wasted potential I say

 

[Ennui]

I was never all that thrilled to begin with. I read PCG's preview of it late last year and was underwhelmed then too. The concept could be done well, but their implementation seemed (and apparently is) pretty sketchy.

 

[taviow]

Played a bit of the beta. It did suck.

 

[Warbie]

Great idea poorly executed. It was obvious when playing the beta that just too much needed to be fixed.

 

[Deleted member 56031]

Realtime Worlds argue this is to tempt the casual player and reduce the propensity for online snipers.

unhn...*slaps forehead*

anyway not suprised at this at all :|

 

[Wanted Bob]

Played a bit of the beta. It did suck.

This.

I was so excited for this game too

 

[<RJMC>]

looked like another game cashing in the gansta yoyo style made famous by san andreas

 

[Ravioli]

This is so ****ing frustrating im shitting shit. Not ONCE in the entire article do they mention the games name.

WHAT THE **** DOES APB STAND FOR? I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT ****ING GAME THIS ARTICLE IS ABOUT

Alien Puffing Balls?
Andrew Panders Bank?
Aliance Pond Burka?

what is this i dont even

 

[TwwIX]

This is so ****ing frustrating im shitting shit. Not ONCE in the entire article do they mention the games name.

WHAT THE **** DOES APB STAND FOR? I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT ****ING GAME THIS ARTICLE IS ABOUT

Alien Puffing Balls?
Andrew Panders Bank?
Aliance Pond Burka?

what is this i dont even

All Points Bulletin.

Anyway, i whole wholeheartedly agree. Great concept but very poor execution.
It's repetitive, there's barely any content, the game's world feels very confined for a open world game, the vehicle handling is horrendous and the weapons in the game have yet to be balanced. The developers of this game are very stubborn and so full of themselves. They have not listened to one constructive critique during the entire beta.

The business model they chose is going to back fire on them big time.
They are charging you for every ****ing thing in the game. Subscription fee, microtransactions, auction house and a day before release they revealed that they will charge you for in game VOIP ads too. You have to pay if you don't want to be spammed my voice message ads.

This game is going free 2 play in the matter of months and don't be surprised if the developer files for bankruptcy within year. Unless EA shuts them down completely before they manage to do so. Just watch and see.

 

[Deleted member 56031]

Well apparently “Some people had too high expectations for APB"

http://www.vg247.com/2010/07/02/some-people-had-too-high-expectations-for-apb-says-jones/

Unless EA shuts them down completely before they manage to do so. Just watch and see.

They're not owned by EA actually, but still i see your point.

 

[MJ12]

No surprise at all, the game looked bland both visually and in gameplay.

The only thing I really thought was great about APB was the character customization-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uohxUbsiA1Y

 

[TwwIX]

No surprise at all, the game looked bland both visually and in gameplay.

The only thing I really thought was great about APB was the character customization-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uohxUbsiA1Y

That's its only redeeming value.

But how does this warrant the price tag of $50 and the countless of fees?

 

[Sheepo]

Um, it doesn't? He didn't say anything like that.

 

[TwwIX]

Um, it doesn't? He didn't say anything like that.

That question wasn't aimed at him. I am just perplexed. That's all.

 

[StarBob]

That question wasn't aimed at him. I am just perplexed. That's all.

EFF YO RHETORICAL QUESTIONS!

 

[TwwIX]

EFF YO RHETORICAL QUESTIONS!

Rhetoriwut? I dun speak dem big wurds.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Yeeeah looked kinda iffy. Not that it matters because I'd never be able to play without Aussie servers anyway, which is the MMO equivalent of asking the publishers to pay your subscription for you (seriously the server prices are ridiculous there).

Semi-related, but did anyone try the Crackdown 2 demo? How ****ing awful is the handling in that? I think it's even worse than the first game, which I remember being pretty stiff.

 

[Paulaner]

WHAT THE **** DOES APB STAND FOR? I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT ****ING GAME THIS ARTICLE IS ABOUT

This. I had to search the internet to find out. Acronyms are to be used after the full name has been written at least once.

 

[Bad^Hat]

You guys are dumb.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_points_bulletin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APB_(2010_video_game)

Notice not only that APB isn't an acronym exclusive to this game, but APB is actually the name of the game. That hasn't been shortened in any way. That's what it's ****ing called.

Learn to wiki/google/internet.

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

Disappointing, considering their last game Crackdown was fun.

 

[Ren.182]

My friends at university are playing this and I've watched them play it for a few hours now.

From what I can gather the driving is kinda slow and a bit unpredictable when braking. However the driving is done server side (you basically drive the car on the server and not your computer, you just send them the controls) This in theory makes it less laggy for everyone as the cars are all on the server. But from what I've seen it really dumbs down the driving and it can still lag on occasions.

I didn't know there was only a single hitbox for players. This is not good and completely takes away any skill involved in the game. Now I know what everyone just sprays as many bullets as they can at each other, and usually the guy with the better gun will win no matter what.

I may get it if they improve it some more. But for now I'll stick to GTA 4 online for my cops and robbers fix

 

[TwwIX]

Disappointing, considering their last game Crackdown was fun.

That talent left to form Ruffian Games and develop Crackdown 2.

Hence the shittyness of this game.

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

Ah. I was under the impression some of the team left to form Ruffian while the rest stayed behind on APB. Damn.

 

[Bad^Hat]

That talent left to form Ruffian Games and develop Crackdown 2.

Hence the shittyness of this game.

You uhh... try the Crackdown 2 demo?

 

[TwwIX]

You uhh... try the Crackdown 2 demo?

Yes, and i enjoyed it just like the first one.

Your point?

 

[Bad^Hat]

No point. >_>

 

[Dalamari]

Played a bit of the beta. It did suck.

This.

I was so excited for this game too

This.

The combat was what ruined it for me. There was no reason to use cover so gun fights were just two idiots running side to side shooting the hell out of each other.

It's also totally stupid that in an MMO you're limited to 100 players in an instance, so it's never really a big open MMO world, just a bigger game of GTA4 free roam with a very tiny map.

 

[Qonfused]

The beta sucked horribly, so yeah. Bummer.

 

[Wanted Bob]

Perhaps the biggest dissapointment for me came from the customization. So much raving about how good it was going to be, and how you could make your character exactly like you.

I have curly hair. I have never once been able to make a character look remotely like me because there is never a curly hair option. I had hoped APB would change this.

The only styles even CLOSE to matching that was a rediculously HUGE afro that just looked stupid, or some short dreadlocks, also stupid.