All Points Bulletin (APB) has gone through a number of iterations since we first saw the concept in Webzen's booth at E3 2005. From art style to customization intensity to platform to all-around gameplay and format, Realtime Worlds has put their stamp on APB in every way imaginable, and at the helm is David Jones, former Rockstar North Studio Head and visionary behind Grand Theft Auto.

Bringing known talent like David Jones and Executive Producer Josh Howard out from behind the development curtain and hearing their insights about the game was one of the definite highlights of our recent trip to Realtime Worlds at the foot of the Scottish highlands in Dundee, UK (a five minute drive from where GTA was hatched at Rockstar North’s original headquarters). Equally huge was having an entire afternoon to put the game through its paces, and Ten Ton Hammer is happy to bring you our hands-on impressions of APB.

Customization and Design

The customization and crafting side of APB has been covered in-depth in numerous other articles including Sardu's hands-on impressions from PAX East 2010, so I’ll just hit the high points. APB customization breaks down into design – creating symbols, or 2D vector artwork (a sort of mathematical artwork that scales without looking ragged) out of basic shapes or “primitives” - and customization, which is simply applying symbols, shapes, and other options to clothing, vehicles (including horns and engine sounds), tattooes, and even billboards around the game environment (given your clan earns the correct permissions).

Each symbol has a max of 100 layers, but players have gotten extremely creative inside of these constraints, thanks to some great features and tools inside the editor (the likes and usability of which you’ve never seen). For example, wne handy feature of the design editor is that each layer is highlighted with a flickering orange border, which becomes all important when you’re dealing with an intricate design.

Players do incredible things with the in-game design tools.

What was new information for us on the APB non-combat front was the idea of “role levels” which unlock new primitives, fonts, and other design tools and options based on the time and effort you put into activities like design and customization, but also non-combat activities like car theft. And getting to max level isn’t just a function of sitting at the customization screen. While leveling through level 10 is relatively simple, you’ll have to spend in-game currency to buy materials and manufacture items to progress further.

Gameplay

APB’s North American beta has been a tough ticket. With the EU datacenter the current focus of stress testing (with lots of lag resulting for North American players) only around a 1,000 players currently have access, and none of them online press. So Community Day afforded us the first opportunity to really check out the game on low latency servers.

The graphics look just as good in-game as they do in the screenshots.

To the credit of Realtime Worlds, we played live in the EU beta, not on an in-house server. Lag has been one of the most persistent complaints of the beta community, and being nearly on top of the EU datacenter gave us a chance to check out how much of the game was lost in transmission. The verdict: lag was far reduced, but at times noticeable (especially with physics-intensive vehicle crashes and explosions). Executive Producer Josh Howard noted that when you put a hundred players in an instance and throw in thousands of NPCs and hundreds of vehicles (both AI and player-controlled), server-side lag and long load screens are a challenge. Both Josh and David Jones are confident that now that the game is feature-locked and a number of bugs and weapon balancing have been addressed in recent builds. RTW can turn its attention more fully toward optimization.

In any case, unlike my experiences in the EU beta, vehicles were actually drivable and server-side lag wasn’t disruptive, leading to the conclusion that transmission or network lag was the chief culprit and, happily, this shouldn’t be an issue once RTW scales up its NA datacenter later this month.

Two of the major things that sets APB apart from other persistent world shooters like Global Agenda and CrimeCraft is the immense size of the playfields and the nonstop action going on inside them, and that’s not just a marketing buzzphrase. Push past the (lengthy) load screen in one of APB’s action districts – the closely packed financial district or the more spacey Waterfront – and you’ll be tripping over content everywhere you go. From picking and choosing from new missions that regularly pop up on the screen, to picking up missions from your contact as part of the “pledge” progression, to vandalizing and stealing cars as a criminal or patrolling to witness such crimes being committed as an Enforcer, to being dispatched to back up faction mates who have bitten off more than they can chew - it’s impossible not to get swept up in the action. At its core, APB is well-orchestrated mayhem, and it does a great job of getting players into the action on a moment- by-moment basis.

Arriving in the Financial District, I was immediately prompted to either search for my own group or let the game find a group for me. The usual concerns about pickup groups are in play, but I quickly found out that without bugaboos like loot distribution to worry about (cash and prestige, not items, are your reward for mission success), joining a PUG when a more familiar group offers more potential advantages than disadvantages. The missions come fast, and the semblance of teamwork you patch together with strangers over the course of several missions was far better than doing one-on-ones (or one-on-twos, or one-on-four or five) or working with strangers every time out as a solo player. To quote David Jones: “In the end, we made a group-based multiplayer game,” and while the game was enjoyable as a solo player, it was far more fun playing as part of a group, even a loosely organized one.

Flaming vehicles can earn you achievements... in all the wrong ways.

The non-stop nature of APB cannot be overstated, nor can its strong third-person shooter style gameplay. I’m by no means a strong FPS player, but the game’s controls were intuitive enough and used the standard keymap: WASD for movement, shift to run, F to interact with the game environment, crtl to cook off and/or throw the weapon in your grenade slot, space to jump, tab to pull up a scoreboard, etc.

Like any online shooter, the minimap was invaluable to detecting enemies lurking around corners and lying in wait. And when you die (and you will, and quite often if you’re anything like me), there’s no penalty aside from respawning some 150 meters away. The game’s Unreal architecture was apparent too, as not only were there plenty of opportunities for physicsy explosions, ragdolling pedestrians who couldn’t get out of the way in time, and interactive objects such as fences and doors.

Players have a standard three weapon slots: primary, secondary, and thrown. Weapons come in all the usual styles, from handguns to SMGs to assault rifles, shotguns, and the powerful rocket launcher.Less -Than-Lethal weapons are available for Enforcers who want to stun opponents and score arrests, which put your opponent out of action for longer (and allow for obnoxious emotes prior to arrest). Newer players have to change out their weapons at a locker, while more advanced players with a specific ability can change out their weapons on the fly. Weapons and vehicles can be customized with up to three slots worth of modifications, and though we didn’t have a chance to tweak our weapons much, fire rate, damping (increased accuracy with burst fire), and armor enhancements for vehicles were just a few of the modifications available. Ammo is another important consideration, and it’s very important to fill up at the ridiculously appropo ammo vending machines around the districts.

One of my biggest fears was that vehicles would dominate maps; that the game’s novel character customization system and depth of FPS play would be lost in a demolition derby where players on foot regularly become roadkill. But with many capture and guard objectives on raised areas and courtyards, vehicles were more often fast transportion rather than weapons of mass destruction. Happily, more than one player could climb into a single vehicle, and on many cars passengers could lean out windows to pick off targets of opportunity in a full 180 degree arc (just don’t shoot other protruding passengers in the back of the head!).

Vehicles could be customized for looks and performance, and player customized vehicles were accessible by clicking on a parking meter in certain locations. Driving, however, is a skill to be mastered; nitro and handbraking add additional control but increase the, for example, and the low-end vehicles and those readily available for hijacking (or “commandeering,” for Enforcers) were very difficult to maneuver. That’s intentional: Realtime Worlds wanted players to approach driving as a challenge worthy of rewards like the aforementioned role levels, as well as have incentive to purchase and customize better cars too.

Persona customization gets incredibly in-depth, and players carry a surprising amount of that detail into the game's action districts.

Another concern I had was that in an intensely PvP game with collision checks, it would be far too simple for uninvolved players to interfere with my missions and objectives. Neutral players’ tags show up as grey on the interface, while teammates are green and enemies are red), and while these players can’t directly attack you, they can still significantly impact your ability to slow down a car chase.

In terms of yardsticks for character development, Enforcers have Prestige, and Criminals have Notoriety, and both factions have a general Threat rating, among other ratings, scores, etc. A player’s Prestige and Notoriety (represented by stars a la GTA) affect things like the missions they’re offered and the rewards they get for successfully completing these missions. These values increase in different ways for different factions; for example, an Enforcer loses Prestige for hitting Pedestrians, and a Criminal gains Notoriety for doing the same. (For those prone to the vapors: unlike GTA, there’s no splatter or crunch involved with roadkill.) Notoreity and Prestige automatically decrease when you’re out of the action. And you can’t just go on a hit and run spree as a Criminal to ramp up your Notoreity . To get more than 3 stars as a criminal, you must PvP.

Achievements are a part of just about every online game these days, and APB has no shortage of quippy titles and medals to earn through deeds and misdeeds. For example, die to grenades a few times and earn “Pineapple Farmer”, or take out an entire group with an exploding vehicle to earn the Mythbusters-busting “Gas Tanks Do Too Explode.”

Payment Options

Realtime Worlds recently revealed its revenue model plans. In summary, purchasing the game through retail or digital distribution channels provides 50 hours of “action” time in the game (the social area, where in addition to, well, socializing, players can design and manufacture music, symbols, and items, then use the marketplace to buy and sell goods – is always free). After that, players can purchase a months of unlimited game time for $9.99 or, alternatively, take the novel step (novel, at least, in the Western space) of paying per hour.

APB’s hourly payment option begs the question of what happens if players run out of action time mid-mission, and David Jones assured us that players will be able to finish out their current mission before getting the boot. For the most avid players, Realtime Worlds is offering a third option – the ability to purchase game time with in-game currency, so it’s possible to play the game subscription-free.

Other Hopes and Fears

My hands-on time with APB more than adequately addressed many of my initial concerns about the game, chief among them the possibility that an organized group of gamers could impact the total game experience in indisputably negative ways. With 100,000 players per server but only 80-100 per action district instance, it’s possible that a Something Awful style attack could co-opt an instance, but to be honest I think that kind of intrusion – setting up roving roadblocks of grays in vehicles or some such thing – would only add to the game. The levels seem to be well designed and allow for quick detours and multiple entry and exit points on foot.

Overall, RTW is embracing the possibilities for emergent gameplay, from ad hoc DJs tapping into last.fm to graphics designers setting up “consignments” with example artwork, essentially asking a deposit to produce the complete design. The desire to capture incredible moments on video for machinima or YouTube purposes has also been addressed; the game captures the last 30 seconds of video to memory, and hitting an “awesome” button captures that saved video to disk.

Level and environment design is among APB's biggest strengths.

APB is a rarity in the MMO industry, a game for which real world in-game advertising would be entirely at home. The game has billboards and even blimps hovering over the social district just begging for sponsorship, but for the foreseeable future, that ad space is for players and clans who have earned the right to display their own adverts only. David Jones summed it up by saying, ““We think it’s much cooler for players to do their own advertising.” Whatever your feelings about in-game advertising, you have to admire the player-centric focus even at the cost of a potential revenue stream.

In the short time I played, I had no real complaints about gameplay, nor am I the best judge of online shooters. Beta players complain of overpowered shotguns and less –than-lethal weapons and also an over-abundance of lag, but I had no complaints on these fronts. The game makes ample concessions to casual shooter players like me by, for example, removing headshots and location-based damage.

RTW is still tweaking the hitbox on larger characters especially, and hopefully they’ll find a way to allow large characters to compete on equal footing with smaller characters, perhaps by giving larger characters a proportionate boost to health (the game doesn’t allow players to see their hitpoints, instead using a “reddening screen” approach a la Call of Duty. It’d be a shame to have a game full of lithe little goblins created solely to keep hitboxes small. Another major concern in combat – the user interface is wayyy too busy for the pace of the game, with elements like the minimap placed in unfamiliar locations on the screen. It’s possible this can be pared down to show the rudiments – ammo, prestige / notoriety, and minimap – but the scrolling text here, flashing blue and red there, and small fonts numbers everywhere can be distracting. Fortunately, objectives and teammates appear on the screen with marked distances as part of the heads-up display.

The game’s mature rating will hit you the first time you hijack a vehicle from the wrong guy, and apparently I haven’t played enough GTA because hearing an NPC drop the f-bomb was a novelty. And if NPCs don’t do it, your teammates certainly will in the game’s integrated voicechat. The Vivox-driven voicechat worked exceedingly well, but the positional audio aspect – the ability to hear your opponents and surrounding players in the immediately vicinity – was a little confusing. In a close gun battle, you’re barking for help, he’s yelling instructions, and in the spur of the moment it’s hard to tell who’s who unless you’ve been playing together for a while. That VoIP is essentially unlogged and hard to moderate means that the creep factor could become a problem for more sensitive players.

Overall, playing APB was a blast, but a pared down user interface, a clearer sense of progression for both individuals and clans (though we know that the “turf war” system RTW has hinted at won’t be in anytime soon, if at all), and maybe some voice fonts work with opposing players in the immediate vicinity would make the game even better. The total lack of PvE content might turn off players afraid to jump into what seems like a shark tank full of eager PvPers, but if you’re the sort of gamer who fits into this category, I’d urge you to give it a shot when APB launches next month, preferably with some good friends. See if you don’t rack up some kills and win some missions, and most importantly have fun. If I can, you can, and should combat fall flat for you, the non-combat side of APB has more to recommend it than any other MMO you've ever played before.


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our APB: Reloaded Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

About The Author

Jeff joined the Ten Ton Hammer team in 2004 covering EverQuest II, and he's had his hands on just about every PC online and multiplayer game he could since.

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