APB

Written by Alex Roth  on May 05, 2010

Favorite Things Preview: These are five of my favorite things...

Tweet

Comments

Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds refers to APB as their "cops and robbers MMO." If that wasn't reason enough to look forward to it, here's five more:

Dynamic Matchmaking - The game has some really fresh methods for pitting people against each other. My favorite moment was watching a low-level Enforcer responding to an APB on a tougher Criminal carjacker. He got the option to call for backup, which put another low level Enforcer on his team. Working together, the two were able to take down the higher-level player. The game assembled this conflict without lobbies, meeting stones, or a single break in the action.



Stand out in the crowd (or don't) - Every game with a character creator loves to boast about the millions of combinations you can make, but you still run into avatars that look pressed from the same mold. By letting players customize their clothing to an absurd degree (after you design your own t-shirt, you'll even choose whether you tuck it in), APB could escape this. Also, players don't seem to wear armor, so you won't see a bunch of level ten players all wearing the same level ten armor. But sometimes looking the same is the idea, as in the case of decking out your clan with sweet uniforms. I guarantee the baddest gangs and police in APB will have the most fly threads.

It's an MMO - When I spoke with APB developer EJ Moreland, he took pains to point out that APB is not an MMORPG. and while I can see why Realtime Worlds' wouldn't want their game thought of as such, they shouldn't be afraid of the abbreviated term, MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online). APB, with its numerous social and action districts, looks massive. To call it multiplayer would be restrained; it's certainly online, and the word is we'll be seeing some kind of pay to play payment structure. What we have here is an MMO Action Game, with real time driving and combat and background matchmaking. APB should be a dream come true to all the World of Warcraft expatriates who abandoned the game after a few too many waits for a raid group.

It's an urban MMO - I'm glad to see the MMO taken out of the fantasy and sci-fi realm, and frankly I'm shocked it took this long for it to happen. A new setting for such a massive game environment opens up so many avenues for fresh aesthetics, storytelling, characterization, and map design. I look forward to frantic downtown chases, desperate back alley take downs, and, of course, warehouse shootouts.

It's on PC first (and maybe only) - APB may seem like a retread to GTA aficionados, but for once the poor neglected PC player gets to see his platform in the spotlight. Usually we wait at least a year for GTA to get ported to PC, but now it's the console owners who must wait to see if this game will be gracing their living rooms. PC as the primary platform means the possibility for a strong modding community, active player forums, and that keyboard and mouse control scheme we all love so much. I do, however, hope APB ends up on consoles, if just for the sake of Realtime Worlds' financial well being.

If you need more reason why APB is shaping up to be one of the biggest games of the Summer, here's an interview with Realtime Worlds' design lead EJ Moreland: