mkenyon Posted July 20, 2010 Haven't seen a thread for this game yet. It's pretty awesome. It's Grand Theft Auto, in an instanced MMO format, with dynamic PvP missions. I tried playing the game solo for a bit, and it's quite frustrating. However, with a group of 3 or 4 guys, the game is spectacular. There's nothing that remains constant in the game. There's a number of standard actions that must be taken whether you are a Criminal or Enforcer, and then they are jumbled up during the mission. For example, we get a mission offer from our criminal contact to burn some buildings, then jack a car and some briefcases, then turn them in at a checkpoint. If an enforcer group gets APB'd against us during this mission, there will most likely be last stage in which we must evade them, or protect a selected VIP from the group. If they were APB'd earlier on, the group of enforcers would be required to stop us from completing each step. There's a ton of emergent things that can happen in this game, which is what makes it so amazing. For example, we were racing Enforcers to get to a checkpoint, and we decided to take a tunnel route in which we could drive faster in. It just so happens that someone decided to stack dozens of cars in the middle of this tunnel, making it impossible to get through. As we tried to go jump over the cars to get to the other side, the guy who was stacking them tossed some grenades in there causing the cars to explode and kill us. Sounds frustrating, but the fact that the game allows for this kind of player interaction in the game is absolutely fantastic. We were rolling with laughter after this set of events. Furthermore, this game doesn't have the same MMO problem of "your friends are higher level, therefore you can't play with them". To stress that even further, the upgrades that you earn through missions are helpful, but they don't make you automatically win. The game rewards solid tactics and team play above everything else. I wouldn't recommend this game to a casual player at all. This is definitely designed for the hardcore crowd who have friends to play with. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
juv3nal Posted July 20, 2010 The subscription model isn't really my cup of tea (despite them offering like a billion different ways to pay for it apparently), but I thought this was totally getting trashed by reviews? Surprising or not, however, APB still manages to remain disappointing from beginning to end, and by "end" I of course mean, "quietly choosing to never boot the game up again." http://www.destructoid.com/review-apb-178336.phtml What little game you'll find here certainly isn't worth your time or money. http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3180268&p=1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Orv Posted July 20, 2010 The subscription model isn't really my cup of tea (despite them offering like a billion different ways to pay for it apparently), but I thought this was totally getting trashed by reviews? I'm not going to go out of my way to defend APB here, even though I enjoy it well enough, but I'll point out two things. 1. Nice choice of "review" sites 2. Most MMO reviews are biased/poorly done. (Either the reviewer didn't play long enough, or experience enough of the content, or what have you.) That said, APB can get very repetitive, very quickly. If you don't mind that, because the gameplay appeals to you? Go for it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
juv3nal Posted July 20, 2010 1. Nice choice of "review" sites I admit, I was cherrypicking for the meatiest quotes, but even the relatively favorable reviews I've seen haven't been exactly glowing. They were more along the lines of "character creation is great, the game kinda sucks but could be ok if they keep working on it." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Xeneth Posted July 20, 2010 Something tells me I'm not actually useful enough at GTA-style shenanigans and/or don't have the friends list to make this work for me... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mkenyon Posted July 20, 2010 As I said, this game is definitely not for the feint of heart. The gameplay is really unforgiving, and amazingly competitive. I come from a CAL-CS and Tribes OGL background, my friends I play with were pro-gamers at one point. If you've been craving a really competitive shooter with interesting MMO elements, this is it. It's hardcore PC gaming at its finest. I can definitely see where reviewers would be frustrated or unhappy with the game, especially if they went it alone. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gabbo Posted July 21, 2010 I admit, I was cherrypicking for the meatiest quotes, but even the relatively favorable reviews I've seen haven't been exactly glowing. They were more along the lines of "character creation is great, the game kinda sucks but could be ok if they keep working on it." And that's basically true. It's fun to get a few friends together and hop in a vehicle and slam around the city committing/stopping crimes, but the game has a lot of little problems that add up to make the game feel very uneven/less fun than it should. Still, getting into a massive shootout with big teams on both sides is quite thrilling in a Michael Mann film sorta way. I'll admit, I went in expecting Crackdown the MMO from both sides of the law and it is most certainly not that at all (though the driving currently resembles driving in Crackdown). If they can fix the small problems/matchmaking and give either side more to do it'll be well worth investing in it. RTW has given every indication that they plan on doing that, so I don't feel too worried. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
