Anyone else playing around in the beta?
The city districts are pretty, if a bit sterile. Think Saints Row 2 meets Playstation Home. The audio system that integrates with Last.fm is one that I hope other developers copy.
I've only spent three hours with the game, but at this point, I can't think of any other good things to say about it.
You'd never know that APB came from Realtime Worlds, because Crackdown's sense of cartoonish violence and freedom is gone. APB's clumsy avatars can't even grab ledges or climb 6 foot fences. It does share one thing in common with Crackdown, though: you'll find yourself avoiding auto transport at all costs. APB makes GTA IV's auto handling look refined.
After picking either the cops or robbers team, the game's core mission structure sends you on a string of bland fetch, kill, or transport quests that (occasionally) pit you against the enemy team. There's no cover system, and vehicles seemingly explode at random, so pitched firefights are brief. There's no PvP fighting outside of the game's assigned mission structure, which means you can't kill anybody on an enemy team unless they're currently assigned to your mission. Since missions are auto-assigned by NPC contacts, you'll spend plenty of time driving around waiting for phone calls.
APB's city, which does have a nice aesthetic despite low-res textures, is broken up into three discrete districts. There are two combat zones roughly the size of Algonquin and a third social district devoted to foofy MMO customization and chatting. You can't switch between them without going into a menu. If APB had a single player component - even something as simple as Crackdown's gang leader assassination tree - then it might be worth checking out, but I can't imagine anyone paying a monthly fee for this. Red Dead Redemption's Free Roam is more fun, and it's free.
The city districts are pretty, if a bit sterile. Think Saints Row 2 meets Playstation Home. The audio system that integrates with Last.fm is one that I hope other developers copy.
I've only spent three hours with the game, but at this point, I can't think of any other good things to say about it.
You'd never know that APB came from Realtime Worlds, because Crackdown's sense of cartoonish violence and freedom is gone. APB's clumsy avatars can't even grab ledges or climb 6 foot fences. It does share one thing in common with Crackdown, though: you'll find yourself avoiding auto transport at all costs. APB makes GTA IV's auto handling look refined.
After picking either the cops or robbers team, the game's core mission structure sends you on a string of bland fetch, kill, or transport quests that (occasionally) pit you against the enemy team. There's no cover system, and vehicles seemingly explode at random, so pitched firefights are brief. There's no PvP fighting outside of the game's assigned mission structure, which means you can't kill anybody on an enemy team unless they're currently assigned to your mission. Since missions are auto-assigned by NPC contacts, you'll spend plenty of time driving around waiting for phone calls.
APB's city, which does have a nice aesthetic despite low-res textures, is broken up into three discrete districts. There are two combat zones roughly the size of Algonquin and a third social district devoted to foofy MMO customization and chatting. You can't switch between them without going into a menu. If APB had a single player component - even something as simple as Crackdown's gang leader assassination tree - then it might be worth checking out, but I can't imagine anyone paying a monthly fee for this. Red Dead Redemption's Free Roam is more fun, and it's free.
