APB Review - Page 2

10 Jul 2010 at 00:28:57 by Paul Younger
Systems used to review this title: (PC, MMO)

It’s at this point that things start to go wrong with APB. First of all we have to take issue with the interface design which is pretty shoddy.  A quick example, and this could be one of the game’s many bugs, is re-equipping grenades. Every time we wanted to stock up on grenades we would have to go to the inventory screen and switch grenade type then switch back just to equip the grenades we wanted. Because the interface feels like it was designed by the team behind every console interface ever devised, it is just not intuitive. Developers take note, PC gamers actually use a keyboard and a mouse . Also note that a mouse has a right click function which you’ll find is quite useful when thinking about player interaction and interface design.

Where APB is currently falling down is mission variety. Right now the game can get tiresome quite quickly. Sure it has its thrilling moments, we particularly enjoyed chasing down crims in cars, but after a few hours it becomes apparent that the game is pretty shallow. The missions become more of the same,  just in different parts of the city, which in itself is not huge.  Where are the escort missions, long-term objectives and interesting indoor zones for combat? These are just a few things that come to mind while I sit here tapping this out.

Your game time is spent driving to a location one mission after the other then taking part in a gun battle which lasts a few minutes then onto the next part of the objective. Sounds exciting right? Trust me, it gets boring pretty quickly.  However this is not an issue that can’t be rectified by  Realtime Worlds, they just need to kick their content team into gear to make the game more interesting for  the players.

Getting from A to B quickly is done by either spawning a car or car-jacking one. Driving plays quite an important part in the game when dashing between objectives or chasing down the enemy. Unfortunately like most things in APB the driving mechanics are not great. Even the more sporty cars can handle like a brick on wheels with non-responsive steering. The vehicles differ in mobility and performance so Realtime have obviously thought about the differences, but like a lot of the game’s features, not hard enough. It is fun hanging out the window or van door firing at the enemy though, so again, the fun-factor is there but it’s just not enough.

On to the gun-play. There’s no doubt about it, APB features tons of weapons which is all great if the actual combat part of the game didn’t feel like an afterthought. There is no such thing as headshot, hit a player anywhere and it does the same damage. This removes some of the skill and the only upside is that it does give the less skilled players a fighting chance. Sadly the less skilled players will end up in a bloody heap anyway as they’ll more than likely be taking on someone better equipped than they are. The aiming feels hit and miss and the zoom function is annoying with the character still visible on the screen. Why not just remove the character in zoom so the head doesn’t annoy you when you’re lining up a shot? Personal preference perhaps, but annoying nevertheless.

And so it goes on. After sinking hours into the game, taking part in similar missions over and over while leveling up the character to unlock new goodies, it all felt rather pointless. The game’s concept is good, just poorly thought out. There has to be more to a game than battles that can last as little as a few minutes. Any shooter fan will tell you that you can play the same level over and over as long as the combat is engaging and there is some element of strategy involved. Sadly at this point APB falls short on both these counts.

Loading times are also one of the game’s  annoying issues right now. We had the game fired up on our ninja-bastard quad core gaming rig thingies here and the load times between switching zones can be frustratingly long. Enough time to take a leak, put the kettle on, make a tea and cut a slice of cake. Oh, and in case you were wondering, the cake scored a 10/10.

Reviewing APB has not been easy because behind its broken ribcage lies a beating heart, one that can be pumped full of life if Realtime Worlds step up to the plate and fulfil their original vision for the game.  It’s going to take quite a lot of work but there is hope for APB. Realtime Worlds have to pull their finger out if they want this game to survive the next few months and keep any community that sticks with it engaged.

Right now APB is a great idea that is simply broken. Now fix it Realtime and you could be onto something.

Comment