APB Preview
Creating an online world and tacking on a subscription model to it is a dangerous mindfield to step into with gaming. World of Warcraft has yet to be dethroned in the world of MMO, subscription-based models. Games have risen to the challenge but ultimately failed. It’s not that WoW’s community is too big (thought it helps), it’s that WoW has thousands of small communities interacting with each other in a relatively easy to use interface compared to it’s competitors. Age of Conan would have been huge if it wasn’t so difficult and buggy, for example. Blizzard have had years to perfect their experience. But all of the pretenders to the crown have been in the same universe, per se. Oldey time orc and elvin battles with swords and purple dragons. Even EVE, who’s model is the same, is the same idea, but with spaceships. I would have loved EVE if it was more like Battlestar Galactica and not a mind numbingly boring experience in a vastly empty world.
This is why Realtime Worlds believe their opus is different. Sure it has all the customising of Need for Speed, the action of Halo and the world interaction of GTA. Except it’s business model and ideology are basically the same as WoW. Tapping into the GTA crowd to play subscription-based games online will either be huge for two months and die off, or sustain credible community props and stay big for a long time. It’s a gamble the developers believe will pay off.
We had a chance to play the game before you do and get a taste for the world created.
The first moments are like any new GTA game. It’s familiar, but something’s different. Remember GTA: San Andreas? It all felt similar, but something was different. The cars felt a little different, the people looked a bit unfamiliar… but it was the same basic experience. This is the same with APB. It’s all a little familiar first time around. Driving is a bit Need for Speedish, while walking is instantly familiar to those who’ve played GTA before.
There are two factions in this title. Criminals wreak havoc on the city, while Enforcers wreak havoc on the Criminals, according to Realtime Worlds. While the bad guys drive around the city, either completing missions or going on crime sprees of their own design, the good guys are tasked with witnessing their illicit activities, and putting them down before they accomplish their goals. It’s a little like GTA2 where different factions were in good or bad steed with you. Except this time none of it is AI. In the future, it’d be interesting to see a Criminal faction attempt to become Enforcers, etc.
Two systems are at play as you run and gun your way through crime or crime fighting. One ensures people play together, much like Battlefield would in online gaming. It rewards you for being a team player to help complete missions and tasks in the world. The second system ensures that the gameplay moves along at a decent pace, so that players who are not contributing don’t drag the entire faction down with them. It seems innovative on the surface, but simple enough to break as the game goes on down the months, and maybe even years.
One encounter was us dirty criminals wreaking havoc at will around the city. This mayhem was a lot of fun, and was kind of like an open-ended modern version of the Warriors. Giggling maniacally as the city burned down, kind of thing. We then racked up an APB (all points bulletin), which raised the attention of a nearby Enforcer group who came along to smack down the law on us. Then a deathmatch ensued, where the winner would be the team that killed the opposition ten times. An interesting one, given the scale of the battleground. Of course we lost because it appears the Enforcers were 1. better and 2. better equipped.
When in the game, character customisation plays a large part in setting yourself apart from the rest. A lot of factions will use face paint or t-shirts to set themselves apart from other factions, while having some sort of uniform. Like I said, I can see this game becoming a bit like the Warriors – at least for the Criminal factions.
Not only can you edit your style, you can also create music using a basic, but functional midi editor in the game itself.
Creations can be sold, and money earned here allows you to buy in-game stuff, or subscription to the game for playing time – which is an interesting model to follow. Imagine all those gold farmers in WoW using the gold to buy subcriptions to play? The economy would fall down pretty quickly. Realtime Worlds are confident, though, that their game won’t fall foul to farming scams of this manner as the entire system is based on exchange of “stuff” rather then economic ties.
The game is exclusive to the PC and looks set to run riot all over our concepts of MMO. Is it different? A bit, sure. It’s not a whole new idea. It’s a whole new world, and a better take on MMO for the GTA generation – even if the developers don’t want to call it an MMO.
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