Liquid Looks at APB...
Liquid Looks at APB...
When does reviewing a game that takes hundreds of hours to reach the end, and is constantly changing though content patches, appropriately reviewable? That i cant tell you but what i can tell you is that, as of now, this is what i know. As of the writing of this review i have played though the keys to the city beta (the entire week of e3 (presumably for demo purposes at the event)) and through the early access to the ones who purchased the game early. I doubt myself highly that the release version will differ much or at all. But I feel that I can now appropriately review the game.
I have been very excited for this game. I thought to myself finally an MMO worth playing that isn't world of warcraft. Not that i don't love me some world of warcraft, but after the 200th day of playing you tend to want to play something else. At least i do.
Initial Impression...
My initial impressions were great, the decal editor, the music editor, the ability to create some really remarkable characters is very inviting. Realtime Worlds did not however release many details on how the game is supposed to be played. Everything was very vague. This followed though to the in game tutorial which supposedly was to teach you everything you needed to know about the game. This was not the case. Sure i learned how to aim and shoot a gun. Run a mission sure, but I was left guessing on most of the other aspects. Pledging to a faction leader, the mechanics of reputation and levels. What all the different levels mean. I am by no means a dumb person but i think i could have used a little more explanation.
Ooooh shiny...
The game looks great. Really great in fact. But, and this is a big but, unless your running a 64bit version of windows forget about seeing any detail in game. Your tattoos will be garbled, your car covered in amorphous blobs and all the work put into your decals gone. I mean whats the point in having a great decal system unless you have a way to show it off. I have not looked through the surveys of who is running what but i doubt that many people have 64bit windows. They could have easily thought this one through when they were developing it. But if you are running 64 bit windows, it looks fantabulous!
Lets look under the hood...
The game does run fairly solidly. Most of the kinks are worked out and the mechanics they employed are ninety percent solid. Vehicle physics are good, and feel quite solid. Bullet registration is fairly good. Undoubtedly there will be some patching to come to refine the system but all and all the programming behind the game is good. The voip is solid and the fact that you broadcast from your character instead to a specific person or group is very fun. You can talk smack, taunt and humiliate your opponents on the fly. It makes it so you don't feel tied to a chat window or a team speak/ventrilo program.
I am unique...
The decal editor really shines in APB. You are able to put up to one hundred layers with various effects and you can really create some great things. All you photoshop junkies will have a lot of fun with this one. The music editor is fantastic. and doesn't hold many limitations. SO if you want the Mario theme you can do it. Character customization is spot on and is very difficult to make someone that looks very freakish. All and all the ability to make your character yours is there, and to make a doppelganger is very very difficult.
What did i just get shot with!!!
The balancing issues.... Where do i start. It seems they didn't know which direction to go. On one side they could have made all the weapons equally damaging (in the right hands) just different. Three round burst, shotguns, full auto, sniper etc... But on an even playing field. On the other hand it could be like most other massively multilayer games where as you get better you get better gear. Either way is fine! But they wanted to take both paths it seems and i tell you it does not work. I often found myself paired against people who have crazy obscene guns. I don't know how it even decides matches. Is it rep? Threat level? Time played? But ill tell you this its not very often that you are evenly matched. And when you call in backup anything goes. It could be an even fight and one player decides to call in backup and Rambo shows up with is para blowing down half the city when you and your original opponent were balanced to begin with! But i digress. The game has a lot of very rewarding moments. And when you play with friends it is multiplied ten fold. Even if the balancing is off and your up against Rambo it is not impossible. They are still human. UPDATE: After you gain some new weapons yourself it starts to even itself out. Not as bad as mentioned above, but not perfect.
Grove street 4 life...er... GO G-Kings!
The lore in the world is good. Not worth writing books about but provides a good backdrop to why there is ten car chances going on at any given time. The worlds are very detailed and the npc citizens are not only fun to run over but say some very interesting things. The city definitely does not feel dead. Overall they did a good job setting the backdrop for some intense carnage.
Lets break it down...
Gameplay: (3.5/5) You can have a lot of fun in the world of APB. There are plenty of moments where you feel like you are part of an action film. Aside from the balancing issues which will undoubtedly be tweaked the game is very solid. Even if at times hard to figure out completely.
Graphics: (3/5) Is it fair to give such a mediocre score to a game that can look great. Im going say yes. The fact that they did not give a heads up to the fact that your character will look like crap unless you have a specific system archetecture is bogus. It can look very good but because it doesnt look that good to everyone warrents this rating.
Programming: (4/5) The game works well. As intended. And efficiently. There are very few bugs and glitches. Overall a very good job in this respect.
Storyline/plot: (3.5/5) The lore is believable for the universe that they have created. The quests make sense when you do read them. The world feels very developed and purposed. Good merits for creating a place to immerse yourself.
Overall: (3.5/5) Again it is tough to rate a MMO on its release and how it will play a year from today. But to produce something that isn't a total glitch fest that plays on a scale that massively multiplayer games do is always a challenge. Realtime Worlds came through and produced something that is a solid platform for this game to grow on.
The real reason why you read all this...
Should you Buy: Maybe.. if its just you playing..
Yes.. if you have friends to play with.
