All Points Bulletin
Well this is a game that seems to have crept under a lot of people’s radars. I’ve not really seen many discussions on it on the forums I’m on online and it seems a shame. I like the idea of the game as soon as I saw it previewed. So i took the plunge when the game was released and installed and started playing.
This trailer gives a pretty good indication of the gameplay and the level of customisation.
Initial Impressions
To start with, the game decided I didn’t have the required 2 GB of memory but it installed anyhow (which is good because the PC DOES have 2 GB of memory – it was showing as 1.996 GB in the system requirement checker for some reason but that’s not to much of a concern – I’ve just ordered another 2 GB to max the motherboard out). Install took a while but I guess that’s a given these days.
Starting the game, I had to create an account and link my serial code for the game to this account. At this point, I should point out that the game is a MMO (massively multi player online) game and does require a subscription. However purchasing the game does give you 50 hours free and 100 RTW points (which can be used to subsidise further game time purchases or buy stuff in game – RTW points can also be purchased for real world cash) which is plenty of time for some fun – I got my copy at Game for £16 (after a trade in and Game reward points) so a complete bargain!
On start up I was allowed to create a character – I ended up with my first character as being a member of law and order, rather than a criminal. The level of detailing on the character is fantastic! I was actually able to create a character that actually looks quite similar to me!
I know some people might want to create totally outlandish characters but I blame my current reading list for making me want to create a realistic persona (Snow Crash and Neuromancer). After selecting all I could about my character, I jumped in and played the tutorial.
The tutorial isn’t fantastic. It does explain the basics but there’s not really any help with keys and the like – I recommend reading the manual or the control settings whilst in game!
Gameplay
The game play is third person view, very much like GTA. However this suits it quite nicely and means you get to see your chacter in all it’s glory. And considering the amount of time you can spend customising your characters clothes and body art etc, this makes perfect sense!
Gameplay is split into two districts – the action or social district. The social is where you can purchase and customise cars, clothes, kill music and pretty much anything to do with your character. This doesn’t use any of your APB time so that’s good news for those that might spend ages here. Your APB time is only spent whilst in the action districts.
The action districts consist mainly (of what I can tell so far) of running contracts for contacts. You’re encouraged to join a group and run missions together but otherwise, you cant really interact with other players (well you can happily talk to the and interact but you cant shoot them). The shooting people bit comes from the mission running. Whilst on a mission or driving around the town, you may get an “all points bulletin” telling you that someone is doing a mission nearby and try and it’s your job to try and stop them completing that mission.
In this screenshot, you 
can see the people with green names above they’re head – they are your group. If the name is red, this means you are free to shoot them. Other players have gray names to show they are neutral to you. And yes, you can shoot out the side of the car whilst someone else drives!
The game play is quite fluid and goes on very nicely. However I wish the missions offers could be displayed for a little longer – they’re only available for 15 seconds which is sometimes a bit quick to see what you’re letting yourself in for!
The amount of guns is quite large but you have to unlock these, along with clothing so it may take a while to get everything unlocked and going. The customisations look like they’ll take a lot of time and effort (if you so wish), otherwise you can buy default gear or buy what someone else has made and is selling in the auction house.
However, the driving (I find) is quite difficult and every car I’ve tried so far seems to under and over steer completely randomly. Game play can be slowed down when trying to view a new item (however this generally occurs when you’re not being shot at so that’s not to bad!) as the program trys to get the image from the servers.
I’ve not really played enough yet to give it a more in depth view but so far, the game is showing a lot of promise.
