APB review
There are moments in APB where I found my heart pounding out of my chest, beating faster than my assault rifle could empty ammunition. APB’s San Paro is a online city where the criminals fight the police on the streets, both sides player-controlled. When it works, it’s incredibly exciting. The problem is, it doesn’t work.
APB ads will play through your speakers in-game
APB, the upcoming cops and robbers MMO from Realtime Worlds, will have audio adverts that play every couple of hours. When you enter a new district, you’ll hear an ad. If you stay in that district for more than three hours, you’ll hear another ad the next time you change district. It’s not… that bad, as some forumites have said on the subject, but it’s still a bit weird for a service you’re paying for. Look at it like this: when you buy the game, you’re also buying 50 hours of time - and therefore, 16 adverts. Hmmmmm.
[via APB.com, image thanks: Dead End Thrills]
Get one of 20,000 APB beta keys just by signing up
Welcome to the PC Gamer community: your first task is to click that Register button on the top right. Do it soon enough, and registering with us will not only let you add your voice to the smartest, wittiest, gaming-est PC games site on the internet, but also access to the APB beta.
20,000 community members will each receive a key for the APB beta, granting free access to the online car-crunching cops and robbers game until June 19. Download the client from APB.com and create your character; we’ll start sending keys out daily on June 14 until our supply is exhausted.
Update! The beta has now ended.
Watch the APB intro
APB, the cops-and-robbers MMO by some of the boisterous chaps who started the GTA series, is out on July the 2nd. The latest cinematic trailer is actually the game’s intro, so it paints a pretty wretched picture of a dystopia where the authorities will take help from anyone willing to point a gun at a bad guy. If you want to play the game yourself before you buy it, the first 20,000 people to create accounts here on PCGamer.com will all get beta access – see here for details. If you just want to know more, we have a full preview here.
Is APB on our most wanted list?
A burning car drives past on two wheels. A tattooed, nipple-ring wearing thug leans out of the window, firing back at a wailing police car. It’s strange to think that this is happening because Realtime Worlds’ creative director Dave Jones got pissed off at Dark Age of Camelot.
