So I'm thinking of picking up APB tonight but I'm still un-decided. The game looks seriously awesome. It's a Mix of Grand Theft Auto and Unreal Tournament. It's a MMO type subscription based game but you don't have to pay for chunks of time you won't use like in most games. The pricing is really flexible. The other big draw is all the customization the game allows which looks incredibly fantastic. For once in a Online game it will be hard to find someone who looks like you if you're creative when making your character.
So far the only thing that's stopping me is I'm hearing a lot about people cheating, hacking, and using Aimbots. If this is the actual case then I don't think I want it. Shooter type games need to be based on Real Skill, not on a Aimbot. Most of these shooter games, like America's Army have anti-cheat software like "Punk-buster" that catches cheaters and banns them and I'm sure APB has some kind of similar set-up to stop cheating, but, I'd really like to know one way or the other before I decide to spend my money.
Anyone out there playing APB? If so, how is it? Are there Cheaters running rampant? Do you like it? And if so, what server are you on so we can go kill some Pigs together?
Any info at all would be helpful. Thanks all.
Don't buy it now. It'll be in the bargain bin in 3 months time.
The customization is great, but the gameplay is non-existent. It's a mediocre third person shooter that wants to charge you a monthly/hourly fee to play. You walk around in an 80 person instance doing nothing and then get ushered into tiny 2v2 or 5v5 "missions."
And let's put it this way: there's less content in this game than there is in STO.
This has been the case in City of Heroes/Villains for ages, and more recently Champions Online and STO
I had some friends of mine pick it up after we all quit STO. I decided to hold off as I am testing another MMO that's coming out next year. They have since quit playing it however for the reasons mentioned by DeCypher00. Apparently the lack of content coupled with the "buying blocks of time" business model turned them off.
It's a shame because it looked like it could actually have been a good game.
Are you actually playing it, Cypher? Or is that what you read about it?
As for content I don't really see this as being a True fully fleshed out MMO like UO or WoW or CoH. I see this as more of a online shooter ran in instances that you have to pay for. My main concerns are "Is the game-play Fun? And are there Really Lots of Cheaters?".
Since the pricing for it is so casual this would actually be a game I wouldn't mind waiting for content for later on down the road. I was rather peeved with the sparse-ness of STO's content though. This game, APB, I see more like a centralized version of Unreal Tournament only with Cops and Robbers. I loved the online multi-player in the old school Original Unreal Tourney. It's one of the only online shooters I've ever liked. If the game-play for APB is anything like what I would think Grand Theft Auto with multi-player would be like then I think I'll really enjoy the game just from a "Competitive" standpoint. That's why my number one concern here is if anyone is cheating. As far as content I didn't expect much anyway since it's a shooter. There's only so many ways to do "Death-Match" and "Team Death-Match". From that aspect I can see it getting very repetitive as far as game-play. If it's as Fun as the old school UT I won't care about repetitiveness, I'll care about having the highest kill count. If it's full of cheaters and hackers then I don't see the competitive nature being fair.
I definitely appreciate any info you have, thanks bro.
I can agree on the STO customization being unique, not so much with CoH/CoV however. I played CoH for about a year or so. Granted there were Tons of different looking characters, eventually you'd start to see copy-cats of the "coolest" looking designs. I'm sure they've added tons more customization since I stopped playing it 4-5 years ago though. It's probably almost impossible to find a doppleganger now.
Definitely good to know, thank you my friend.
I'm still thinking about getting it if the game-play is good and "fair" though if only from a "Competitive Shooter" point of view. See my above post where I explain my view of APB verses what I would normally call a "MMO". I don't really see APB as being a fully fleshed out MMO anyway.
also they seem to have added audio ads to the game's text chat. check out this humorous look at the issue at GU comics
I played in the KTTC beta and I keep pulse on the general consensus of reddit. There was a reason it was limited to 5 hours and they tried to prevent reviews for a week.
One of my TF2 clanmates bought the game for some reason. He couldn't disagree with anything I said.
This game is also the polar opposite of Unreal Tournament in every way. I played UT2k4 a lot.
For one, it's a third person shooter. Secondly, there is no twitch gameplay at all. There is no body type damage (shooting the stomach is the same as the head). Third, there's no even field. You'll be regularly matched up against superior or inferior numbers inside of a mission (2/3v5), and superior equipment is a huge advantage.
If you want GTA multiplayer, buy GTA4 and play the multiplayer. It's a more balanced version of what APB, has a much lower buy cost, and there are no fees. The only thing you lose out on is customization and leveling up to outgear people.
If you're dead set on APB, just wait 1-3 months. Like STO, I guarantee it will drop in price like a rock. Just look at games that tried to do the same thing like Crimecraft (basically dead), Hellgate (died quickly), or Global Agenda ($20 sale, dropped the fees completely).
All i can say is run.......run as fast you can. Even then it might not be fast enough to escape this putride unbalanced joke of an MMO that will have your gaming changed forever. Its not a game its work, and thats not how a game should be. Unless your only buying it for character creation and customization.....go for it. But save yourself and dont play it past there.
Why are you still reading ?????
I told you to run.....it may already be to late.
I would just like to mention how Planetside back in 2003 was so far ahead of its time and then so horribly mananged by SOE, where MMOs go to die.
Planetside had no 'out gearing' it was a progression for your ability to handel more than one type of situation rather than make it easier to kill someone. A brand new level one who knew the game could pwn hrd with almost any equipment there was in the game.
Of coruse lack of sanity checks resulted in warping which with the lack of development, air farming of ground forces, stupid respawn timers and other stuff which was plain wrong and never got fixed made people leave and not come back.
Oh yeah and one other thing. BFRs were the most BADLY IMPLEMENTED THING I HAVE EVER SEEN IN A GAME. I DO NOT KNOW HOW A GAME DEVELOPER CAN BE SO SO STUPID. Your a developer for a game where a majority think that in order to be 'compeative' you need to have the biggest best equipment (warping + HA cert + third person camera). And you give them massive robots that can pwn ANYTHING ELSE IN THE GAME ALONE. What do you THINK is going to happen? Idiots. - Slight Rant, Anyway...
Planetside used client side in a lot of things which meant it could have 500 players in one battle easily (the servers would really start to lag at about a thousand bit it did work).
No game I've seen has even come close to what Planetside did (note that Battleground Europe has a MUCH lower drawn player limit, originaly only 64, and is a crap 'game', its a pretty good 'sim' though).
Also, headshots are bad in this kind of enviroment btw and in general are luck not skill based. So in this case they actually got it right.
Ah, well I actually played the beta. From my experience it does have potential but, honestly, didnt manage to keep my interest. Once you hit the top... there really isnt much more. Theres only a set number of weapons, and the weapon you choose is a huge factor in who wins fights. and its less twitched based than you hope, or I hoped, for. Frankly, if they have the better weapon, i.e. the higher rank, they're going to win. the controls for driving are, bluntly, bad. there is no acceleration, there is no way to go medium and precise. its all full throttle, or dead stop. Everyone just speeds around at top speed drifting around corners because there is no way to not go fast and make a turn without drifting. the controls are the arrow keys, fyi, and last i checked there was no support for gamepad or anything like it.
Which is really too bad. Its got great customizations, excellent ideas. the tattoos, the clothing, your face, your car. everything. The gameplay is, in my opinion, fun. Its just that its a 'twitch' based game, and driving and shooting is the real meat of the game. And it just kinda fails with both of them.
shrug. my 2cnts
edit:: btw i loved planetside. sucked to see it start that sloooow slide that we all knew was going to end in a dump.
I think APB is alright. I plan to play it more once they put out the team balancing/able to set off duty patch.
Once that's out I could see playing more with it. But it'd definately be more fun if I had more friends playing...with me being the only person I know in it it's a bit hard to really get into.
I like unlocking new cars and guns and stuff. I just played a longish session though, and pretty much every group I got into was full of idiots. Idlers, teamkillers, whatever. So if you do get into the game, find some good peeps to play with or prepare to waste some effort.
I'm seriously hoping the balancing patch I mentioned weeds this crap out. It's practically unplayable at least a third of the time as is.
Still, with some extra effort this could be a spectacular game. Right now it's not a recommendation, but I'll let you know how I feel later.
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