All Points Bulletin’s website recently got a major overhaul as well. Latest news indicates that players who have pre-ordered the game will be getting their “key to the city” (game key) by this Saturday, June 12. The site is still very much in development however as web site patriarch Neil Castle wrote today in one of his daily updates: “As many of you have noticed, many of our services are currently not accessible to you the users. We’re working hard to bring them online in a timely manner. Keep your eyes peeled for news and updates as and when they happen.”
APB’s gameplay is based on playing in a sand-box city with open real-time combat and vehicular action appearing very akin to GTA. Players decide which side of the law they are on and compete against the opposing faction – cops or crooks, specifically titled “Enforcers” or “Criminals”. APB promises “ultimate” customization options from designing what your avatar looks like, to their guns, cars, music, attitude through emotes and the environment in which they live including specifically designed safe houses. The game play in APB is very much focuses on PvP interactions between the two opposing sides. Criminals attempt to pull of such scams as heists and car jackings while its the Enforcers jobs to stand in their way and eventually slap the cuffs on them.
APB’s website offered up this tid-bit in terms of describing the game, stating, “APB will carry other conventions of the MMO genre, although details are still being ironed out at this point. What’s clear is that there will NOT be a monthly fee to play. Players will be able to create multiple characters, as well. There are “headquarters” of sorts within districts that allow players to have an area outside of the combat zone, possibly to formulate strategies, (apb gold)and in the case of criminals, plan heists. While groups can hold up to 40 members, PvP action only allows for 8 of those members to take on 8 opposing players.”
Lead Designer EJ Moreland was interviewed by Spike TV and gave up some interesting details about the game. Moreland stated that the game is about “player conflict and player creativity. The idea is that it is a great online persistant action game with loads of customization.” Added to this, Moreland said that all conflicts in APB are real, there are no NPC’s that you fight. Moreland then went on to explain that once you purchase APB you have 50 hours of combat game play outside of initially setting up your character. Once those hours expire, you can opt for a monthly subscription or purchase more hours in which to play. Hours never expire, and will roll over from month to month if you don’t use them all. Moreland said that he “hopes” that the open-beta will be available by the time it shows at E3, but stated that the game is still on track for its June 29th release. You can pre-order APB now and get some special emotes, cars and clothes for signing up early.