Some of you might remember All Points Bulletin, a third-person shooter / MMO developed and produced by the now-defunct Realtime Worlds. Others among you might recall that another studio, K2 Networks, purchased the property shortly after its original developer shut down, setting the release date for some time in 2011. A new game based on the original has been in closed beta for quite some time now, as the company's ironed out the bugs with the help of a few lucky testers. 

APB: Reloaded is now available for PC users, and this past week, I was given the opportunity to give the game a whirl on a premium account granted to me by Gamersfirst, a subsidiary of K2. So I logged into my press account and started playing. And I've gotta say…I'm rather impressed. Though it certainly does have a number of (occasionally crippling) bugs and glitches, at its core, there's a surprisingly deep and engrossing experience. 

APB: Reloaded is set in the fictional city of San Paro, where things have more or less gone straight to hell. Powerful gangs that collectively make up the "Criminals" faction have more or less decided that they're above the law, and have started wreaking havoc all across the city. In an act of desperation, city officials have essentially given full legal authority to any civilian who desires it, creating a massive band of vigilantes known as the "Enforcers".

That's where you come in. Playing as either a Criminal or Enforcer, your goal is to aid your faction in either cleaning up or taking over the city. GamersFirst describes the title as a sort of online "cops and robbers" game, and they're actually pretty close to the truth in that assessment.

As a criminal, you can pretty much do… well, anything you damned well please. Steal cars, mug civilians, smash down storefronts with your vehicle, engage in drug trafficking, plant bombs… your missions will generally be centered on causing mayhem for personal gain. And don't worry about collateral damage; kill as many civilians and enforcers as you desire. In certain situations, you can even receive rewards for killing your own allies. 

As an enforcer, you're a bit more limited. Killing civilians and criminals who have already been arrested  will have a negative impact on your reputation and mission rewards. Your goal is to take down the criminals as quickly and cleanly as possible, making as much trouble for them as you possibly can. Engage in drug busts, disable bombs, return stolen property, interrupt heists…you get the idea. You can either witness crimes (allowing you to mark a criminal for arrest), or perform missions for the various lawmakers around the city. Unlike criminals, Enforcers also have access to nonlethal weapons, allowing them to take down their foes without killing them. Pretty simple, right? 

As for how the game plays…honestly? Picture Grand Theft Auto or Saints Row as an MMO. That's pretty much the best description I can give for APB: Reloaded. Of course, there's quite a bit to the game that differentiates it from either of those titles, as well. 

After logging in and selecting your character (fully customizable, of course), you can choose to log into any of five "districts": Financial, Waterfront, The Beacon, Baylan Street Shipping, or the Breakwater Marina. There are a few elements shared between all districts (save for the Marina). First, there's "threat", which will have an effect on your mission rewards - higher threat means higher rewards, but  it also means there'll be more opponents dispatched against you in missions. 

Completing missions and defeating (either killing or arresting) members of the opposing faction will increase your notoriety (criminal) or prestige (enforcer). For Enforcers, actions such as killing civilians or killing team-mates will reduce prestige. Completing missions also increases your rank, though you'll still need to increase your standing with the game's various factions to use most of the best items.

APB: Reloaded's Financial and Waterfront districts are mission-based districts. Basically, you get quests from NPC quest-givers and set out to complete those quests to the best of your ability. Most of the time, you'll find yourself matched up against players from the opposing faction who have been "dispatched" to stop you. Missions are timed, so it's usually a matter of one team delaying the other for long enough that they fail. The two districts mostly vary in layout and what contacts you'll be working with; missions generally seem to be the same, though they'll be increasingly long / complex and difficult based on your rank.  

Baylan Street Shipping and The Beacon are known as "Fight" districts. More akin to the matchmaking of old, the sole purpose of these districts is all-out war. The Beacon pits Enforcers and Criminals against each other in a bloody shootout, while Baylan Street features a "control point" style of gameplay. 

You'll notice I haven't talked much about APB: Reloaded's social district, Breakwater Marina. There's… actually quite a lot to say. Breakwater is a completely non-hostile environment. Both Criminals and Enforcers can come here to hang out, mingle, and even show off - Breakwater features a number of leasable statues, vehicle platforms, and billboards that players can customize to their heart's content. There are also DJ tables - get to one that's not being used, and everybody gets to hear your music. APB: Reloaded lets you upload entire playlists to the game. 

All of this is pretty cool by itself, but it's in customization that the game truly shines. You can change everything about your character, from hair to clothing color to vehicle design. Player mods unlock new abilities, whilst your character's "theme" is a small sound file that'll play whenever they kill someone. Reloaded also features both a graphic design program and a music design program. Players can create their own images, logos, themes, and songs. While neither of the two are professional-level creation suits, it's still incredibly awesome that they're there, as they add an entirely new dimension to the game. The best part, though? If you've made an epic tune and you're in need of some in-game cash… toss it on the marketplace. 

Now, while there's certainly a lot to like about APB: Reloaded, the game's not without its problems. It has issues, and they are many. 

Civilians are about as intelligent as your average tree-stump. On several occasions as an Enforcer, I had civilians run towards my cruiser instead of away from it, plastering themselves against my bumper and granting me a lovely prestige penalty. There's also the fact that, nine times out of ten, a civilian who happens to be driving will simply stop their vehicle when the police gets near, blocking the roadway and necessitating either a u-turn or a complete detour.

The matchmaking system, too, suffers from a number of pitfalls. 

See, there's… honestly no way to deal with problem players. One match I played in The Beacon, there was a member of my team that did nothing but kill her teammates. All team-killing does is reduce your threat and the rewards you get from a mission - if you don't care about the rewards, kill to your heart's content. Sure, you might be booted out of the group by the leader, but…what if you are the group leader? You basically get free reign to slaughter your allies, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. 

There's also the matter of balancing - both in the mission-based districts and in the fight districts. Occasionally, I'd find myself up against a team that was literally light-years ahead of mine in terms of equipment, rank, and skill. It seems like there are still a few kinks that need to be ironed out as matchmaking's concerned - hopefully they'll address them soon.

Speaking of balancing… the weapons seem to be in need of it. As I often do, I set out to be a sniper and found that it was far easier said than done. As near as I can tell… none of the sniper rifles actually let you use the built-in scopes, which kind of defeated the purpose of using them. Meanwhile, shotguns and assault rifles - which are supposed to have a considerably smaller range - were still quite effective at long-range.

Finally, the game seems to suffer from a number of glitches and technical issues. I can't start the game up on Steam without it crashing, and whenever I play for more than half-hour stints, the in-game sound starts to glitch out. Plus, there's the lag spikes - complete freezes seem a little too common, and the game has an irritating tendency to lock up every now and then, to boot. These technical issues are a black mark on an otherwise fairly enjoyable experience, and hopefully they'll eventually be resolved.

All Points Bulletin: Reloaded isn't a game that's meant to be taken seriously, nor is it a title with a deep, complex narrative. It doesn't have to be. Aside from a few technical issues and in-game fumbles, it's a thoroughly enjoyable experience, which is definitely worth at least trying out. After all, what do you have to lose? It's free.  

GameDynamo's Score for APB: Reloaded (PC)

	Score	Description
Graphics	83	The game actually looks pretty good, and the fact that you can design your own vehicle and outfit is definitely a plus. The graphics are nothing breathtaking, though they're quite easy on the eyes.
Sound	77	While some of the dialogue is kind of corny, the fact that you can load and mix your own music to supplement the game's already impressive soundtrack is a huge point in APB's favor. However, your character sounds a bit over-dramatic when they take damage from falling.
Gameplay	71	A number of oft-frustrating technical issues mar an otherwise excellent experience. Hopefully the glitches will be fixed soon.
Play Value	80	While its missions don't really have a lot of depth, the stuff you can do in this game is pretty staggering. You could easily spend hours mixing tracks with the music studio or making images with the graphic designer.
Final Score	78	All Points Bulletin: Reloaded is a good game with a lot of potential. It combines two often divergent styles of gameplay (shooter and MMO) and merges them together quite skillfully. If GamersFirst addresses some of the rather glaring problems, it could easily go from "good" to "great".

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