By: Mike-san
Let me be as frank as I possibly can: I haven’t once touched Crackdown. Real Time Worlds, I admit it. I never once glanced over your cash crop as a means of entertainment. Crackdown 2 may have the attention that Mass Effect 2 basked in when the masses lined up for their copies of the first Mass Effect. Hell, the same effect seems to have taken off with Crackdown, which I can honestly say is dropping off the shelves in droves. So it seems, Real Time Worlds that you have one of the more prominent games in your lineup so far. Though I haven’t checked out the demo for the second Crackdown, enough positive comments on the game reveal nothing less than high expectations from the fans.
Now, I know exactly what you’re thinking: what in the hell does this have to do with All Points Bulletin, Mike-san? Crackdown is another one of Real Time World’s best investments, and the series has some potential, but what would that have to do with the turf war between the Enforcers and the Criminals? Let’s go back a few years ago to Game Informer’s review of Crackdown. ‘Cracking down’ a score of 8.5 out of ten, the popular gaming magazine spoke of its ingenuity and the superhuman gameplay. Mind you, the GI website does not have this review up, and the issue in which this review is caught in purgatory but nevertheless a wide arsenal of long-distanced weapons (and some short ones that hit for as far as they did) coupled with cel-shaded graphics turned Crackdown into a promising upstart gaming trilogy. So, you’d think the same formula that powered the Crackdown series would power through into the development team of All Points Bulletin, right? Well…yes, and no.
Unlike the comic book antics of the Crackdown series, All Points Bulletin is more down-to-earth with its gameplay. Obviously, some criminal named Gangbanger69 isn’t going to leap shopping malls to escape Enforcer pursuit, whose leap-frog tactics across hundreds of feet through the air in their sports cars to splatter their victim’s body across the city streets would be considered normality. (Although, Enforcers have tried this. I’m not even kidding.) However, the same hot-pursuit style gameplay is used primarily with the Enforcers, who seem to be descendents of their forth-righteous ancestors in the Crackdown series. And while guns return to their normal physics within APB, it’s not to say that the range still hasn’t found itself pestering to other players on the server. An AK-47 can still out-gun a SMG from half-a-block away, whilst you can’t even compete with a semi-automatic rifle from even longer range. That realism within the game provides for much more chaotic battlefronts, and obviously creates a sense of the fickle movements that the players make during their own gun fights. Of course, even with all of this complimentary work, the players within the game realize the truth to things that make them understand that this is a real MMO, that despite Real Time World’s ability to drastically change the way we look at MMO’s, a formula still exists, and tiers are being created even as you read this review. One of those most prominent, game-changing tiers affects everyone in the game, and is something that is far too often taken for granted, simply because it’s already happened.
Guns. The equivalent to your in-game bible.
And not just one gun will suffice. You’ll get your own main weapon, sub-weapon and special grenades, depending on your side of the turf war. Most guns are universal, making your arsenal on-par with your opponent. That isn’t to say that neither side doesn’t benefit with their own side of the guns. In stark contrast to the fact that each side can get an NTEC, both sides are rewarded with different bonuses to themselves and their guns. Of course, you need to have a rating of 5+ within the game, but once you manage to get far enough along your road to notorious or prestigious greatness you’ll be able to give your OCW so much ammo that you’ll be able to pick opponents off from atop that parking garage for days. Of course, there’s more than simply the gun themselves that employ to the tactics of this game; range is your god, and if you can hit your opponent the quickest from the farthest distance, it’s a done deal. Mind you, all shooters share the same logic, and APB is no exception. However, that level of customization has been completely eradicated from the equation, meaning that if you wanted to play in the action districts for kicks and giggles gallivanting through the streets with your prized Uzi, you’ll end up dead. Not because you were having fun with your Uzi, but because you have an Uzi. It’s not that you couldn’t kill your opponent/s. It’s that you simply use an Uzi and you suck. (Just kidding. In actual contrast, the fact of the matter is you’ll never win with a short range weapon. If that guy with a sniper rifle hanging from atop the roof of that shopping mall next to you, you were part of the walking dead the minute you closed in on his location.)
Here, let me give you another example of gun logic within the game: Suppose you, a criminal, have had an APB put out against you while you spray-paint the face of San Paro in your gang’s colors. As you approach your next objective point, you check the area to see if the coast is clear. Cool, you joyously exclaim to yourself, I do believe I beat my guy to the punch. After all, you’ve only checked every corner of the area around you. There’s no ladders from which they’ll have all elevated strike. The doors are all sealed off. There’s no one on my radar that’s behind the fence. And he’s certainly not on top of the wall, despite it being jettisoned out quite enough feet in which he could have climbed up in the alleyway when you weren’t looking. Making a quick burst for the graffiti tag, you get to work cleaning off any remote incidences of tags left by the Enforcers. Just to make sure, you peek around every couple of seconds to check for your opponent. Still no sign of him. Wait…you turn your head towards an unsuspecting balcony at the very corner of your eye, where one could easily get a shot off and be seen undetected. And it’s too far for your LMG to hit! Only seconds later, after getting a bullet through the head do you realize that you fucked up, severely.
My friend and I had this very problem for the very longest time during our first day of play. Not once were we able to take the advantage of range until we realized there was range. Of course, this had been my first night playing, and every single trailer of the game promoted in-the-streets fighting. Now it had come down to range; the more range your gun had, the more powerful you were as an Enforcer or a Criminal. It didn’t matter what kind of weapon you had, or if it made you look badass wielding it. The better the range, the better the gun, the better the player. It almost comes down to formulas broken down into conventional gun logic, but at the same time this limits the effective gun useage of you and your characters. After all, in order to survive just slightly you’ll need an NTEC until you’ve unlocked the incredibly badass weaponry. Then again, despite the weaknesses of the shorter ranged sub-weapons and the massive orgasms that you’re SMG or LMG might have under constant fire from enemy threat, each gun manages to play its particular role. I mentioned that more range made you a better player. That’s true. In a one-on-one match. When dealing with massive brawls engaged across the city, any gun is your god. Really, it doesn’t matter which gun you use in your massive conquests of the city. You simply shoot, and hopefully your buddies distract the other guys long enough for you to pump them full of lead. Again, this goes back to the idea that group fights are what this game really thrives on. PVP without five or seven players on each side means that you almost have to stick to tiered weapons, unless you know the city like the back of your head. The idea of strategy in a game devoted to raising hell or extinguishing its fires means that no matter what, you’re always watching the faintest of corners out of the back of your Hawkeyes.
In truth, there really is no right or wrong to your gun. Even the starter assault rifle can still rack up enough kills against someone with a much more intimidating shotgun. Most predominant however is the fact that your character will thrive in certain situations according to their gun choice and their knowledge of how the gun works. Why else do most solo Enforcers manage to utilize semi-autos and sniper rifles to their advantage? Then again, put them in a group fight, and depending on their allies could thrive or be utterly useless according to the situation. Once again, a gun is situational and despite the tiers being built around each situation your personal armory will always thrive. Not because you’re better, but simply because you know better…
Continued on Part 3: Missions, Reputation and Turf Wars Oh My!
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