The action-MMO first known as APB lives on as APB Reloaded. But if your memory serves, you'll recall that the urban, massively-multiplayer shooter had a quick death: APB shut down just months after launching at the end of June 2010, coinciding with the dissolution of developer Realtime Worlds.

The prolific Dave Jones (Grand Theft Auto, Lemmings, Crackdown) was creative director on APB, and while talking with him about his new project—ChronoBlade—I asked Jones to reflect on what he thought APB did well, and what went wrong with its MMOification of cars, cops, and robbers.

Stieg Hedlund (middle) and Dave Jones (right) with two coworkers at nWay in San Francisco.

How would you summarize APB’s development and release?

Jones: Well, for me it’s one of those classic… If you try to do things differently, you have to break things to try to make things differently. I’ve always done that. Some work and some don’t work. But to be honest, if you don’t do it, you’ll never know. So for me it’s one of those classic ones… Yeah, we got some things right, but we got some things wrong as well with it. I still think a game like that will happen. I just think it was a really high spec in terms of the client, and the networking technology for doing dynamic open world games, the networking still makes it really hard to do that. That’s why I think MMOs and such tend to be still kind of turn-based behind the scenes. They’re not really great at fast, dynamic stuff. For me it was a great learning exercise. There was a lot of good stuff in there and I think a lot of games will benefit from that knowledge. Eventually, technology will let us build that truly dynamic interactive open world that supports many, many players. It was good.
"It was definitely too focused on PvP, which is really hard."
Some of the takeaways were… It was definitely too focused on PvP, which is really hard. I do love players as content. I think it gives you tremendous variety. But players definitely need a release where they can get away from other players and just do PvE stuff. Whereas APB initially was just really focused on PvP. That’s not for everybody. It is hard, when you’re always against other players, because it can be rage-inducing, fighting other players all the time. Unless you get your matchmaking absolutely perfect, when you’re on the receiving end of one of those streaks where you lose-lose-lose, you have nothing to do but say, “Okay, I’m going to go do some PvE for a while.” It’s a difficult set of systems to balance.




Would you say that the design was really interesting on paper, but the technology maybe wasn’t necessarily in place to support it?

Jones: Yeah. Certainly the backend. Like I say, on the frontend, the client specs were pretty high as well. It was pretty demanding to have 100 players all fully customized with vehicles. It was a big ask. But with all these big game projects, you’re trying to develop something that you know is going to come out in three or four years. You’re trying to guess where the market is going to be. That’s one of the down sides of PC, a little bit. You’re trying to be in the right place at the right time. We certainly got that wrong. But like I said, there were a lot of good systems and a lot of good learning that we went through with that. Some of the great things… I think the customization system is still one of the best ever. It’s still yet to be matched. I still think things like asymmetric matchmaking are interesting, where… Like I said, there were a lot of good things to learn. I’m still keen that at some point, a game like that will be technically feasible.

PlanetSide 2 is an interesting game in that category as well. They spent four or five years developing their own engine. It’s one of the only games in the last couple of years that’s changed my notion of what’s possible on a PC. But there’s still a lot of compromises.

Jones: There are. Take the players out and the world’s dead. That’s what we tried to achieve with APB. If you take the players out, you still want the world to be alive, so that if even one of you goes in, it still feels like there’s a game there. PlanetSide, once again, needs the players. It needs them to be playing properly.



EVE Online, too. There’s a lot of trust on the part of the developers that players will figure it out. They’re smart. They’ll cause their own problems and solve them. But yeah, like you said, if they go elsewhere, it’s not a game anymore.

Jones: That’s a problem. Where’s your content gone? It’s still a great area for game design, I believe. There’s still a lot of work to be done in that area, players as content. As games get it right more, for me, it can really add depth and longevity, when it’s players as content and not designers having to churn out content. That’s a never-ending path. It gets very repetitive eventually as well. It’s one of the problems with MMOs, I think. It starts to feel a little samey after a few years.
"I love MMOs for all the reasons—community, playing together, longevity—but it does seem hard to innovate in that space."
What are your thoughts on the state of the MMO space?

Jones: For me, it’s kind of stale. But I understand why. It’s difficult technology. It’s expensive. It’s hard to innovate. I love MMOs for all the reasons—community, playing together, longevity—but it does seem hard to innovate in that space.

Steig Hedlund, former Diablo and Diablo II lead designer: Yeah. It seems like everyone’s focused on doing the same thing better. I’d agree. There’s not a lot of stuff that’s like, “Hey, this is new and different, it’s doing something no one has done before.” From a design perspective, it’s tricky. I think presenting an open world to explore is really cool and interesting, but at a certain point, just navigating across that world becomes a chore, right? So how do you solve that in a way that’s satisfying to players?

Jones: You see things come along like DayZ and permadeath. It’s like, “Oh!” I love being in that world. It’s completely different. Turns things on its head. When you hear about it, you think, “Aw, that can’t work. Permadeath? That’s crazy. You could never do a game like that.” But when you’re in there, just that feeling of, “This is a brand new experience. I’ve never felt this way in a game before.” It can happen. It’s just hard to come up with those kind of out of the box ideas and make them work.

Hedlund: Yeah, yeah. There’s the risk-averse nature of a game like that…

Jones: Yeah. Those are publisher things…

Hedlund: It’s so expensive to make an MMO. How are you going to sell the way you’re going to make it differently? “No, let’s do it in a way that’s safe.”

Jones: It’ll be interesting to see what Elder Scrolls is like. I want to play that, but at the same time, I’m thinking it’s going to be the same. Are they really going to innovate?

Thanks for your time, Dave and Stieg.

Read about Dave Jones and Stieg Hedlund's new game, action-RPG ChronoBlade.

Reloaded's cops-and-robbers MMO APB: Reloaded escaped capital punishment once already when the studio picked up the shelved title in 2011 after dwindling player numbers and the demise of original developer Realtime Worlds almost sent it to Death Row. Now, we're getting another APB, but it's a gun of an entirely different caliber: an "agility"-based multiplayer shooter. Reloaded explains it all on its Kickstarter campaign for APB Vendetta, where it asks for $300,000 in 30 days.

Here's Reloaded's pitch: "APB Vendetta is a character-driven extreme mobility competitive shooter, inspired by the APB: Reloaded universe and built on an entirely new high-agility game system featuring extreme movement mechanics, melee combat, dual wield weapons, character-specific finishing moves, a fighting-game ethos, customizable private servers, modding tools, and the latest version of Unreal Engine 3."

Whew. Got all that? In other words, Vendetta is an APB-ified riff on the fluid parkour of Mirror's Edge and the gunplay theatrics from the popular mods Action Half-Life and The Specialists—both of which drew inspiration from John Woo films and The Matrix.



So, in addition to loudly clothed criminals thumbing their noses at the law as before, we'll now get loudly clothed criminals thumbing their noses while cartwheeling upside-down off a drain pipe. Vendetta will have 12 characters and three archetypes to choose from, split down a variation of the standard Light, Medium, and Heavy setup with a few special exceptions—the lumbering Juggernaut, for example, actually sprints the fastest because of a special charge move.

In a somewhat ironic twist, Vendetta won't be free-to-play. It's "buy-to-play," giving players "all guns, characters, and game-affecting items upfront" after a one-time cost, with the option to purchase "monthly server rentals for on-demand managed and modded servers." "Progression and damage systems have to be tightly controlled in free-to-play games," Reloaded claims. "With Vendetta, we're instead taking a portion of the APB world and turning it in to a premium experience where the community can participate in reworking the game design on their own servers."

Have a look at APB Vendetta on its Kickstarter page. Do you think a movement-heavy shooter is a worthy spinoff from the existing MMO?

Gamers First have released the details of a huge new update for APB: Reloaded. Patch 1.7.0 is being called 'New Breed part 1' and will bring new weapons, new mods, new characters and new challenges to the online cops and robbers sim. The new equipment will be doled out by two delightfully named new characters, Tiptoe for the criminals and Devil Dog for the enforcers. I bet he's a nice man. He sounds nice.

Check inside for more details.

New Modifications

Radar Jammer: This device covers enemy radars with your personal graffiti, keeping them from spotting you and your team.

Hard Landing: Equip this and your character will no longer be staggered by a big fall, instead they'll land lightly and be able to fight right away.

Brick: Drop a brick on your accelerator to keep your car going in a straight line after you've jumped out.

Valzipram Tablets: These drugs make you take less damage from being hit by cars... somehow.

Mobility Sling: Hang your weapon by a strap so you can move faster while aiming.

Tagger: Previously seen in the Valentine's day event, this mod puts a big target on anyone you shoot, so your team mates can spot them too.

Muzzle Brake (Horizontal): This mod lessens horizontal recoil at the expense of vertical. Perfect for those who want to aim 'gangster style'.

 
New Weapons


Low Yield Frag Grenades: These lighter grenades do less damage than standard frags, but you can carry three of them.

Tommy Gun: Another stowaway from the Valentines day event. Nothing says 'gangster' like a Chicago Typewriter.

Unique NTEC5 Skin: This customised weapon is the final reward from both contacts.

 
See the APB developer blog for more details.

The dust has finally settled on APB’s Reloaded reboot-up-the-arse, and it’s racked up a none-too-shabby 3 million registered players in the eight days after its release on Steam, according to Gamespot. The original, ridiculously troubled release apparently notched up a mere 130,000 players, but we heard rumours that this number was actually far lower.

It's also currently sitting at number 15 in the Steam charts, making it the second most popular free-to-play game after the evergreen Team Fortress 2. 3 million isn't such a bad number, too - it's obviously dwarfed by the likes of Skyrim, but it's almost up there with Battlefield 3's 5 million copies. It's also just over a quarter of the uber-popular League of Legends' player base, too.

In addition, a retail version of APB Reloaded has launched in the US. Containing $50 worth of virtual goods, the boxed edition is priced at $29.99. To celebrate, publishers GamersFirst have introduced a "Fight Club" mode into the game, but we can't talk about it because of, y'know, the first rule and all that.

GamersFirst have essentially republished APB with tighter vehicle controls and on a free-to-play model, which has obviously paid off for players who want to dip in and see what it’s all about. We’ve found the core experience of APB to be much the same - its in-depth customisation and social networking systems are not to be overlooked, but the running and gunning remains flawed.

How many of Reloaded’s 3 million will stick around remains to be seen - it could steadily decrease to a huddle of enthusiasts, or it could carry on gathering players. But the Reloaded team have certainly done enough to ensure it’s not going to dramatically collapse like Realtime Worlds’ previous incarnation of the game.

We’re sure at least one of those 3 million players will be reading this - what do you reckon to the reboot?

Multiplayer cops and robbers game APB has broken out of its cell and barged rowdily onto Steam. For more than a year, GamersFirst have been rebuilding it as a free to play game after APB's first run came to an abrupt end after its creators, Realtime Worlds, went into administration.

It's now called APB Reloaded, and you can download the client for free now. GamersFirst say that this is an open beta phase. They'll continue to fix bugs and refine things as players go to war. You get to create a cop or a crook using the fantastic character creation suite, and then roam the city of San Paro in squads, where you'll be assigned missions designed to dynamically match you up with players of a similar level. Will it work? Has it improved since it we gave it 55 in our APB review back in summer 2010? There's only one way to find out. Are you playing it? What do you think so far?