APB

This MMO is a lot of things, but right now it’s a remake of Heat, as performed by The Muppets. It all began five minutes ago as we casually hung around outside a parking garage as our colleagues stole a van up on the third floor. When they drove off a conveniently placed ramp and tilted delightfully downward into the midriff of a passing pedestrian, an APB was called out on us...

Dave Jones’ initials are tattooed across our nipples. We have a mullet, a moustache, aviator shades and a belly that arrives in a room a few seconds before we do. “Players are going to have to think very carefully about who they want to be,” Jones tells us. “You can be a psycho, quiet, on-the-streets kind of killer."

All the best games were invented in the playground. Cowboys and Indians, Cops and Robbers, Doctors and Nurses – their names are legendary. Few, however, have ever made a pure transition into gaming. So while the world holds its breath for Stuck in the Mud Online we’ll have to make do with APB – a near-perfect recreation of Cops and Robbers.

APB is the cops and robbers MMO from the creators of Crackdown. There are no levels, no ‘Artificial Incompetence’ to battle, and no numbers to slowly grind. Why? Well, according to Real Time Worlds’ boss Dave Jones, “leveling is a broken concept - it’s called a grind for a reason.” So APB isn’t about killing 2000 bunnies or crafting a new sword from the skins of 600 lizards; APB is about action and