4) APB: All Points Bulletin – 2010
Estimated cost: $50,000,000
APB had the same budget as L.A. Noire. Scottish developer Realtime Worlds burned through it to make this game, and it ended very badly for them. The worst part is, it’s almost impossible to see why. Whereas L.A. Noire clearly used their credits to develop cutting edge technologies, APB just kind of… doesn’t.
Imagine, if you can be bothered, a Grand Theft Auto Online rip off, that’s somehow even more boring. A sparse, empty sandbox of a game, populated by a few other players aimlessly running about. Just running, not even deathmatching. Yes, despite being able to draw and fire guns, being outside of a “mission” will mean that the bullets pass right through you enemy. The worst you can do to the opposition in this instance is type out some “your momma” jokes.
Worst of all, for jaded hacks like me, at least, Realtime Worlds set an embargo on the review that was not lifted until a week after the game had been released. That, quite obviously, meant only one thing – the game was mind-bendingly average, and they knew it.
Published: Mar 17, 2014 01:00 pm