Driving – MMO Fallout

You know, I’d forgotten how good All Points Bulletin looked, not to mention Realtime World’s plans to overhaul driving and shooting before the shooter went defunct last year. The latest video from K2 Networks showcases driving like you’ve never seen in the game: functional. Although the driving isn’t perfect, the system is leaps and bounds ahead of what RTW presented when the game went live last year. Back when the original APB was still being patched, the developers laid forward plans to overhaul driving and shooting, and it looks like K2 Networks has fully implemented both.

By the way: If you watch the video, pay attention to how many deceased civilians are laying strewn about the sidewalk, that weren’t hit by either the criminal or the cop. Also note the improvements to the ragdolls and AI. The less civilians that run in front of my cop car, the better.

More on APB: Reloaded as it appears.

The last time I talked about All Points Bulletin, I believe I said something along the lines of…

“…if Realtime Worlds wants to bill itself as a competitive online shooter, then the shooting and driving mechanics need to be overhauled yesterday.”
-Omali, MMO Fallout, On All Points Bulletin

That’s it. Dave Jones of Realtime Worlds has already said he expected All Points Bulletin to receive bad reviews, and his prediction came true almost immediately after the game launched. The major points that the reviews and critics of the game focused on were the driving and shooting mechanics. For a game that bills itself around driving and shooting, driving a car was a test of patience, and shooting was a matter of who had the better gun or the best camping spot.

In a recent announcement on the website, Realtime Worlds put out an article titled “The Road Ahead.” In the article, Neil Castle announces plans to overhaul the driving system, allowing for the same old drifting while also increasing handling and giving the vehicles less of a sloppy feel. In addition, all aspects of the shooting and weapons systems are being looked at and balanced.

These are just two updates coming in a major overhaul to All Points Bulletin, that will change the way missions are structured, how cheaters are dealt with, players camping in certain areas, and more. Hopefully this will bring just the upgrade All Points Bulletin needs to become the driving, shooting game that people might actually want to play for the driving and shooting aspects (and not just the character creator).