GamersFirst has issued a press release stating that the open beta for APB: Reloaded, the relaunch of 2010’s All Points Bulletin, has gone live today. Compared to the ill-fated original, the relaunch includes a new area, redesigned mechanics, improved matchmaking features, as well as a slew of new items and weapons. Players interested in joining the open beta can sign up for an account on the offical GamersFirst website.
A summary of the new features that are included in the open beta, can be found after the jump.
New In-Game Witnessing Mechanic
Open beta includes a much improved “witnessing” system that captures the core of the cops vs. robbers game mechanic. When Criminals commit open-world crimes they gain a stash of dirty money that must be laundered before it is earned as a mission reward. A stash multiplier grows with the Criminal’s heat rating as they continue their crime spree, while carrying an ever growing pile of dirty money. Enforcers can witness Criminals committing crimes and opt into a mini-mission to stop the Criminal. Should the Enforcer successfully arrest or defeat the criminal, the ill-gotten gains convert to evidence, necessitating the Enforcer to race to their randomly-selected Evidence Locker in order to earn the stash as a mission reward. As Criminals fight to protect and ultimately launder their dirty money Enforcers fight to requisition the dirty money, creating a furious back-and-forth firefight for control of the resource.New Items and Weapons
San Paro’s in-game merchant, the Armas Marketplace, is expanding during the open beta phase and will launch with 10 never-before-seen weapons as well as a large catalogue of permanent clothing, icons, vehicles and accessories designed to enhance the APB Reloaded game experience. During open beta, players will also be able to lease weapons using in-game cash or using GamersFirst’s exclusive G1 credits.New Hybrid Skill Rating System
In order to create more-balanced PvP gameplay, APB Reloaded is transitioning from a straight win-loss system to a skill-based hybrid rating system, sourced from several proven skill rating algorithms such as ELO and Glicko. This new skill-based hybrid rating system aims to better reflect all gamers’ actual skill levels when compared to the opponents they defeat.Source: Press release
The changes sound promising, but with the core “repetitive/boring” issues that permeated the original, I’m curious to see if that was even possible to fix up. I’ll give it a DL I suppose. Though, I’m more interested messing with what is probably the best character creation system in any MMO out there. In all honesty, this sounds like what it is. A FTP time-sink as opposed to something really meaningful that you’d want to invest your gaming hours into. Will see!