APB - New open world online game

http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=2008082&type=game&sec=VIDEOS

Most, if not all of you, have probably never heard of APB. It's a new game made by "Realtime Worlds," the creators of crackdown.

The game has been in development since 2005, and was meant to be out in 2008. The game places you into a large, very pretty (unreal engine 3,) Urban environment. Each game server will consist of hundreds of players, as well as the typical wandering NPCs. Some players will play as criminals, while others will play as cops.

Starting out, criminal players will receive tasks. They will be given missions as to where to go and what to steal. Criminals, as well as cops, can team up with friends and form some sort of a team. When a criminal is on the job, the game will automatically find a cop within the server of a similar rank, and radio them in to the situation.

As a cop, it is your goal to hunt down and apprehend the criminals.

The game looks beautiful, and very much like Crackdown. The designer, David Jones, often coins the term "MMO," but I would not use such a word to describe the game. Progression is based on player skill and strategy rather than mindless grinding and time sinking.

Anyways, the game sounds to be extremely fun. I Steam friend of mine and I often waste hours playing "GTA San Andreas Multiplayer," in servers of 150 people, playing cops and robbers. It looks like this game takes that premise and improves on it beyond all possible bounds.

While the game is likely due out very soon (word of a coming, closed public beta has been passed around) details on it are slim. The stuff you see in the videos (beyond the link I posted) are the gist of what the public knows. I'm expecting there to be a pretty big flood of info on it in the coming months.

The game is primarily for Windows, but has been confirmed for 360. It is likely, however, that the Xbox version won't see release for quite some time after the PC version, and, obviously, will not support nearly as many players online.

Realtime Worlds has not released any sort of pricing structure, nor do I expect there to be anything of the sort. They have said nothing to indicate that it will be "pay for play," despite having many aspects of an MMO.

Well, yet another game I wont be able to run.