"Put out an All Points Bulliton on an Arcade Game; Excellent gameplay, original idea and red in colour."

People today who say videogames are nothing but an excuse for mindless violence don't know a thing. They believe it's all about being a gang-banging criminal who blows up cars, runs over prostitutes and kills cops for points. In A.P.B., it is the exact opposite. It's a driving title with a difference. There's no tracks, no speedways, no 1st place. It's all about finding criminals and dishing out justice. The justice is not to the extreme of NARC, but in the form of penalties and tickets which you must issue to the law-breakers of the city.

Story-wise, there's not much to go on. You're a lowly cop who the Captain hates, stack loads of crimes are coming in daily and you've got to prevent them. Fail and you're off the force. It's a simple premise which opens up for some addictive gaming with furious driving action. Plenty of villains to catch, all with their own different crimes.

A.P.B.'s gameplay is what it's all about, with high-octane criminal pursuits making up the bulk of the game. The city's huge with many roads, buildings, bridges and traffic to maneuver around. In order to perform an arrest or warrant a ticket, you must keep the speed up and flash your sirens (it's a targeting system, point it at the car you want to pull over) and hopefully they'll give in and park up. If not, a chase commences. To stop these tear-aways, you must get dirty and use any means available. Ram them off the roads, shoot their car til they explode...whatever, they broke the law and the law wins. However, fail to make your quota of arrests for that day and you'll be then directing traffic for the rest of your life, meaning game over. You can also lose the game by scoring too many demerits, such as pursuing innocent vehicles, crashes or destroyed cars.

The soundtrack for the game is lacking to say the least, but there is that little comic track when you complete and pass a stage. The other sound effects for the game is what you expect from a cop racer: sirens, wheels, crashes and the occasional "Bug off, pig!"
Not to great on the whole. If they had a fast-paced track to accompany the chases then it would of scored higher, but sadly, no.

The visuals are comic and very colourful, adopting a GTA Birdeye's View look (even though A.P.B. came a good 4 years before) to it. Sadly, because it's a overhead viewpoint, details are small, such as the speech bubbles that come from people's cars, as well as buildings, but when you're zooming past them, it doesn't matter.

A.P.B is an excellent Arcade hit with plenty of thrills, but with some frustration here and there when you lose your suspect. It's a great game which can still be found in a few arcades today, as well as on a "classics compilation" for current home consoles, Midway Arcade Treasures 2. Not to mention the XBox360's title of the same name involving cops and robbers, too. Check this fun title out if you want to see a classic in action.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/31/05