"Don't let this game escape your sights..."

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 and multipler bonuses. In A.P.B., it is the exact opposite. It's a driving title with a difference. There's no race tracks, no speedways, no 1st place prize, time-trial or anything like that. It's all about finding criminals and dishing out justice. The justice is not to the extreme of NARC (which as we all know, involve blowing up drug dealers with FREAKIN' ROCKET LAUNCHERS), but in the form of penalties and parking tickets which you must issue to the law-breakers of the city. Of course, sometimes it requires something a bit more lethal...

Story-wise, there's not much to go on. You're a lowly cop who the Police Captain hates, stack loads of crimes are coming in daily and it's just you on the streets who's got to prevent them. Fail and you're thrown 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: speeding, littering, DWI...

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. Unfortunately, the downside is that the roads are small. SMALL small. Not cozy, but SMALL. So, if you're in a chase, it's either slow down to safely get around traffic or steer 'round a corner, often 'causing you to lose the target, or just plow through the drivers, racking up the demerits - 'causing you to lose. You need to find the right blend of wanton destruction and safe driving to win, and if you can't find the balance, give up. You're either speedy or careful, and if you're the former, you'd probably smash right into a barrier, and if you're careful, you'd go so slow that you won't notice the target making a turn off somewhere. Keep your wits about you for this game.

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 too great on the whole. If they had a fast-paced track to accompany the chases then it would of scored higher, but sadly, no. It's just you, a siren and the squeals of burning rubber.

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, so you'll find it very hard to make out just what they're saying, and the same goes for the buildings, but when you're zooming past them at full speed, it doesn't matter.

A.P.B is an excellent Amiga port with plenty of thrills, but with some frustration here and there when you lose your suspect. It's a great game which sadly is few and far between with its appearances, but it is possible to find a version 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: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/08/05, Updated 06/20/06