APB

APB delivers periodic awesomeness, but fundamental imbalances and repetitive objectives make this persistent-world shooter a tough sell.

The Good

* Fantastic customization options let you stand out from the crowd
* Occasionally incredible moments of team-based action
* The backup system is a great idea
* Rewards come at a smooth pace.

The Bad

* Fundamental imbalances and flawed matchmaking lead to lots of frustration
* Missions get very repetitive, very fast
* Shooting and driving are both under par
* Broken voice chat.

APB is a fascinating, sometimes fun, and very troubled team-focused third-person shooter that occasionally drops moments of intense joy in the midst of its major flaws and frustrations. You may have heard it touted as a massively multiplayer online shooter, but that is somewhat of a misnomer: The maps you share with up to 79 other gun-toting urban soldiers are fairly large, but most shoot-outs occur on a small scale. APB's greatest irony is that its persistent MMO trappings offer more in the way of smaller, less invigorating battles than the larger, consistently exhilarating ones you encounter in more typical online shooters like Battlefield: Bad Company 2. That isn't to say that APB doesn't occasionally explode with intensity. You might chase an escaping criminal in a four-door sedan while three fellow law enforcers hang out the windows, taking down the criminal's reinforcements. You may create a tiny fireworks display by tossing a well-cooked grenade at a carful of rivals. It's just unfortunate that to discover these pleasures, you must tolerate frustrating, unbalanced skirmishes against teams touting more powerful weapons and monotonous mission objectives that do nothing to invest you in the crime-ridden but otherwise generic San Paro.