APB

Title		APB
Game Type	General Action
Company		Tengen
Players		1
Compatibility	Not AGA?
Submission	Steve Cole

Review
My first memory of this game was not in it's Amiga form that we know and
love but was infact as an arcade machine, in a pub in Weymouth, when on a
family holiday at the age of about 9 or 10. A behemoth of an arcade unit
decorated with pictures of cartoon police men and cars etc. with a
steering wheel on the front of it!! The excitement! (I was only a nipper)

Anyway, the game was played to death over the rest of the holiday until I
was reluctantly prised away from it. About two years later whilst perusing
the local Software shop, lo and behold I came across the Amiga version.
Joy.

The title of the game is the police abbreviation for All Points Bulletin
and you play the role of a beleaguered police officer, none other than
Officer Bob. You have to complete various missions apprehending the
lowlifes of society, such nefarious types as litterers, honkers, right
up to dopeheads.

The games takes a birds eye view of proceedings, with your police car
remaining the central point of the game. As a matter of fact , the
appearance and feel of the game is very much like Grand Theft Auto on the
Playstation, was it ripped off perhaps? :-) The method employed to nab
suspects is by chasing them, positioning a cursor above their vehicle and
pressing the siren. As levels progress you have to tag each criminal more
and more times making for a fair difficulty curve. Once you have met your
quota of crooks you must return to the station to receive a bonus. All
this is of course done against the clock, which is very tight on you,
especially so in the later levels. If you don't meet your quota in the
time allowed it's back to the station to receive a telling off from the
Chief of Police and, depending on how many objectives you failed to score,
de-merits are added to your record. Once you get to twelve de-merits then
its game over, accompanied by a cute animation of yourself being dragged
from your car by the boss and dumped in a rubbish bin. This is actually
very easy to achieve as de-merits can also be received for crashing your
car, wrongful arrest and killing innocent bystanders, which are all
painfully easy to do.

The graphics are good for its age (it was released in 1991 by Tengen)
and the sound is superb. There's some real cheesy music as the main theme
to the game and the sound of the police siren is wonderful. Also, when
you complete a mission successfully you are congratulated by the Chief
saying "Thankyou very much, well done". As I said the feel of the game is
very similar to GTA and the look is also close, and personally I feel this
game has stood the test of time. It's fun, refreshing , and a mean
challenge, but is not overly punishing, so extended replays beckon. Hell ,
I've been playing it for the last eight years!

Alphabetical list.