Game Details
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  • $$49.99 + monthly subs $9.99/$6.99
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Genre
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All Points Bulletin (Windows)

common sense media says

Open world MMO with lots of violence, blood, and profanity.


parents & educators say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that All Points Bulletin, a massively multiplayer online game for mature gamers, is similar in style to Grand Theft Auto and Crackdown. Full of intense violence, players use realistic looking weapons to take out other players with blood spraying. By contrast, players can visit a social district where they can exercise their talents in creating designs for tattoos, decals, cars, and clothing. This game requires the use of a high-end computer system to properly run the game. The game has a hybrid monetization system which works as follows: The game box costs $49.99 which includes 50 hours of game play in the active districts, and subscriptions are available at $6.99 per 20 hours or $9.99 every 30 days for unlimited play. The developers also sell currency which can be used to buy in-game items.

Educational value: Not relevant
Positive messages: Players choose to play on one of two sides in the game: Criminals and Enforcers. Obviously, living the life of crime does not send positive messages; and in this game, neither is being an Enforcer because those players are really more vigilantes than law enforcement and can kill criminals at will. Deciding to stun a criminal rather than kill him is only possible later in the game because a stun-gun is a higher-level weapon and requires higher skill to use.
Positive role models: On the streets of this city where government has broken down, neither the Enforcers or Criminals are positive role models. The Enforcers are really vigilantes rather than law enforcement. They can arrest someone, cuff them, and then kill them.
Ease of play: The controls are simple and once players learn how to move and shoot, it's a matter of practice and skill to play this game. The character customization is similarly simple to learn. Mastering the game -- learning the nuances of the types of missions, figuring out what roles your character can play -- is a lot harder as they aren't explained in the tutorial. Plus, driving a car with a keyboard is never an easy task.
Violence: Violence is the name of the game. Pedestrians can be run over and mugged. Players can gun down others or be gunned down themselves with accompanying cries and bloodletting. Players use realistic-looking  guns, rocket launchers, and grenades to kill opponents and blood splatters can "hit the screen."  When playing on the side of the Enforcer, you can arrest someone and then decide to simply kill them.
Sex: Player characters may be scantily clad and hyper-sexualized as are many of the female characters within the game. There is also a size and placement controls for female breasts within the character creator.
Language: In game dialogue contain frequent use of the words "f--k" and "s--t."
Consumerism: There are in-game items that are sold for real cash. Buying them can improve your play experience.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Missions in game often involve drug-running -- transporting packages of drugs -- or the stopping of said transport. Drug names "crack" and "heroin" etc. can be heard in in-game dialog.

More on All Points Bulletin

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
  • Families can talk about the game world of All Points Bulletin.  Do you think this game fairly depicts the pros and cons of citizen law enforcement?
  • Families can also talk about the hyper-sexualization of male and female models seen in the media. Why do you think think game characters are designed to be super sexy? Do most people actually look like that?

What's the story?

What's the story?

In ALL POINTS BULLETIN (APB), the City of San Paro has legalized vigilantism to combat the new breed of criminals. Citizens have been empowered to pick up the burden of law enforcement from the city's out-gunned police force.  In this game about shooting others and driving in an open world, players choose to play either as an Enforcer or a Citizen. In the pursuit of status, Enforcers seek Prestige and the Criminals desire Notoriety. For Enforcers, Prestige is raised by taking on missions to bust-up gang hideouts, break-up drug rings and the like, and by reporting Criminals in action or taking more active steps by attempting to arrest them or kill them. For Criminals, Notoriety is raised by mugging ordinary citizens and taking on missions to run drugs, steal cars, and kill Enforcers who are on the prowl. How it really plays out is you shoot and run down everything in your way to your objective. In the meantime, you need to look cool while doing all these activities and the game has an excellent character customization where creative players will excel in creating and selling designs on the market place. 

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 

All Points Bulletin is an "Open World" game. Unlike open Sandbox games such as Eve Online where almost anything and everything goes, players have a narrower "open" playing field. Players on each side are matched against each other by the computer when they enter active districts. Once players take on an action such as accepting a mission or Mugging / Reporting, they can expect that an opposing player or players will soon be dispatched against them. Players can also team up for missions, and call for assistance if they feel they need help.

The game plays well and the graphics and sound are outstanding for an MMO. The character customization is second to none, but as the game has only just launched, it still requires balance. Shooting in the game does not have headshots so that takes away some of the skill aspect, making the equipment aspect of the game more important (i.e. the person with the better gun has an advantage). Further, driving a car with a key board has never simple; but here, the controls have been oversimplified, with only WASD or arrow keys, and no acceleration control.

Online interaction: This is an mature MMO -- an online game with in-game voice chat which is required to communicate with others. It also has player vs player fighting. Players will be exposed to profanity and quite possibly experience verbal taunts.

Game themes & details

Game Details
Available on: Windows
Available online
Genre: Massively Multi-player Online Game (MMOG)
Developer: Electronic Arts
Released on: June 29, 2010
Price: $49.99 + monthly subs $9.99/$6.99
ESRB Rating: M for Blood, Drug Reference, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence
Screenshots

This review was written by Carolyn Koh
 
 

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Most useful reviews by all members

TheZach
teen, 15 years old
 
Parents - Lock the door before you play.
APB is a game all about crime, there is no singleplayer what so ever, just multiplayer. Though users can play as enforcers (vigilante cops that solve the issue by blowing criminals heads off.) Or Criminal, who make a living by stealing. Some missions involve stealing civilian cars, crashing them threw shop windows, grabbing any merchandise you can, and taking them back to your boss. Since you can customize your character ANY way you want, alot of the girl characters that older users make are very suggestive. (Cleavage, small skirts, etc.) You also have the ability to give your character tattoos - all of which are customizable. Ive seen people running around with "F--- YOU" and other profane things tatted to there chest. Theres no way to block this. About the only thing in the whole game you can block is other users microphones. This is GTA on steroids with multilayer. (= Not good for kids)

Cm20014
teen, 16 years old
 
Very violent MMORPG.
this shouldnt be played by people under age 18 this game is som sorta gta style. but if i was an adult and i wanted 2 play this game i rather be doin clean stuff more than dirty stuff like gta. i rather just chat and defend myself by nasty players online.

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ON: Content is appropriate for kids this age.
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