Crash


APB
By The Hit Squad
Spectrum 48K/128K/+2/+3

 
Published in Crash #90

APB

APB

Stuff a donut into your mouth, put your foot on the gas and let rip into the world of car chases, frantic villains and a boss with a gut wider than the Atlantic! All Points Bulletin, or APB for short, is a cartoon-style game with wacky animations and addictive gameplay galore.

At the start of each day, the boss gives you, Officer Bob, a quota to meet. This is made up of different types of people who need police attention - anyone from young ladies stranded in their cars to murderers and speeders.

To arrest the blighters, you have to move your siren over the top of them (It's a bit like using crosshairs in a shoot-'em-up). Early in the game, you need only use the siren once, but the worse the criminal gets, the more sirens you'll need to use to arrest them.

APB

As well as everyday police duties, you also get APBs on dangerous villains coming into your patch. If you track one of these down, you have to bash their car off the road to arrest them. Succeed and get them back to the station and the game flips to an interrogation screen where you waggle the joystick left and right to make them confess. This has to be done before the boss arrives at the door and catches you in the brutal act - or the criminal will go free!

APB captures the playability of the arcade machine perfectly, all the elements that made it so addictive intact. You even get the animated sequences between days and when you've used up all your demerits Officer Bob is shown being thrown into a dustbin!

A great game that I simply can't put down.

APB