Fancy some top-down shooter action on your mobile phone? Probably not, but I had to ask anyway. While many core gamers are quick to mount aversion to anything mobile related, the reality is that those devices are here to stay. That also means that games will continue to be made for said devices, and will continue to range from high-quality outings to low-ball efforts. Well, here's hoping APB: Retribution fits the former.
While Reloaded Productions continue to work on APB: Reloaded, Blazing Griffin has taken up the development mantle for a spinoff game of All Points Bulletin called APB: Retribution, a top-down, one-shot one-kill, shooter for mobile devices set for release later this month.
The game puts players in the role of a gang member left for dead who seeks retribution against the gangs led by Old Harry. Players will use one-shot kill tactics to dispose of enemies or be disposed of under the guise of recklessness. This means that just like Dennaton Games' Hotline Miami, players will have to exercise stealth and caution moving through the dark and gritty hand-painted alleys that give gamers a sort of alternative view of APB's San Paro, using mobile devices to help bring that vision to life.
Despite top-down shooters being nothing new, games like Hotline Miami have reinvigorated the genre with the adult subject matter, the high-end difficulty and challenge present in every scenario and the fact that players are forced to think tactically about every scenario before they enter it.
I love the look and visual aesthetics of APB: Retribution; it's a good looking game. I'm not a fan of mobile gaming, though. So we'll see how well this game turns out when it launches for iOS and Android devices.
The debut trailer above certainly helps give the game some promising identity and if things turn out well enough I could easily see this game making a small leap to home consoles as an XBLA/PSN/eShop title on the Xbox, PlayStation and Wii U. In fact, this would be a perfect way to get console gamers introduced into the atmospheric lore of APB, despite the home consoles not having the bigger, meatier MMO available for brand loyalists to experience.
If all goes well, who knows, maybe APB: Retribution could be a good lead-in for an eventual console port of APB: Reloaded if the transition into the newer Unreal Engine actually works. I'm just hoping the overhaul works. Time will tell soon enough.
You can learn more about APB: Retribution by paying a kind visit to Develop, where they have a detailed interview and article about the upcoming top-down shooter. For anymore information beyond that, feel free to visit the official APB Retribution website.
