Yes, there are a lot of choices to make in APB. However, none might be as important as which faction you join. The city of San Paro is basically torn apart by violence, with a struggle between the mostly benevolent Enforcer faction and the Criminals. It's a distinction that boils down to cops versus robbers when viewed in practical terms.
When creating your character, players will have the option of joining a faction as either an Enforcer or a Criminal, each with its own perks, “missions,” and other attributes. As APB is considered to be more of a hybrid-MMO or an Online Action Game, a player’s character does not level up as would be seen in a traditional MMO-RPG. Instead, as players progress their characters through increasing their own gaming skill level, they gain reputation and unlock “tokens,” items/clothing, weapons/accessories, vehicles/parts, and access to broader and more detailed character and vehicle customization tools. More information on this can be found on the Customization information page. Once you join a faction, you cannot switch alliances to the opposing side.
If you progress your character enough, you will be able to form your own Enforcer squad or Criminal gang. Individual squads or gangs can have roughly 40 members, unique logos/tattoos shared by members, and fight for control of turf locations within the player districts. Matchmaking is triggered through the direct actions of the players: if a Criminal steals a car and sets of an alarm, an APB will be issued to nearby Enforcers of similar skill levels, and if an Enforcer takes a job escorting an armored truck, a Criminal can decide to try to intercept and rob it. The type of scenarios triggered by players can vary wildly from chases and shoot-outs to busts, arrests, and escapes.
The core mechanics of the game have yet to be revealed, and any gameplay that has been revealed appears very similar to a Grand Theft Auto or Saints Row type of game--one in which a player's power is derived from the type of weaponry that he has access to.
ENFORCERS
The law enforcement within APB is carried out through the Enforcers, a collective of private polices forces, “special forces” units, and “guns for hire.” Though many players will abide by a strict code of conduct while playing as an Enforcer, they are not limited by what they can do and many will act with extreme prejudice only distinguishing themselves from a Criminal by the fact that they carry a badge. The primary objective of the Enforcers is to prevent, respond to, stop, and contain criminal activity within the city of San Paro.
The Enforcers all report to and accept missions from LaRoche, the head of the Praetorians, the over arching NPC Enforcer organization. Apart from responding to APB’s, and example of a NPC assigned mission would be a sort of escort mission while working for a bank. As an enforcer, you might take on a gig driving gold bullion to a bank in an armored car. Simply driving from point A to point B is likely to attract the attention of any gangsters who happen to be in your path, so it then becomes a choice of taking a sneakier route or just jumping headfirst into a high-speed chase toward your goal.
It is important to note that as Enforcers stop more crimes, complete police detail “duties” (those missions assigned by the NPC’s), and take control of larger areas of turf, they gain access to better and more high tech gear, weapons, and vehicles.
Though there is potential for someone to just join the Enforcers and decide not to respond to APB’s issued or stop criminal activity, the matchmaking system monitors this and acts accordingly, putting the APBs out to other Enforcers, et cetera, and taking away rep from those players that don’t respond. This effectively acts as a deterrent from players not playing the game the way it was intended. It is also important to note that Enforcers cannot be matched against other Enforcers.
CRIMINALS
The Criminals within the city of San Paro are the driving force behind the primary game activity within APB. The idea is that the Criminals prey on the city -- they prey on the civilians, they prey on the cars, they prey on the businesses – and the Enforcers are sent out to try to stop them.
If you're working for the Criminals, you'll report to Zombie and the G-Kings. These two NPC criminal organizations will issue players objectives and missions. These can range from anything to stealing a car to robbing a bank, or taking on a bounty set against another player who has gained a particularly high reputation. While carrying out these objections, a player’s actions dictate what occurs throughout the rest of the world. For example if a group of gangsters attempt to steal a car, but triggers the car alarm, nearby Enforcers are alerted by and APB, and the objective changes to get away without being taken down.
As Criminals become more and more successful they take over areas of turf within the districts, and they are given bigger jobs and better heists when they have more turf at their command. They are at a constant war with other criminal gangs for this turf, and the system allows criminal factions to fight against each other. When these altercations escalate enough or cause issues within the city, APB’s are sent out to the appropriate number of Enforcers that are ready to handle this situation, effectively creating a three-way encounter.
