EDIT: As of 2018 they have shut down the ♥♥♥/asia server so there is only Europe and America remaining. Unless you live in these regions you are gonna have a bad time with latency.
Unless they add another Asia/Oceanic server (which is unlikely) I cant recommend this game.

APB is a rough gem, it has many interesting concepts and great ideas but its execution definately leaves more to be desired. The biggest complaint I see crop up however is people misunderstanding the core gameplay and it can be a steep learning curve. Alot of people come in expecting a GTA clone where you get to roleplay as cops or robbers. This is not the case at all, It plays more along the lines of a third person arcadey CS:GO with hyper competitive players. You are usually thrown into a mission with 4-6 players and the winner is determined by what team can devise the best stratagies to deal with the given objectives. The feed back when you shoot someone is minimal with a small blood spray to indicate you hit this leaves people complaining that their guns do no damage and people with rocket launchers are "pay2win hack3rz". I feel this type of gunplay handles closer along the lines of how Halo used to be played with a slower time to kill and more focus on stratigic engagements. It's not for everyone but I enjoy this style because it makes you think before you run into the open guns blazing expecting to kill everything your crosshairs pointed at.

My personal biggest complaint for APB is that its servers can make it increadibly frustrating to play if you live in the oceania region like myself then you're sh*t out of luck as of the time of writing this there are only 3 servers, US, EU and JP with my lowest possible latency being 190-250 to Japan. However if you live close to either of these 3 regions you will probably have better luck and this will be a non issue.

another complaint that props up alot is the "hackers" I cant speak for everyone but playing on the Japan server I generally run into hackers here less then most current big titles like CS:GO or PUBG (obviously the lower playerbase contributes to this too). Make no mistake you wil run into them on occasion and their tell is that they are generally the low ranks with 9+ win streaks or are getting 30 kills against high skill players. They aren't always this obvious but even so in my opinion if you have a decent team and some good communication you can shut down most script kiddies and if not just go make a cup of coffee and wait for the mission to end.

APB also features a marketplace where you buy in game items for real money i'd say that even being a free to play game it manages to balance out the economy for players well enough, you can generally get all the best guns fairly early on such as the "Ntec" or "HVR" easily enough without paying a cent you just need paitence to learn how/when to use them. The only real big miss with the market is the lootbox mechanics which Is a bad practice in any aspect. The marketplace itself really only sells is some niche weapons that are far seperated from the meta and are generally not viable in a competitive setting their only real advantage being that players can purchase "lifetime" versions of guns so they dont have to buy an assault rifle every week or so unlike the in game economy, even so a purchase from the pay2win market isnt worth it 99% of the time.

The biggest hook for APB (for me personally) is the insane customization, no other game lets you personalize your character to the extend APB does, where you can create your own outfits, tattoo's, cars, symbols and even music. With simple but increadibly robust creation suites, check my personal screenshots for some examples of this. It really lets you express yourself in this game and its great for artsy folk, even if you aren't an artist you can still purchase incredible creations other players have made to show off your avatar. It just gives the game personality that no other game ive found has been able to replicate and it really makes APB set itself appart in my eyes.

The last big thing that I love about APB is the dynamic mission system, once again unlike other competitive games (or even GTA) if you want to hop into a match you dont have to wait for 50 loading screens or wait in a lobby for everyone to join. Once youre in a mission district (the main servers) you just hit the K button and you'll be flung into a mission with the closest ranked people that are driving around the server with you. It makes for incredibly dynamic sitations where even with my stupid 2000 hours I still encounter missions that play out in ways that ive never experienced or expected before and theres just no fuss, log in, hop into a server and hit the ready button and balm youre in a game.

In conclusion this game just has a unique style that seperates itself from a simple GTA Clone, with competitive matchamking and dynamic missions in its open maps its just a unique experience and along with the character this game oozes with player customization it fills a tight niche that no other game has been able to fill

EDIT: As of 2018 they have shut down the Jap/asia server so there is only Europe and America remaining. Unless you live in these regions you are gonna have a bad time with latency. Unless they add another Asia/Oceanic server (which is unlikely) I cant recommend this game. APB is a rough gem, it has many interesting concepts and great ideas but its execution definately leaves more to be desired. The biggest complaint I see crop up however is people misunderstanding the core gameplay and it can be a steep learning curve. Alot of people come in expecting a GTA clone where you get to roleplay as cops or robbers. This is not the case at all, It plays more along the lines of a third person arcadey CS:GO with hyper competitive players. You are usually thrown into a mission with 4-6 players and the winner is determined by what team can devise the best stratagies to deal with the given objectives. The feed back when you shoot someone is minimal with a small blood spray to indicate you hit this leaves people complaining that their guns do no damage and people with rocket launchers are "pay2win hack3rz". I feel this type of gunplay handles closer along the lines of how Halo used to be played with a slower time to kill and more focus on stratigic engagements. It's not for everyone but I enjoy this style because it makes you think before you run into the open guns blazing expecting to kill everything your crosshairs pointed at. My personal biggest complaint for APB is that its servers can make it increadibly frustrating to play if you live in the oceania region like myself then you're sh*t out of luck as of the time of writing this there are only 3 servers, US, EU and JP with my lowest possible latency being 190-250 to Japan. However if you live close to either of these 3 regions you will probably have better luck and this will be a non issue. another complaint that props up alot is the "hackers" I cant speak for everyone but playing on the Japan server I generally run into hackers here less then most current big titles like CS:GO or PUBG (obviously the lower playerbase contributes to this too). Make no mistake you wil run into them on occasion and their tell is that they are generally the low ranks with 9+ win streaks or are getting 30 kills against high skill players. They aren't always this obvious but even so in my opinion if you have a decent team and some good communication you can shut down most script kiddies and if not just go make a cup of coffee and wait for the mission to end. APB also features a marketplace where you buy in game items for real money i'd say that even being a free to play game it manages to balance out the economy for players well enough, you can generally get all the best guns fairly early on such as the "Ntec" or "HVR" easily enough without paying a cent you just need paitence to learn how/when to use them. The only real big miss with the market is the lootbox mechanics which Is a bad practice in any aspect. The marketplace itself really only sells is some niche weapons that are far seperated from the meta and are generally not viable in a competitive setting their only real advantage being that players can purchase "lifetime" versions of guns so they dont have to buy an assault rifle every week or so unlike the in game economy, even so a purchase from the pay2win market isnt worth it 99% of the time. The biggest hook for APB (for me personally) is the insane customization, no other game lets you personalize your character to the extend APB does, where you can create your own outfits, tattoo's, cars, symbols and even music. With simple but increadibly robust creation suites, check my personal screenshots for some examples of this. It really lets you express yourself in this game and its great for artsy folk, even if you aren't an artist you can still purchase incredible creations other players have made to show off your avatar. It just gives the game personality that no other game ive found has been able to replicate and it really makes APB set itself appart in my eyes. The last big thing that I love about APB is the dynamic mission system, once again unlike other competitive games (or even GTA) if you want to hop into a match you dont have to wait for 50 loading screens or wait in a lobby for everyone to join. Once youre in a mission district (the main servers) you just hit the K button and you'll be flung into a mission with the closest ranked people that are driving around the server with you. It makes for incredibly dynamic sitations where even with my stupid 2000 hours I still encounter missions that play out in ways that ive never experienced or expected before and theres just no fuss, log in, hop into a server and hit the ready button and balm youre in a game. In conclusion this game just has a unique style that seperates itself from a simple GTA Clone, with competitive matchamking and dynamic missions in its open maps its just a unique experience and along with the character this game oozes with player customization it fills a tight niche that no other game has been able to fill