InFamous

This week, I've been watching and hearing a lot of things concerning the PS3's upcoming sequel to their 2009 smash hit, InFamous. And to be completely honest, I'm extremely excited about it. Despite the main character makeoiver (which has apparantly been dioscarded), InFamous 2 looks like a solid sequel to a truly enjoyable game. So, capitalizing on my InFamous 2 excitement, I've decided to do a Restrospective of the original.

Also, before I start, I want to take note of something quickly. In the days of the PSXand PS2, sony had 3 "Mascot" characters to help set them above the competition. These were Crash Bandicoot and Jak (& Daxter) from Naughty Dog studios; Spyro and Ratchet (& Clank) from Insomniac; and Sly Cooper from Sucker Punch.
Is it only me who has noticed that these studios have moved onto more mature games; such as Uncharted, Resistance and InFamous; respectively?

Anyway, ON WITH THE REVIEW!

InFamous is a 3rd person, open world, action game; developed by Sucker Punch Studios for the PS3. It was released in 2009 and it's sequel is scheduled for release in 2011.

STORY
InFamous puts players in the shoes of Cole McGrath, an average man working as a Bike Messenger in Empire City. It is the events of one of his deliveries that sets the destruction of Empire City and the empowerment of Cole in motion. The story follows Cole's journey to fix the crisis that he has seemingly brought upon the City.

This game is well written and interesting; with plenty of plot twists to keep players wanting to see what happens next. An easy way to describe the story is to say that it plays out just like a Comic Book; full of villains, heroics and epic plot twists.

PRESENTATION

The graphics of Infamous are quite amazing, whether you're looking at destroyed buildings, people dying in the streets, or the effects of one of Cole's many electric powers. My only problem with the look of the game is the repetitive feeling i get from playing through dozens of city blocks that look really similar. It's not a huge problem, as there are many more unique locations, but it does tend to cheapen the experience for me.

Another great visual point for InFamous is the cutscenes. The cinematic cutscenes are still images that look like they've been ripped from an extremely cool graphic novel; except that certain effects are happening in and around the images. However, in-game "Cinematics" (if you want to call them that) seem rather sketchy in comparison, and the characters seem pretty lifeless at times.

The dialogue is well written, and the voice acting is quite well done, with interesting voices for Cole and his best friend Zeke in particular. Some may find Cole to have a voice that is too gritty to be a good hero, but i found it refreshing from the sarcastic pretty boys that are normally voiced by Nolan North (see Prince of Persia, or Nathan Drake).

While I'm on the subject of Infamous' presentation, i wanna say that while the city feels alive, its not to the extent of, say, Grand Theft Auto. While you will see pedestrians, and cars being driven, it just seems that a bit more variety could have been added. What I mean by this, is that sometimes, a pedestrian will run up to you and ask you to heal theiur friend. WShile this is pretty cool, it happens far too often for it to stay fresh.

GAMEPLAY

At its core, InFamous plays like your standard 3rd person action game; L1 brings up the aiming reticule, R1 to Fire; but its Cole McGraths climbing and urban exploration skills that really differentiate this game to others of the genre. SuckerPunch have successfully created a world in which almost EVERYTHING is climbable. If you see a ledge, you can be damb sure that its safe to grab. Wanna climb that pipe? Go right ahead! Anything that you see that may give Cole a steady hold, probably will.

This is all well and good, however, it sometimes leads to Cole getting bogged down trying to reach the rooftops, then making his way across this destroyed landscape. This is mainly a problem in the first few hours of the game, though; as you soon get access to Thruster powers, and the power to zip along powerlines and traintracks using coles electric powers.

Besides reclaiming Empire City from 3 violent gangs with superpowered leaders, much of the game is centred around restoring the city; which at its most basic for, is returning the power to individual city sections. Each time Cole does this, he earns a new power; which can range from shock grenades, all the way up to summoning a mega lightning bolt which is controllable with the six-axis motion controller.

Now, I just mentioned 3 gangs of Crazies and their superpowered leaders, all of whom Cole must stop, so that life may return to normal. There are also 3 islands to explore. This means one gang to each island, which works fairly well; but a little bit of variety never hurt anyone.

Thats not to say the gangs are boring. Each has its standard troops, but the also have unique "Conduits" (superpowered soldiers); such as the Reaper Conduit who can teleport and send shockwaves at Cole, or the Dustmen conduit who telekineticly forms a Mech Suit out of grabage, that can destroy Cole if he isn't careful.

Although the enemies definitley do become more of a challenge as players progress, it is somewhat OVER countered by the powers that Cole recieves; sometimes making InFamous seem rather easy.

As well as the aforementioned gameplay features; InFamous also makes use of a Moral Choice System. Many of these choices culminate in what the game calls "Kharma Moments", where Cole weighs out the pros and cons of each action that can be taken; which both lets the player know what their options are, as well as making the evil option seem reasonable, yet still evil.

All that a players Kharma level means, however, is that Cole looks a little different, and has access to slightly different powers. For example, play as Infamous Cole, and your attacks will cause more damage; whereas good Cole willg ain abilities that make his attacks more precise, so as to limit collateral damage.

REPLAYABILITY

InFamous is packed with things to keep players interested in it; such as collectable hunts (such as searching for blast shards and dead drops) as well as an alternate story, for players to choose the opposite choice they had in their first playthrough. Though there is no online feature for InFamous, the collectables and second playthrough will rack up some more time that you can spend with this game.

OVERVIEW

InFamous is an extremely strong game, with an excellent visual style, great voice acting and fun/solid gameplay. However, players may get bogged down and fed up with the travel system in the early hours of play; and some in-game cutscenes look rather shabby. A lack of variety on locations also affects this title, but only a little bit. Despite these minor gripes, InFamous 2 is definitely worth playing.
I totally can't wait for its sequel; I'm really looking forward to zapping bad guys in the nads again. Anyways, until next time, i would like feedback, but no one seems to listen, so whatever. See you next time!