inFamous

 Superhero games are a mixed bunch. Some are completely awesome and feel amazing to play- take a bow, Spiderman 2- but most are complete trash which are only worthy of landfill. Suckerpunch hopes to buck this trend with their new title infamous, but without a popular super hero and by only releasing the game on a single platform have they dashed their hopes for success?

My immediate reaction is no- inFamous is a fun, polished title which gives plenty of bang to the buck. On the flip side of the coin though, not a single part of it seems fresh or innovative (some components even feel stale) which can at times leave a slightly sour taste in the mouth.

InFamous opens with the destruction and resultant quarantine of Empire   City  - an event which it turns out you are partially responsible for. You are Cole, a messenger who mysteriously gains supernatural electrical abilities after the blast. The story unfolds through phone conversations with main characters and animated scenes produced in a comic book style presentation. While the writing won’t win any awards, the plot is fairly interesting and keeps the game’s pace going.

As the game progresses Cole unlocks new abilities including limited flight, the ability to grind on telephone wires and the capability to spontaneously cause violent lightning storms. All of Cole’s powers feel great to use, and whilst you are immensely powerful the game never loses its challenge. As you are given these powers you are also given the freedom to use them how you please- will you use the huge attacks, putting innocent civilians in danger, or will you be more precise and take down enemies while keeping pedestrians safe? The powers evolve based on how you play- for example, a good character’s ‘grenades’ will bind enemies within range to the ground, putting them safely out of action. An evil player gains cluster bombs, which can cause widespread devastation.
These moral choices play a huge part of the game, and while they certainly make multiple play-throughs enticing they are by far my biggest criticisms of the game. Not only are Karma systems extremely overused in modern gaming, but they are usually done much better than what inFamous attempts. In Fallout 3, for example, not only do you have good and evil, but you have shades of grey in the middle. InFamous takes a purely black and white approach and punishes players who try to play the middle line by not opening up advanced powers. It feels totally outdated and could have been much improved upon.
The game is also rather unbalanced in the fact that evil characters are unjustly more powerful-conduction is all well and good, but Palpatine-style arc lightning and explosive headshots are far superior. Even the game’s title encourages bad deeds, since the top evil rank shares the same name.

Nearly everything else in the game is done very well, however. Sporting fairly impressive visuals for an open world game (not GTA4 standards, but well ahead of Saints’ Row),  Empire   City is full of character and is clearly designed with Cole’s abilities in mind. The streets are packed with pedestrians who you can heal, protect or murder. As you walk past they will shout things out-“I WANT YOUR BABIES!” was a memorable outburst. People’s opinions of you will vary with your Karma level- hero players will get vigilante assistance in combat, while evil characters are at risk of being stoned to death. A connection is immediately formed with the city’s quarantined inhabitants. One woman continuously cries that she was only meant to be in town for a day. Well, I say one woman, but of course this being an open world game you will hear that message come from dozens of mouths.

The audio of inFamous is slightly underwhelming- while the game’s soundtrack is certainly quite good (an appropriate combination of The Dark Knight and Half Life), the majority of playtime is spent without any music at all. You’d think that with this sparse musical landscape custom soundtracks would be supported, but unfortunately not. Explosions and electrical effects are spot on however, and while Cole’s Solid Snake impersonation is slightly annoying it isn’t exactly a deal breaker.

While inFamous isn’t exactly perfect, it is certainly worthy of being in any PS3 owner’s library. Using Cole’s powers prove to be highly enjoyable, the story is fairly good and the game’s premise proves to be fairly immersive. If a middle line could be drawn between the two Karma extremities inFamous would be well into the Awesomesauce range, but even as it is Suckerpunch should be proud that they have created arguably the best super hero game ever released.