inFamous is a third-person open-world action game in which players take control of Cole, an urban explorer / bike messenger changed by a mysterious blast that grants him electricity-based superpowers.
Back in 2007, Sony and Sucker Punch released a trailer for a little game called inFamous. It wasn't especially popular at first, but before long, it became one of the PlayStation 3's most anticipated titles. But along with anticipation comes the debate as to weigher or not the game can truly live up to the hype, and I'm proud to say that it exceeds it. True, there are many open world action games out there, but none of them have managed to combine shooting, platforming and superhero gameplay like inFamous has. It takes a lot of chances with its gameplay, and it succeeds in delivering a fun, fast-paced and varied adventure. But not only does inFamous deliver tons of fun, it also delivers a huge amount of content. The story alone will take about 20 hours to complete, and the karma system will have you playing through the game again to see the story unfold from a different perspective.
inFamous has you playing as Cole, a delivery boy who unknowingly delivers a bomb, which explodes, destroying Empire City and giving him – as well as several gangs – superpowers. When the game begins you don't know much about the story or characters, but as the game progresses the story suddenly becomes much deeper, and upon playing through a second time you'll notice things you didn't before, such as plot spoilers hidden among obscure dialogue. The game will likely have you scratching your head at times, but at the very end of the game it all comes together and you see exactly how unique the storyline is, and it takes some rather sad moments for you to realize how much you care about the characters and their world.
Empire City is a huge place. Looking at the map it seems quite small, but when you consider that you can climb any building and go virtually anywhere, the city is truly huge, and rewarding to explore, thanks to tons of hidden goodies and side missions. Throughout the city are 32 Dead Drops, which are voice recordings that explain things about the story, as well as 350 Blast Shards, which allow Cole to hold more electricity and therefore use more special powers before having to recharge. There are also 15 good side missions and 15 evil side missions, plus the however many basic side missions which clear out sections of the city and unlock new medical clinics, which can be used as spawn points when you die. There are also stunts to pull off, such as throwing enemies into the air and punching them, or using precision – a slow motion aiming mode – to kill an enemy while grinding on a rail. All these items and features not only encourage you to explore, but they encourage you to do it over and over again. It's just a shame Cole can't go in water, as it limits exploration significantly.
The scale of inFamous is quite impressive.The side missions are going to be what has you coming back. The good side missions will have you escorting prisoners to jail, protecting a parade of protesters, and the like. Evil missions have you hunting people down and killing them, destroying police stations, and all that fun stuff. Every time you complete a good side mission an evil side mission is locked out, meaning that to complete them all you'll have to play the game multiple times. This clever system highly extends replayability as you have to work your way relatively far through the story before unlocking some of these side missions. There are some other side missions that aren't good or evil and will have you destroying security cameras, running past satellite uplinks, and a few other fun little objectives. The problem with these is that they repeat themselves far too often. Don't be surprised if you finish destroying security cameras, only to find another mission a few blocks down the road that will have you destroying more security cameras. Fortunately, the missions are fun enough to make this forgiveable.
Cole has a variety of powers, all of which are tied to the karma system. Performing good deeds such as healing innocents and capturing enemies alive boost your good reputation and allow you to use more precise, defensive powers, while performing evil deeds such as sucking the life out of people will give you stronger powers, at the cost of your reputation. If you're good, people will want to take your picture and get your autograph, but if you're bad, people will flee from you, insult you, and throw stones at you. The karma system is relatively simple, but it's extremely effective and makes it easy to switch between being a jerk and being a hero.
Cole's best ability, however, is not his lightning, but his agility. He can jump from rooftops, climb buildings, grind on rails and wires, and even fly temporarily using electric thrusters. All these awesome abilities make getting around the city a breeze, and a lot of fun too. To jump to an object, you simply press X and then push the analog stick in the direction of the object you want Cole to latch onto. It can be a little sticky at times, and occasionally even frustrate when you land on the wrong object and have to start over, but it works extremely well most of the time, and it makes traveling so fast that the huge city almost feels small – and that's a good thing. Cole can also take cover behind some walls and objects, as well as hang from the edge of a building and peek over to shoot. You can even hang from a pole and shoot down at enemies.
Expect to see plenty of explosions like this one.
The story will take you through the game's three districts: Neon District, The Warren and the Historic District. All three look similar in terms of colors and design, but they're all controlled by different gangs: Reapers, Dust Men and First Sun. There are only three gangs in the game, yes, but there are multiple varieties of each. There are basic grunts, some guys with bombs attached to them that blow up in your face, and Conduits, which are super-powered – and generally extra large – enemies that can do things like teleport and tote huge gatling guns. The variety is nice, and it keeps things interesting throughout, and there are even some trash monsters thrown in for good measure. In addition to these dudes, there are a few boss fights. There are only three bosses in the entire game, which is a little disappointing, but the pacing is nice overall and these encounters fit in nicely with the plot.
Graphically, inFamous isn't going to turn any heads, unless they're turning in confusion as to why it doesn't look better. That's not to say it looks bad, but there are a lot of ugly and flat textures, ugly water, sloppy character animations, and graphical glitches throughout. At one point, I fell through the floor and into water, where I died and had to start over. At another, I killed an enemy on a roof, and he started floating in the air and bouncing up and down. The frame rate also chugs when there's a lot of action on-screen. It's not all bad, though. The city is quite large and you can go pretty much anywhere, and the art design is pretty awesome. It's a little gray, but it's fitting for a world that's been destroyed by a bomb, and the blur effect when you're in a district with no power is interesting and effective in letting you know when there isn't any electricity around.
Most of the game's story is told in-game through phone conversations, televisions and some in-game cutscenes, but most of the actual plot is told through comic book-style cutscenes. Of course, if you're expecting a bunch of still comic book pages with some narration thrown in, you're wrong. The cutscenes are 2-D, but they're animated in a sense that characters and environments move, and overall they have a lot of personality and do a good job of telling the story, mostly due to the excellent narration by the game's main protagonist, Cole.
Evil players have all the fun.
inFamous' voice acting varies throughout. There are times when it sounds really good, and times when it sound just flat-out bad. Cole's voice, for example, is good for the most part, but there are times when it sounds like a different voice actor is playing him, weigher it be because his voice sounds like a little kid trying to sound like a rough old man, or like an actual rough old man who's done a little too much smoking. Other characters, like Zeke, sound like their accents are completely fake, though you'll likely get used to it before long. The musical score is fantastic at times, and a little bit annoying at others, with some tunes that are epic and fitting, and others that sound loud and repetitive. Overall, it's a good score, though. The sound effects are realistic, and they're pretty much spot on unless the game has some sort of glitch.
It's a shame inFamous doesn't have a multiplayer function, or any online functionality at all. Sure, it sounds like a bit of a lame complaint, but once you start playing the game, and upgrading your powers, it seems like it would be cool to be able to customize your powers and use them against others. It hardly matters, though, seeing as the game has such lasting value anyway, but it would be nice to have something to do outside of the single player missions. Fortunately, you'll eventually become immersed in the storyline and you'll never want to put it down. Perhaps that's all part of Sucker Punch's evil plan.
inFamous is the best open world game to grace this generation so far, and not just because it's so much fun, but because it can take a basic shooter formula, combine it with platforming and some of the coolest powers I've ever seen and turn it into something so much fun that I can never get enough. The graphics aren't exactly beautiful by any means, but in a game as fun as inFamous, it's easy to look past flaws like this, because they hardly tarnish the overall gameplay and level of polish. Needless to say, inFamous is successful in its ambition, and despite its flaws, it's an absolutely incredible action game that any PlayStation 3 owner should have in their collection.
inFamous(PlayStation 3) by wrenchninja on May 26, 2009
"Do I want them to love me...or fear me?" That quote and title up there represents a lot about what makes inFAMOUS, well inFAMOUS. It is an open world sandbox game by Sucker Punch Productions. Does that ring any bells? Hopefully you do recall something, as those guys at Sucker Punch developed the Sly Cooper games back on the PS2. So there is a bit of a pedigree going into this title. inFAMOUS is the story of Cole McGrath, an ordinary joe who works as a bike messenger. One day he finds himself de...
inFamous(PlayStation 3) by roboyto on June 07, 2009
So many Emperor Palpatine references to make...Sucker Punch’s new, PS3 exclusive interactive comic book adventure, inFamous, is an easy game to love and one that leaves you breathless at the end eagerly awaiting another installment. Taking the GTA model of open world exploration and questing within a huge, living city, inFamous puts you in the shoes of the newly super-powered Cole McGrath and turns you loose in to wreak havoc or seek redemption as you see fit. The gameplay experience in inFamou...
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