Infamous Demo Impressions

By xAbleAssassinx May 25, 2009 5 Comments

Immediately InFamous seems much more promising upon getting my hands on it. From what I can tell the gameplay footage I've seen doesn't do it justice, the game is a lot more fun to control and play than one would imagine from simply looking at it. This level of polish is impressive too, on face value it might not seem particularly amazing to look at but what with all the action happening on screen; cars being tossed into the air, lighting bolts shooting from your hands, electricity jumping from structure to structure, it's all done incredibly seamlessly, creating a very smooth, very enjoyable action experience. 

The game itself puts you in the role of Cole, a man who awakes after being caught in a massive explosion, and finds he has the ability to manipulate electricity. The demo shows off a few of the different mission structures, and lets you play as the two polar opposites of good and evil. The difference mainly being that your electricity is either blue or red and your attacks are either more precise or chaotic. The demo isn't timed and there are a good few missions, with ample opportunity to do a bit of exploring, which is where a great deal of the fun is to be found. The guys at Sucker Punch have created a world that is as rich and detailed vertically as it is horizontally. With endless amounts of ledges and pipes to help you traverse the landscape, Coles abilities allow him to hop, skip and jump around the environment with super human agility and ease. Free roaming games must be enjoyable whilst doing just that: free roaming. It is the platforming elements of InFamous that make it so fun to play, without even beginning a mission. 

Combat, although tricky at first, is also extremely gratifying. Your electrifying powers, in combination with your climbing abilities, make for many a nail baiting fracas; the freedom provided by your mobility allows for experimentation and different approaches to taking out enemies. There is a real sense of power and destruction in the combat, you reap havoc and leave chaos in your wake, it makes for lots of fun. So far this all is all based on a demo preview, so obviously this isn't representative of the quality of the full game, but it's safe to say that so far things are looking good.

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