Possibly one of the most anticipated titles on the Playstation 3 this year, inFamous sees you take control of the creepy superhero/villain Cole MacGrath.
The story takes off with a massive explosion in Empire City. At the centre of this explosion is Cole MacGrath- who for some unknown reason has not only survived this ordeal, but also acquired new electrical powers. The explosion causes the city to be quarantined and eventually, with no police, there is chaos in the streets and martial law is established by a set of gangs - The Reapers, The Dustmen and The First Sons.
As the game proceeds, MacGraph has to come to terms with his newfound powers and, like most superhero-based stories, has to decide whether to use his powers for good or evil. Throughout the game there are various “karma moments”, where Cole contemplates what action he should take, and it is up to you to decide what is the right or wrong thing to do.
These decisions not only affect the look of Cole and the city, but they also open up a whole host of different powers. Should you decide to act in a selfish manor, Cole will eventually begin to resemble something similar to Nero from Star Trek and his powers will become more destructive. Should your decisions be more honourable, your powers will be more precise, causing less damage to Empire City.
These decisions also affect the colour of his electrical powers – blue for good, red for evil (naturally). NPC's will also react differently around you, running for their lives if they think you are gonna open an can of electronic whoopass upon them. If you act honourably they will cheer you on, put up posters of you and some women will even scream “I want to have your baby!”
Being a sandbox-style game, the whole of Empire City is open to you. However, due to Cole's powers, he is unable to get into cars as for some reason they explode (problem with the electrics I guess). This doesn't mean Cole can't find other methods to get around- he is a superhero after all- and pretty soon his arsenal of powers present him with better modes of transport.
Speaking of his powers, they are not unlimited. You see Cole is a bit like a rechargeable battery. If he fires his electricity bolts for too long, without charging himself up, his powers will run out. Luckily, there are number of spots in Empire City for Cole to refresh himself. Being the scene of a massive disaster, Empire City is prone to the odd black out and on occasions, this becomes a problem for Cole.
Much like Cole some of the villains have also acquired super powers. The Reapers (who were once the druggies of Empire City) are now armed with machine guns and can tear apart the ground. The First Sons can morph into energy beams. Even more bizarre are the Dustmen – previously Empire City's homeless population- who since the explosion have developed advanced engineering skills and can create killer robots drones! Amazing! I think they must of been former workers from the struggling manufacturing industry in the US.
The controls for inFamous are spot on. You can climb almost every building in Empire City and the controls and level design are set out in a way that makes the gameplay a very fluid experience (if you have played Uncharted, you know what I mean).
Graphically, inFamous is very strong- that's not to say there isn't the odd bug here and there. Empire City is huge so there is bound to be the odd bit of pop-up (the installation is quite small, so quite a lot of the data is ran off the disc). And for some reason when you hit someone over the edge and into water, they don't sink – they just lay there like they have landed on solid concrete. But these are minor criticisms when you compare it to what Sucker Punch have actually achieved with this game.
The cutscenes are also worthy of a mention. The animations are played out like something from a comic book, adding to that whole superhero theme. The voice acting is particularly good too.
Overall, inFamous is a fantastic achievement for Sucker Punch. It is a huge, huge game with an intriguing plot and a complicated hero. If you own a Playstation 3, I would definitely recommend getting hold of this game- and then shocking it to ashes, or loving it like a son, the choice is yours....
Verdict: 9 out of 10
The Good:
- Massive open environment
- Good use of Karma
- Good controls and powers
The Bad
- Some small bugs
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