One of the best exclusive titles on the PS3

by Jim Gatfield

Fun factor: Fun

Worth to: Buy

Between the art-style, story, and brilliant gameplay, Sucker Punch has created a masterpiece of a game. If you own a PS3, you owe it to yourself to get inFamous; and if you don’t own a PS3, this is a reason to get one.

By stepping away from their Sly Cooper roots to delve into the world of super heroes and graphic novels, developer Sucker Punch has managed to create not only one of the very best PS3 exclusive titles, but one of the best games to come along in a great while on any system. inFamous is a sheer joy from start to finish with story, atmosphere, and gameplay fitting of its super-powered inspirations.

Few sandboxes are as intriguing as this one

Starting from scratch to create an entirely new superhero story, the game begins with an explosion that devastates the fictional Empire City, leaving bike messenger Cole MacGrath endowed with electricity-based powers. Forced to cope with his newfound abilities in a city decimated by both chaos and a mysterious plague, players lead Cole through a story filled with twists and moral choices that ultimately lead to the game’s climactic finish, in which players learn a phenomenal secret that shakes everything in the world of inFamous to its very core.



Told through in-game cinematics, graphic-novel inspired cutscenes, and various audio recording “dead drops” found throughout the world (think Bioshock), the story is a well-done superhero story that stands out amongst other open-world games. In fact, outside of Grand Theft Auto 4, few “sandbox” action games have been able to tell a story with the same amount of intrigue as inFamous. There are weak plot points, as can be expected in a game with an emphasis on player freedom, but the story really gets going by the game’s conclusion, which left me wanting more as soon as possible.

Gameplay, as I’ve already mentioned, is of the open-world, “sandbox” variety. Beyond the main storyline, there are a number of side missions that can be accomplished, collectibles to be located, and trophies to be earned throughout the games extensive three-island city. All of this variety wouldn’t be so alluring if it weren’t for the rock-solid control and movement in the world. Sucker Punch has taken their experience with Sly Cooper and made what is essentially a superheroic open-world platforming game, and in doing that has created one of the best platforming games of this generation.

Care Bear or Infamous, you make the choice

Cole, as mentioned at one point in the game, fancies himself as somewhat of a practitioner of “urban exploration.” This essentially means that if it looks like you can climb it, there an extremely good chance that you can find a way over it. This leads to some of the most enjoyable action in inFamous, simply moving about Empire City. By creating a control system that features a slight “aim-assist” for the platforming elements, the developers created a style of gameplay that makes exploring and jumping around enjoyable, without being overly frustrating or punishing. While making jumps or scaling objects, Cole actively reaches out to ensure his safe traversal of the environment, meaning that cheap deaths due to missing a jump are virtually non-existent. Climbing around and exploring every corner of Empire City is never discouraging, despite the immense scale of the cityscape, due to this expertly crafted system that aids just enough to make the game enjoyable, without feeling like it is doing everything for the player.



As advertised, a main part of the game consists of a morality system that allows players to make choices that move them up and down a six-point scale from good to evil (or “Hero” to “inFamous”, respectively). This is presented through major choices, which are shown as brief cutscenes with inner dialogue in which Cole considers the potential ramifications of his actions, setting up the scene for the player to make the choice; and minor choices, which exist in the actions taken throughout the game, such as saving civilians and avoiding collateral damage during fights. These choices take the player down either the good or evil pathway, affecting the set of powers available for the player, as well as the environment of Empire City. Citizens will react to Cole in different ways depending on what your alignment is at the time, ranging from simple dialogue choice to the types of posters placed around the city. If there were anything to complain about as far as the morality system goes, it would be that to really enjoy the games and have access to the best powers, you will have to focus staying at one end of the spectrum. There is really no incentive for playing the middle ground.

Nothing beats seeing two factions duke it out

In terms of the powers, once again inFamous shines. As the game progresses, powers are earned and upgraded according the alignment of the player. These powers are all based around electricity, and range from shock grenades and energy shields, to a really cool hovering power that lets you fly for short distances. In terms of morality, the powers for the good side tend to be geared towards skillfully stopping enemies with as little harm to civilians as possible, whereas the evil set of powers basically destroy everything in Cole’s vicinity. These powers are doled out at a nice pace over the course of the story, always giving you something more to work towards, turning Cole into a full-fledged superhuman by the game’s conclusion. As with the movement, these powers all feel completely natural, and are easy to master, which is good, because the enemies in inFamous are a highly-skilled, tough lot of video game scum.



Each of the three islands features a distinct style of enemies, each with their own subtypes. These enemies are gradually ramped up in terms of difficulty, ranging from fairly standard thugs early on, to some rather impressive larger scale villains in later encounters. Enemies are very capable with their weaponry, and are extremely ruthless in their attempts to make inFamous the only game featuring Cole MacGrath. Battles are massive, and even feature separate enemy factions fighting each other in a few cases, making for some spectacular encounters.

Graphically, inFamous is amazing. The extensive game environment feature details in every nook and cranny, and the citizens of Empire City make the world feel alive and constantly changing.

You’ll want to replay it as soon as you play it

Cole’s character model is incredibly animated, making the platforming all the more enjoyable. The electricity effects connected to his abilities are stunning, and convey a sense of real power as Cole is leveled up throughout the game. The graphic novel cutscenes are incredible, featuring expert artwork, and help contribute to the dark and gritty art style created by the developers. If there were anything to complain about graphically, it would be that once in a while the game suffers from some hiccups, such as pop-ins, as many open-world games do. Additionally, the facial animations during the in-game cutscenes are rather lackluster, but these complaints are rather small compared to the rest of the game’s beautiful graphics.

Sound in inFamous is another area that Sucker Punch gave great attention to during development. From the immersive ambient sounds, to the amusing remarks made by random bystanders as they witness Cole’s work, sound in this game contributes a lot towards the atmosphere. The music is appropriate without ever becoming forced during the action, instead helping to set the dark and dynamic pace of the game. The voice work for the cast of characters is well-done, with dialogue befitting the graphic novel style of storytelling. Cole does tend to sound a bit like Christian Bale, which might seem a bit odd at times, but the voice work is solid nonetheless.



Replayability in inFamous is not even an issue. Between the lengthy story, which is designed to be played through twice in order to fully enjoy both sides of the morality system, and the massive amount of side missions and collectible, this game will last players for a great deal of time. In fact, after finishing my first playthrough in order to write the review, I immediately began a second play-through in order to get to explore the evil side fully. Never before has a game inspired me to immediately sit down and start over at the story’s conclusion, but inFamous did.

Summary

After a statement like that, there is little else I can say in terms of how good this game is. Yes, there may be little technical issues here and there, and the game may suffer from some of the typical open-world issues such as repetitive side missions, but at the end of it all I can say that I have not had more fun with a game this year than I have had with inFamous. Between the art-style, story, and brilliant gameplay, Sucker Punch has created a masterpiece of a game, and I eagerly await a sequel, merely days after the game’s release. If you own a PS3, you owe it to yourself to get this game; and if you don’t own a PS3, this game is a reason to get one.