inFAMOUS

Reviewed By Ben Nguyen on 6/10/2009

The Game Itself:
It’s been nearly two years since Sucker Punch unveiled their first next generation game. As the developers of the critically acclaimed Sly Cooper series, the title has been received with plenty of hype and expectations, although rather low key compared to other Sony first party titles. inFAMOUS (referred to Infamous from here on out), is their first serious outing, a trend that many Sony first party studios have followed with this current generation. The result is a promising although slightly flawed experience. Infamous takes place in Empire City, a fictional city in the United States that is placed under quarantine by the government after an explosion occurs, followed by a plague. You take control of Cole, a bike messenger, and the only survivor of the explosion that occurs in Mission City. He also happens to be the one who supposedly caused the explosion. Following his explosion, Cole begins to discover that he has powers, essentially becoming a battery by discharging electricity and absorbing it in various ways, and sets off to discover the mystery behind the explosion.

The game is told through various cutscenes and through comic-book like panels. The presentation is certainly slick, especially the comic-book panels, however, the story often falters with various missions feeling like filler material. The story also gets repetitive, as it takes quite a bit of time to advance. The plot is initially engaging but falters in the second act before picking it back up in the third act.

The story is also affected by choices you make in the game, through the karma system. Being good has different events than being evil, but it seems like each choice means a different path, but the roads eventually converge for most choices in the game. This ultimately hurts the replay value of the game, as being evil still leads to the same general outcome.
Rating: 8/10

The Gameplay:
As I mentioned earlier, Infamous is essentially a superhero game, and your power is discharging electricity. Initially, you can only send shockwaves with electric force and a lightning bolt that zaps your enemies. The lightning bolt essentially works as a gun. Throughout the game, you eventually gain more powers, such as throwing “shock grenades” and “static thrusters” which allow you to glide, and that’s not all. The powers, despite being “electric” centric never get old. Although you will be spamming certain powers more than others in missions, they feel varied and inventive enough to feel fresh throughout the entire course of the game.

The other feature that is heavily presented in the game is the ability to scale buildings. No doubt about it, Cole is a ridiculously talented bike messenger if his scaling abilities are any indication. Cole can pretty much grab any pipe, ledge, sign, you name it. It happens to be one of the most refreshing parts of the game. Going from point A to point B has never been more fun, especially when combining static thrusters and Cole’s electric grinding abilities he’ll gain throughout the course of the story. Most missions consist of climbing buildings, traveling to the next point and employing the use of your powers, so in a sense, it can get very repetitive, but it won’t hit you until a second or even a third playthrough of the game.

Other than that, there’s the karma system. During several missions and even your actions outside of them, you will be judged on whether you fight for good…or bad. Choices are often presented with you doing something for the greater good, such as fighting a group of people head on, drawing fire away from innocent people, or letting the innocent people to fight and weaken your enemies before you take them on. However, it’s often black and white, so it comes off as awfully simplistic.

There is no neutral path either, and part of the reason is that the game has karmic exclusive powers. Being evil has different effects, such as shock grenades going in clusters, instead of one singular grenade. This makes playthroughs feel more varied, and both sides have their benefits, however, it feels somewhere between tacked on and complex. Simple in design, but the choices certainly have their consequences.
Rating: 9/10

The Replay Value:
For a sandbox title, you come to expect games that take a long time and continue to be playable even after you’ve completed the game. Sadly, this is not entirely the case for Infamous. After you beat the story, there will be side missions for you to complete (assuming you haven’t completed them beforehand), however, once you complete these side missions, enemies will not respawn, and rarely make an appearance again. The side mission happen to be reused often, as there are only like 10 types of side missions to do between the three islands. After that, all that’s left to do is collect shards and complete any stunts you might have missed.

The story is about 10-12 hours long, however, each run will likely take around 15-20 hours, as doing story missions exclusively will result in a very difficult surprise for you by the end of the game. After that, it is in your best interest to try the opposite side of karma to enjoy different paths the game has to offer, in addition to 15 exclusive side missions. Sadly, beyond that, there’s scaling buildings and finding the occasional enemy to zap. While the core gameplay is very fun, the content feels slightly lacking for a game in this genre. However, the game technically never “ends.”
Rating: 8/10

The Presentation:
As a Sony first party game, you come to expect excellent graphics and audio from this game. However, in the visual department, Infamous falls short of other games. That’s not to say it’s bad, as creating an entire city is not easy. However, you can’t help but feel that Sucker Punch could have pushed the Playstation 3 a little further. Textures are rather flat and the character models are fairly standard for a sand box game. Occasionally, when the action gets intense, the framerate may dip as well.

In addition to that, the draw distance isn’t exactly great, as cars and enemies will just magically appear on the screen as you get closer to them. However, the city is generally well designed. Many buildings are reused, but the islands feel distinct as they all center on a certain landmark. The comic panels are also very well drawn, and it’s certainly one of the highlights of the game’s visual presentation.

The audio however, is a completely different story. The game is one of the most impressive outings to date on the Playstation 3. Presented in DTS-HD, you will feel each shockwave rumble the bass as it crashes through cars and enemies alike. When things get hectic, explosions will thunder (no pun intended) throughout your whole room. The acting is decent, although I feel that the main character of Cole was miscast. Cole growls his way throughout the whole game, and it makes him a generally unsympathetic character for most of the game. However, villains such as Kessler, Sasha, and Alden are very well acted in addition to other supporting cast members such as John and Trish.
Rating: 8/10

Extra Credit:
No extras are included other than the Uncharted 2 multiplayer beta code currently running until the end of June 2009. This is only for first print copies. The beta is certainly a fun experience that fans of both Uncharted and Gears of War should enjoy. There is also a co-op mode for fans to experience that feels separate from the story, but a fun little adventure regardless. The game also happens to be one of the best if not THE best looking game on current generation consoles.
Rating: 5/10

Overall:
For Sucker Punch’s first outing on the Playstation 3 and their first outing at a serious game in general, this is certainly a promising start. Infamous happens to be one of the best superhero games out there with powers that never generally get old. However, it is hurt by repetitive missions, a short storyline, and the karmic system feeling very basic in design. You won’t feel like you’ve wasted your money however, because the core gameplay is its greatest strength. When you’re zapping enemies with various powers, you will certainly be having a great time, and as a skeptic of the game, it was certainly a shocking surprise.
Rating: 8/10