inFamous Review

Written by: Darren Cartledge Posted: 29th May 2009

Share:

Digg It

We become inFamous!

inFamous Details:

	Action
	PlayStation 3
	Sucker Punch
	Sony

16+

Out Now

Sony has received a fair amount of criticism from some PS3 gamers for the lack of first party software available for the system. However things look to be changing this year! First, we had Killzone 2 and now it’s the turn of inFamous to hog the limelight and deservedly so!

inFamous puts you in the role of Cole McGrath an ordinary everyday guy whose life is turned upside down when a catastrophic explosion rips through Empire City sealing it off from the outside world. Cole the sole survivor from the epicentre blast awakes to discover something within him has changed; he now has super powers that allow him to manipulate electricity and use it as a weapon. However, Empire City has changed cut off from the rest of the world vile gangs have taken over wrecking havoc and terrorising the citizens and it’s up to Cole to put things right!

inFamous is set in a huge open world environment in which Cole is free to travel around in by any means he sees fit! Unfortunately, this excludes cars as our electrical charged hero makes them explode. However this is not cause for despair, as Sucker Punch have provided many other ways for you to get around. Firstly Cole is a highly agile urban explorer, he can scale buildings and signs with ease, allowing him to use the city rooftops as his highway, jumping between buildings and some how, just when you think he’s not going to make it he always finds something to grab on to. This approach allows for some great exploration opportunities with the massive Empire City but if you’re in more of a rush there is a faster way to get around. Utilising the electrical charge within his body Cole can grind on rail tracks and electric cables allowing him to move around at high speed, which if we’re honest is a lot more fun then driving from point A to B?

Of course Cole’s powers don’t simply grant him the ability to travel where others can’t! He can also shoot bolts of electricity from his hands and send electrical blast waves towards enemies. As you progress through the game, you will be granted new abilities as power returns to Empire City. These include being able to generate a polarity shield, more powerful lightening blasts and even the ability to call in devastating lightening storms. However, as fun as it is at first, you soon realise that Cole’s special abilities are nothing more the straight replacements for more conventional weapons! Although somewhat underpowered in comparison! Which can make the super tough bad guys somewhat of a labour to takedown. This sadly gives the game a weighted feel as the bad guys also vastly outnumber you. Powers can be upgraded as you progress, although this does little to increase the amount of damage you inflict. Instead increasing the range and affect in a wider area which is a little disappointing.

inFamous follows the now standard formula for an open world action game, featuring story missions and side missions. The games missions lack a little in originality and task you with travelling to a set location to clear enemies, retrieve an item, rescue someone or defend a character from never ending waves of enemies. Some missions also provide Karmic moments that give you two choices of what to do, one good, one bad. The option you choose dictates how you are perceived in the game world, what missions are available and even which of Cole’s powers you can use. Overall it’s a good addition which gives you some control over your characters development. However, it feels a little underdeveloped.

Despite the unoriginal missions the storyline is good enough to keep you interested, especially in the early stages. However, things do tend to unravel a little towards the end and the game always seems to find a way to knock you down whenever you seem to be getting somewhere? Some may be disappointed to learn that inFamous completely lacks any multiplayer component, but despite this the game still offers a huge amount of playing time from the many missions to complete.

Visuals in inFamous are absolutely fantastic, character models are highly detailed with distinctive faces, clothes and so on. Animation is absolutely brilliant, Cole moves in a highly realistic way as he scrambles up the sides of buildings. However, the most impressive part of the visuals in inFamous lays with how much detail has gone into creating Empire City. There’s a huge amount to see and explore, and whilst it can be repetitive in some areas there’s a real level of depth and life to see. Other notable visuals are the effect used to show Cole’s powers again these are flawless and look absolutely fantastic as electricity arcs across metal surfaces. Instead of the standard animated cut-scenes inFamous utilises, comic book style stills instead, whilst this is a rather unconventional approach, it does add a certain level of charm to the title. The games audio design has also been done to the highest standards throughout. Voice acting is performed brilliantly, whilst the games soundtrack does a good job of creating an intense and edgy atmosphere.

So inFamous is something of a mixed bag, lots of good ideas some implemented brilliantly others a little underdeveloped but despite these weaknesses, inFamous still manages to deliver a gripping and worthwhile playing experienced that will keep you electrified until the end!