Infamous Review

This is a review for Infamous, a sandbox-style third person action game exclusive to the PS3. I recently beat this game and I'm really excited about sharing my experience with it and giving you guys the heads up about it so lets get right into it.
 

 
In Infamous you play as Cole MacGrath, you're average every-day bike courier, at least until an unexpected explosion hits Empire City. Cole survives and wakes up in the aftermath of the explosion and he realizes he has gained electric powers. The explosion leaves Empire City in hell hole because of the people that have been driven wild by the impact, leading them to engage in various criminal activities. A gang known as “The Reapers” rises in the midst of the chaos in Empire City and they really make Empire City just a terrible place to be living in. As Cole starts to hone his newfound powers, someone known as “The Voice of Survival” turns the citizens against Cole, branding Cole as dangerous and warning that he's not to be trusted. Due to this, Cole is forced to flee with his friend Zeke, only to be captured by government agents. Soon after, Cole meets a woman named Mayo who convinces Cole to, in return for setting him free, return to Empire City to help her protect the city and find her husband. The story is pretty good, and it has some good plot twists. The story and it's presentation is very reminiscent to that of a comic book, which is an aesthetic that really appeals to me and makes the story more enjoyable for me. The game tells it's stories through cell phone conversations and comic-art styled movies, obviously inspired by comic books.  
 

Presentation

Infamous really shows you what the PS3 can do. The graphics are clean, smooth and very sharp on my HDTV. Unfortunately, though the game generally runs pretty well, sometimes there are a lot of frame rate problems when there's a lot of action going on. Cole is well detailed and the other character models are pretty good.

The sound in this game is awesome... the voice acting is great and the lightning sounds never get old. The music also supports the games dreary art style very well. Empire City really looks like a depressing city to be living in, thanks to nicely executed art style. 

 

Gameplay

Infamous really shines in it's gameplay. The powers in this game are awesome and they feel great. You have your standard shot, an electric grenade, a shockwave and things of that nature, all in third person. You'll be wanting to utilize all of your powers in this game because certain enemies are more effectively countered through certain powers. This game is also very sandbox... you can roam around the city and take on your main missions or you can do side quests to get some extra rewards.

The side quests are fun but after a while they do become fairly repetitive. The game also has a karma system wherein the decisions you make really affect you dramatically. I played through the game as a good guy and now I kindof regret it because the evil guy just looks so much cooler, and to me your powers look and feel so much more brutal and effective when you're evil. The karma system is similar to that of the one in Fable because Cole changes the based on how good or evil you are. The meshing of third person action with sandbox elements is really appealing to me and it made the experience very enjoyable.

This game has a pretty decent length to it, I beat it in an estimated 15 hours. There is no multiplayer but you can play through it one more time as evil or good because the gameplay is very different. This game is worth the money because this is a game that you really don't want to miss out on and you'll get some replay value out of it. This game is really the prime game of Sony's 2009 exclusive lineup... Overall it's a great game and anyone who owns a PS3 should most definitely play the game!