inFAMOUS puts players in the shoes of bike messenger-turned-superhero Cole McGrath as he decides the fate of Empire City. Sucker Punch has created a living,dynamic urban space for you to explore with your wide array of electricity based super powers. Every decision you make changes this landscape, leading to a unique and engaging open-world experience.
The story is delivered through well stylized comic-book shorts as our hero discovers his new found powers and how his life changes from a regular bike messenger to a suspected terrorist. It's a predictable affair but the moral decisions presented at key moments give you a more authorial role than you might in a comic book. Most characters here fit a particular comic book cliché like your annoying friend Zeke, who has a habit of getting in trouble, but they are all executed well enough that you'll find them fun to be around.
Most open-world games give you a sandbox experience but they fail to provide any motivation for you to actually bother with the various options at your disposal. inFAMOUS,on the other hand, places a real emphasis on these small things that essentially help you shape the world around you. This gives the world a very dynamic feel and adds weight to everything you do. Even outside missions, Cole can help pedestrians deal with petty crimes or become a menace himself. The game tracks all these minor acts of good/evil and adds to your overall Karma. It may not sound like much at first but as you spend more time with the game, you start feeling responsible for the entire city and its populace.
The action in inFamous is fast paced and intense. Being a walking battery, Cole has access to a variety of electricity based superpowers. He uses them to shoot lightning bolts from his hands in the standard shooter style combat. As the game goes on, you unlock more powers which mimic other weapon archetypes like grenades, rocket launchers or snipers. Cole can also use his powers to push objects or bring down lightning storms. You can switch seamlessly between them and the game even rewards you for mixing it up, allowing you a certain degree of flourish. The difficulty stays pretty even throughout and the game constantly challenges you as you become more powerful with a wide variety of enemies.
You can buy power upgrades using experience points, which you earn by completing missions, taking down enemies or helping/killing people on the sidewalk. The kind of upgrades available to you are defined by an ingame Karma system which reflects your moral choices. Each end of the scale gives you access to a unique upgrade or power, complimenting your playstyle. The good path focuses on minimizing collateral damage and pinpoint accuracy while the evil path turns you into a one man wrecking crew with huge spread damage.
Being an open world game, arguably the most important gameplay element here is the exploration. He may not have a drivers license but Cole can jump from any height, slide along on power-lines from rooftops and glide through air to make his way around the city. While jumping and climbing, Cole gravitates towards ledges, poles and footholds which make it very easy to scale some of the more rugged architectures. The combination of these things make it incredibly fun to explore your surroundings and find the many collectible items hidden around the city. There are various missions in the game which put the spotlight on the platforming and they are all incredibly fun to do.
The thing that surprised me the most during my time with the game was how well the shooting and exploration mix together to give an experience where you can freeform with incredible ease. The controls are very sharp and precise and allow you to use the full range of Cole's abilities. There is constant feedback on the DualShock3 controller that helps convey the intensity on screen. It's not really a tangible quality but the feel of shooting here is outstanding. The way you take cover, dodge incoming attacks or use your powers while shooting are all done perfectly. And it gels seamlessly with the platforming. The movement and combat flows exceedingly well and the end result is an amazing action-adventure experience.
All this factors into the incredible replay value here. The combination of all your moral choices and the various iterations on your powers are significant enough that you'll want to play through the campaign atleast twice. It took me roughly 20 hours to play through the game's main storyline the first time around and I immediately jumped right back in for a second playthrough.
InFamous looks and sounds great. All your outlandish powers are rendered really well and the game features some spectacular explosions. The city and its general population are done really well too, and there are big visual changes to go along with the choices you make. A lot of the technical faults were fixed in the latest update and the framerate remains in a comfortable range even with multiple enemies on the screen. While Cole himself animates very well, there are still some occasional glitches with the way your enemies react. However, it never detracts from the overall experience.
The sound effects here are very convincing. All the lightning effects sound exactly like you would want them to and there is some great use of foley effects here. The audio feedback is great as you interact with your surroundings and keeps you immersed in the game. The soundtrack sets the mood for the story perfectly and features some great combination of urban themes and orchestral setpieces. It does get a little repetitive towards the end and leaves you wishing there was just more of it. Some sketchy voice acting is only real weakness here. Cole has a very gravely voice and seems to be constantly brooding, while his supporting casts never deliver on the emotional front. A few key characters seem detached from the whole thing and it's a little off-putting during the otherwise well done cutscenes.
Apart from a couple of minor flaws, inFamous is an amazing package. Sucker Punch greatly improves on the open-world sandbox formula. The overall presentation is slick and the story sets up an obvious sequel. But the real star of the show is the sharp and precise combat that will keep you coming back for more.