252px-infamous-coverAlright folks, this is the premier review by yours truly on andPOP.  This week I’m taking a look at iNFAMOUS, from Sucker Punch Productions.

inFAMOUS follows the story of Cole, a messenger given strange electricity-based powers from a devastating explosion that destroys a good chunk of Empire City and cripples the rest.  As Cole struggles to understand and control his new powers, he sets out to discover how the blast happened in the first place, and who’s responsible.  He may not like what he finds out.

I’ll start off by saying that inFAMOUS is a lot of fun.  This sandbox game is open-ended entertainment.  As you travel the length and breadth of Empire City, you can play through the game’s story missions or venture off on side missions and scavenge for extras.  But nothing is perfect, and inFAMOUS is not an exception to this rule.  There are glitches and oversights that, if corrected, could have made this a potential heir to the PS3 throne (the “throne” being the throne of Awesome).

The control scheme here is sort of a blend of Assassin’s Creed meets Force Unleashed.   It’s intuitive and very quick to master, even though you gain abilities throughout the game.  The biggest reason that these controls are so easy to pick up is that after you gain a new ability, you are put through a very brief sequence that involves situations relevant to your new power.  It’s not too obvious, and it works.  The most exciting feature is the freerunning, though.  Apparently our hero picked up some intense parkour skills in his life as a messenger/urban explorer, and puts them to use climbing anything and everything in Empire City with a handhold (except for chainlink fences and some stairs, apparently – yes, really).  Aside from some invisible walls here and there and Cole’s seemingly uncontrollable need to grab anything in his reach to hang on to when falling or jumping, this freedom of movement is above par for any game that’s come before.

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OK buddy, that's one healing, you're fine. I'm gonna need that wallet.

The fundamental feature of this game that Sucker Punch is really hanging their hat on though is the Karma system.  Reminiscent of Fable or Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, your actions and reactions throughout the game contribute Good or Evil Karma to an overall Karma Meter, which in turn determines whether you’re headed from Neutral rank to a Good ranking (Guardian to Champion to Hero), or an Evil one (Thug to Outlaw to Infamous).  This is handled in a couple of ways.  During missions, you may come to a crossroads (Karma Moment) that will have you choose between 2 courses of action.  These are all very black-and-white (or red-and-blue, as it were) and involve such conundrums as “Should I zap a couple of people and take all this food for myself, forcing others to starve, or share it with everyone?” or “Should I dress up as a clown and entertain the kids at this birthday party, or kick that puppy in the face?” (warning: game may not contain puppy kickage).  But as the game progresses, your policy of cutting a swathe of destruction across the city will have it’s consequences, as will healing every person lying around (apparently, no matter what your ailment, 10,000 volts will get you back up and running – or it could be that 34% of the population of Empire City are suffering from heart attacks at random).  If you choose the Good path Cole remains clean and charged with blue electricity, and gains upgrades to abilities (purchased with earned XP) that focus on subduing foes rather than killing them, and avoiding collateral damage.  Evil is another story – Cole becomes grungy and pale, and collateral damage seems to be the aim of the day (Like one grenade-like attack that splits into 7 grenadelets per push of the button – that’s called having a bad day).  I chose Good the first time around, and Evil the second.  I found that the Good abilities rack up as better than Evil in the long run, although the freedom of doing anything you want as an Evil character generally cranks the fun level up a bit during gameplay. All in all, the Karma system is, no pun intended, what keeps inFAMOUS in balance.  Without it, this would just be GTA IV with superpowers.

The missions of inFAMOUS are once again, reminiscent of Assassin’s Creed – although this time with a little Spider-Man 2 thrown in.  It’s fine to run through the story one mission after another, only doing side missions as necessary, but why?  There’s so much to be had within the city (Blast Shards that increase your electricity capacity, Dead Drops that expand on the plotline before the explosion) that it’s crazy not to run through each and every side mission.  Not to mention the fact that when you finish a side mission, that area of Empire City is now your turf.  No more getting-shot-in-the-back-of-the-head-while-trying-to-collect-that-Blast-Shard-on-the-side-of-the-building woes (yes, I just used 20 hyphens – deal with it).

The side missions are somewhat repetitive – protect this, destroy that, go here, stay there etc.  with a few exceptions.  I’m not bashing the side missions, mind you – there’s only so much you can do to keep the game original beyond the story missions.  At least it isn’t as painfully repetitive as Assassin’s Creed.  The story missions really do keep you guessing, and are not only entertaining but very engaging at a narrative level – and ironically, the in-game cutscenes pale in comparison  to the far more intense comic-book style cinematics.  Another feature of this game that really drives the tone and feel of the story is the score.  With a blend of orchestral and electronic composition, with a badass electric cello soloist (Martin Tillman) overtop, the music of this game can bring you into the dark and gritty feel of the Warren slums, or the intense firefights over the rooftops of the Neon district.

All in all, inFAMOUS is really a matter of choice.  If you choose the easy path (of mass destruction), you end up with a harder time later in the game; however, if you tough out the missions at the beginning and take one for the team now and again, it usually winds up in your favour later on. If you choose to take this game too seriously when playing, it will disappoint.  The glitches and oversights mentioned above will really grate on your nerves, and you’ll probably be yelling “Oh, come on!” before the first save.  But if you take this game at it’s cover – a good, solid sandbox with superpowers – then you shouldn’t have a problem taking the downside with the up.

Great Scott!

Gameplay – 3 gigawatts/5

Graphics- 3.5 gigawatts/5

Sound – 5 gigawatts/5

Replay Value – 3.5 gigawatts/5

andPOP Rating - 4 Stars






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