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 Infamous
(Playstation 3)
Sucker Punch has delivered several knock-out blows for Sony over the
years, most notably with its Sly Cooper series. The developers have taken
a radically different direction this time around with Infamous. Giving
players electricity charged super-powers, such as the ability to throw
objects, scale high buildings and throw bolts of electricity out of his
body to destroy or kill enemies. An open-ended world allows for plenty of
exploration, with varied missions and objectives. Infamous is a
highly-polished and involving game that gives you superhero abilities and
lets you decide to use them for good or evil. It's a highly-polished, deep
title that provides a deep and satisfying experience that most players
will definitely enjoy. |
Infamous is a highly-polished gaming experience that mixes super hero
abilities and puts them in an open-ended city to explore, and gives them
the choice between saving or destroying it. The game begins as Cole finds
himself at the center of a large explosion that wipes out the center of
Empire. As the only survivor of the blast, he is imbued with super-powers
and can go virtually anywhere in the massive metropolis. While this might
sound like a lot of fun, there are a few twists to keep things grounded in
reality. This isn't some comic-book fantasy, instead it takes the modern
approach to comic book lore where super-heroes aren't seen as completely
good or evil. First, many people blame him for the explosion, since he was
carrying the mysterious package that exploded. As such, he's not seen as
completely heroic by many of the citizens. Secondly, after the explosion,
the city was placed under military quarantine and the citizens were left
to fend for themselves. This led to the rise of a deadly gang called the
Reapers who terrorize the city and run riot over its streets. It's a
complicated situation and you have a moral choice - you can be the good
guy and try and help citizens and battle gang members or you can take a
darker path, looking out only for yourself. What's interesting about this
approach is that it lets you choose which path to go and the reaction you
get on the street is largely dependent on how you're perceived.
Additionally, you're trying to figure out what happened to you and who did
it - which keeps the story driving along. As you play through the game,
good deeds increase your rating in the positive sector of your rank, while
bad actions give you a poorer reputation. This affects how the story
progresses and also changes which missions you're allowed to take on. It
makes Infamous feel less predictable than other games and gives the
storyline a more organic feel. Infamous' story is interesting, but the
gameplay is what will really keep you motivated. As you might expect from
Sucker Punch, the game delivers a highly-polished, engrossing and varied
experience.
 You
begin with a fairly simple, but powerful set of abilities. Cole can run up
and down the sides of buildings, climb steep walls and jump incredible
distances. This is just the start, because he can also shoot electric
bolts from his hands, which can zap enemies almost instantly. Aiming takes
place from an above-the-shoulder perspective, which can be annoying if
you're accustomed to standard FPS controls, but becomes more intuitive
once you get used to it. You can also throw energy blasts which throw any
nearby enemies and objects around. Performing these special moves drains
your power-meter, which you can replenish by sucking energy out of nearby
power-sources such as cars, light-fixtures and generators. As you progress
through Infamous, you'll earn other abilities, such as throwing electric
grenades, which is good for wiping out enemies from a safe distance. There
are also more positive elements, such as the ability to revive fallen
civilians. You can also use these close-range powers to suck the energy
out of enemies or trap them in force fields to make them powerless. These
abilities gradually build up and keep things interesting, so you're not
always using the same techniques. You can also add to your powers by
collecting the bomb fragments scattered throughout the city. Accumulating
enough of these will add to your electric meter, allowing you to perform
more attacks before your energy bar is depleted. While you're quite
powerful, you aren't invincible and take damage from enemy shots. As in
many current games, the screen turns gray with blood splotches, meaning
you're in danger. In order to revive yourself, you need to take cover and
wait until your health meter gradually comes back. The controls are fairly
simple and straightforward, and you can move around, glide over wires and
perform massive jumps relatively easily. Targeting foes is a simple task
as well, just use your super-senses to locate them, and they'll glow
bright red. After that, use your reticule and fire away until they fall
away. They'll usually fire at you in rapid succession, but the gang
members are usually dangerous only when they attack in large groups.
They're fairly easy to knock-off at first, but later in the game they
smarten up and use shields to protect themselves. Boss characters are
usually much harder to defeat, and require some persistence to defeat.
Infamous offers an excellent mix between these action sequences and more
puzzle-oriented sequences, such as when you have to travel through
Empire's sewers to locate and start up power-stations. This gives a good
balance in the play mechanics between these types of gameplay and makes
for a more interesting experience overall.
Standing alone on the street, you can
communicate with one of your contacts who will guide you to the next
mission. Using your onscreen map, you can locate the next waypoint which
will then begin your next quest. It's usually simple to locate these, but
they're sometimes above or below where you'd expect them to be. After you
locate your task, you can choose whether or not to take up the mission.
Infamous' mission-structure is open-ended and you can complete story
missions to move the plot forward or take on side-quests to earn
additional rep. The danger is real no matter which path you choose, so you
need to be careful not to take on more than you can handle. Infamous'
progression isn't simply linear, and the open-ended feel of Empire City
allows you to explore many of its areas and sections. Exploration is
another key part of the game, and taking advantage of the game's sandbox
approach allows you to map out areas in advance, which can be quite
helpful. Traveling can be done either on the ground, or over the building
tops. It's a fairly large place and consists of huge sections, divided
into sections. Some of these are more dangerous than others and this
usually depends on whether you've restored power to one section or not. As
you travel through the city, you can see enemy locations on your map, as
well as electric charge points and other significant locations. You can
also press down on the analog stick to give a quick sensory view that
highlights electric field and enemies as well, which can be helpful when
your under attack and need to find where shots are coming from. In general
traveling above ground on the wires is safer, since enemies are much
farther away and usually don't cluster on rooftops. Air travel is mostly
quicker since you don't have as many barriers in front of you. Its this
sense of freedom that is probably the best part of Infamous, it gives you
a sense of limitless possibilities and the developers have smartly set
very large parameters for players, so you never feel like you're forced to
do anything. While this non-linear 'sandbox' approach has been seen in
other games, adding a dual good/evil approach to your actions grounds the
action in a kind of moral reality where you have to deal with the
consequences. This makes you think before you act, which is a really
effective way of putting you in Cole's shoes.
 Presenting
players with these moral choices is important, but so is setting the game
in a believable environment. While the setting of Empire City is
fictional, there's enough realism in its approach to create what appears
to be a city under siege. Players will see a metropolis already damaged by
a blast of unknown origin battling both the forces of an oppressive
government and the raging, nearly demonic presence of an out of control
street gang. From a technical standpoint, Infamous brings these forces to
life vividly. Its city layout is both massive and believable. The action
takes place on high roof-tops, back alleys, parks, abandoned warehouses
and other typical locations. Everything is rendered expertly to make this
feel like a living, breathing urban environment. Citizens roam around the
streets and behave in realistic ways, such as the way they scatter when
battles erupt, or stand over fallen friends and ask you to save them or
blame you. Infamous' voice-acting is excellent and brings the characters
to life vividly. While you'd expect Cole to have plenty to say, the
supporting characters' backstories are also well fleshed out, such as your
ex-girlfriend who blames you for her sister's death or your buddy Zeke who
helps you out. This makes your interactions feel like they mean something,
and aren't the usual NPC filler. Its presentation is superb, and the
overall structure is solid, but there are a few minor issues. While there
are many missions in the game, some of them become monotonous, such as
going through the sewers multiple times, or collecting objects. The gangs
are numerous, but they attack in similar ways each time, which can become
repetitive and predictable. Finally, the large scale of the city can also
turn on itself sometimes, causing you to become lost or spend an excessive
amount of time backtracking. This minor issues aside, Infamous is still a
remarkably interesting and entertaining title. Your super-powers live up
to their name, but they don't make you invincible which helps to keep
things challenging. It's immersive storyline that gives you moral choices
where you need to put some thought into your actions. Will you take the
easy way out, and jeopardize your standing, or do you take the harsher
road and maintain your heroic status. This means you're not just zapping
everything in sight. This non-linear approach to gameplay and what paths
you take is probably the key reason that helps the game stand out from the
pack. Infamous delivers a challenging and consistently entertaining
experience that will keep you coming back for more.
- Michael Palisano
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