The game was better than I expected. Fun to play but there's still some issues. The graphics are terrible.
The second thing you should please please please take note of is that a third person platformer can work without having a jump off of the wall you're trying to climb for no reason at all function. This was my number one cause of death by far in PoP and it was my number one frustration in Assassin Creed. You're jumping up a wall and for whatever reason your jump falls just short of the intended ledge, so why in both games does your character always propel himself off the wall at this point in the opposite direction. There is absolutely no purpose whatsoever to putting this in your games you freaking morons. I can't begin to describe how much more fun infamous is to play as a platformer when you miss catching a ledge and your character just slides down the wall.
So I played infamous with my roommate from 9:00pm until 4:00am last night. I finished the first city and started on the second. I think it's fair to put out my review at this point. Unless the story takes a huge turn or playing the game on hard starts to expose some huge weaknesses in the gameplay (it usually does), I think my review will probably stand.
I really had my doubts about this game but overall I'm pretty impressed. The story is decent. It's not great but it certainly tries very hard to rise about the average mailed in video game storyline. I'm not a fan of your hick buddy but the dialogue is really solid. I'm always talking about maintaining story throughout gameplay like Bioshock or GTA. Infamous doesn't do a great job of this so in between story missions you really lose the story entirely (aside from the same one liner you hick buddy repeats to you every once in a while). So the game starts to feel lonely, which takes away from the story. But all in all the story isn't bad.
I'm the pickiest and whiniest gamer when it comes to controls, especially for third person games. But I can't find much to complain about in infamous, which is amazing. He sticks to walls a little too easilly, which makes jumping down from a building slightly annoying. Also some events can interrupt you while you're holding down the R1 button and then you need to press it again, which can be slightly annoying. But that's getting really picky. The fighting and powers parts are absolutely great (I was worried they'd be a little simplistic). In fact I find myself craving more fights and bigger fights during the game because it's so much fun.
The only place where the game falls flat is graphics, and I don't think I've said that about a game in a long time. After watching the early gameplay videos I made the comment that the graphics looked like a good PS2 game and after having played the game I don't take that statement back. The people look horrible. They move and speak like robots. The textures and details are bad. The art design is boring and uninspired with a lack of detail. All the streets in one area look identical. The physics are bad. The interactions with the environment are bad. (You see a car, you hit it repeatedly with lighting, terrible looking flash, then insert shell of car. No transition or damage whatsoever. That's inexcusable for next-gen games.) There are also a ton of graphics glitches but those are mostly hilarious. Like three cars driving through a turret truck then the fourth car getting stuck inside of it and both exploding a moment later. Or bumping a cop just before he gives you a mission so he falls over. Then he gives you the briefing crumbled up in a corner with his legs coming out of his mid chest.
One thing I absolutely love about the game is the radar that helps you find the shards and satellite dishes. This is incredible and makes my OCD life much easier. It's still challenging to find the objects and it takes a little work but you can do it without printing off a 45 page guide and playing with it on your lap because there's no way you'd ever find the things on their own.
I'd give the game an 8.5. It's fun, it's above my expectations and we've been spoiled lately with graphics so I can cut infamous a bit of slack.