Imagine you had electrical superpowers. Now, imagine how you'd use them.
The Bad: Occasional glitches; some stiff animation during cutscenes; some dull side missions.
Superheroes are role models to us because they show us how to use power correctly. The famous quote, "With great power comes great responsibility," is always lingering in a hero's mind, because they do everything in their power to represent the goodness of humanity. However, in the real world, power is a precious thing, and when our emotions and ambitions get the best of us, it's easy to turn to the dark side once in a while. After all, if you had superpowers, would you not feel that you were above those who lacked them? InFamous attempts to put the angel and devil on your shoulders throughout the entirety of its story, and while it doesn't always hit home, the gameplay, graphics and intense focus on fluid combat and navigation make InFamous an incredible experience.
You play as Cole McGrath, a bike messenger who obtains the power to store and discharge electricity after a package that he attempts to deliver explodes in his hands. The explosion, which decimates Empire City, causes the government to place the area under quarantine as a virus spreads among the local populace. With numerous gangs rising up against the local police force, society in Empire City is slowly falling apart. Unable to escape the doomed city, Cole makes a deal with a shady government agent named Moya, who promises to release Cole and his friend Zeke if they are able to find her husband, John, and recover a device known as the Ray Sphere; the very tool that gave Cole his powers.
Overall, the story is fantastic and well thought out. A few interesting plot twists do a great job at keeping you engaged, and the many characters are very expressive and incredibly cool. InFamous makes use of on-the-fly conversations with every character via Cole's phone. Normally, this would make the characters feel very two dimensional, but these conversations are so frequent and engaging that you'll hardly notice the fact that you've only seen the character that you're talking to maybe once or twice. Voice actors also deserve a commendation, giving each character a unique attitude that's hard to come by in some of today's games.
InFamous is pretty much a mix between a platformer and a third person shooter set in an open world, and it's at its best when it's blurring the line between all three of these elements. Because of his expert climbing experience and inability to get hurt from long falls, you'll be scaling structures a lot to get around the city quicker. As you continue to gain new powers, traversing Empire City becomes a lot easier. Grinding rails and wires is your main method of transportation, but other than that, madly tapping the X button will make Cole scale buildings or tall structures where rails or wires are usually present. Traversal is easy and fun, mainly because anything that looks like a handhold can be grabbed and used to reach higher areas. On the flip side is combat, which goes hand in hand with the platforming.
InFamous' combat is reminiscent of a very flexible third person shooter. Cole can shoot lightning whether he's grinding a rail or hanging off the side of a building. However, instead of ammunition, Cole has battery cores that represent his overall energy. Shooting rockets are throwing electric grenades exhausts these battery cores, and once you run out, all you can do is shoot standard lightning. In order to "reload," you'll have to find sources of electricity like cars or lamps. Doing this also restores Cole's health, so it's important to observe the surrounding area before getting into a brawl with enemies. Cole also has a set of melee attacks, but you'll rarely get the chance to use them considering enemies will usually cut you down to size before you can get in close.
InFamous' open world contains many side quests which, if completed, will reduce the amount of enemies in a certain area as well as give you experience. You're also given the choice to participate in "good" or "bad" side quests which increase or decrease your moral standing as well as net you special powers depending on your moral alignment. Some of the side quests are pretty fun while others, like climbing around a building to destroy enemy placements, are a bit dull. Blast shards can be collected to increase your overall power and there are dead drops which chronicle events prior to the Ray Sphere's explosion. Overall, there's plenty here to keep you busy apart from the main quest.
Two aspects of InFamous that really make it stand out are its emphasis on choice and power. You will be presented with several choices over the course of your adventure, and while the earlier ones are pretty simple to make, the later ones will have you bringing up the pause menu to weigh the consequences. Depending on the choices you make, you'll get different power enhancements. For example, if you're good, Cole's shock grenades can automatically pin down weak enemies. On the flip side, if you're evil, Cole can throw a cluster of three grenades instead of just one. Most powers can be upgraded three times, provided you're good or evil enough to meet the power's requirements. There are no power upgrades for being neutral, so the choices are a bit unnecessary, considering that if you plan to gain the evil powers, you're going to choose the evil option every time. Choices are fun to make nonetheless, and provide great incentive to replay the story.
Power is another key element in InFamous. Your enemies will become more numerous and harder to kill as the game progresses, so it's important to power Cole up as much as possible. Early on, Cole will be assigned to bring power back to a certain district of Empire City. Areas lacking power leave Cole disoriented and vulnerable as he has no place to recharge, and enemies are typically more numerous in powered down areas as well. Returning power to a substation in the sewers not only restores electricity to a district; it also grants Cole a new power. Everything from grinding on rails to firing electric rockets is gained through these substations. These powers can also be upgraded, as previously mentioned. In order to upgrade powers, however, you need experience which is gained from killing enemies and reviving civilians (or killing them if you're evil). InFamous also rewards you with extra experience for killing your targets with style. Killing an enemy while you're grinding on a rail, for instance, will net you more experience than simply shooting them repeatedly with lightning…which is still pretty entertaining.
InFamous' graphics look fantastic for an open world game. Lightning branches and lights up dark areas and Cole's animations are generally good, but some of the stiffness from Sucker Punch's previous franchise is evident here. InFamous can also showcase a lot of action on the screen at one time without a ton of frame rate problems. Major cutscenes are presented in a comic book aesthetic which actually looks really good and fits InFamous' overall style. The soundtrack, composed of brooding orchestral scores, is appropriate, and the action sequences are supported with intense music that makes shooting baddies in the face with lightning that much more fun. Overall, InFamous sports a stellar presentation as well as appropriate music that really sets the mood for the variety of events that Cole will get mixed up in.
InFamous is one of those games that you'll eventually play twice just to see what life is like from the other side. That being said, you can expect a good thirty to thirty five hours from this game, which is very impressive by today's standards. With so much to offer, InFamous is one of the Playstation 3's best exclusives, and will keep you playing for quite some time.
Thanks for reading.