After 4 years in development is Sucker Punch's first foray into the PS3 worthy of the hype?
In Infamous you play as Cole Mcgrath a courier in Empire city, a sprawling metropolis that is reduced to rubble after a package explodes in Cole's hands turning him into an electricity powered super hero or villain depending on which you choose. The game unfolds throughout the crumbling city as you try to unravel the mystery of what happened there. The story is told through comic style cinematics and conversations between characters. There are also diaries to find that fill in the back story.
The game focuses on plat-forming and shooting as Cole takes on missions throughout the city. Combat is immensely satisfying and there are many upgrades to buy with your experience points to make sure things don't get boring. There are many attacks to choose from including shock waves, electric bombs and missiles But these moves aren't unlimited as Cole uses up his electricity capacity with each powerful blast This experience comes from defeating enemies and completing missions. The city is open world so you can take on missions as you please and if you explore then you can find blast shards to increase your supply of electricity and Dead Drops which detail the back story. Throughout the game you will have many opportunities to choose between good or evil in the game's Karma situations. For example if a man has been hung up by the civilians you can choose to free him or walk away. These have a huge effect on the game changing the story how NPCs react to you and the upgrades you can buy
The controls in Infamous are spot on and playing feels greatly satisfying. There are few areas you will find disappointment with. The climbing is intuitive and thrilling but sometimes it can be fiddly because the lock on system has a tendency to lock you to any surface if you want to climb down from a building. Also the graphics in Infamous don't really show off the PS3's power. The city is huge and there are no frame rate issues but there is a lot of pop in and many glitches including out of place NPCs and Cole vanishing inside objects. These are small flaws but they don't detract from the fun of the game. If you,re a multiplayer fan then you will have to go elsewhere as Infamous has none. But this game was not probably designed for this and still clocks in at a solid 15 to 20 hours and this is extended further by the many choices between good or evil.
Infamous sits on the top shelf as one of PS3's best exclusives and as one of the best games of 2009 so far. Sucker Punch have joined many elements together which really make you feel powerful. If you like sandbox games or you own a PS3 then you shouldn't take any chances with this game. Let's hope that it isn't another 4 years before Cole Mcgrath blasts back.