I hated this game as much as everybody else seemed to love this game.

User Rating: 4.5 | inFamous PS3
By BillMarz | Review Date:
I got this game as part of the free PS3 download offered after the PSN hacking incident. I'm sure it must be a defect in my brain, but I just don't understand how this game managed to garner high review scores. I loved Assassins Creed I & II, BioShock, Fallout 3, God of War I & II, which have similarities to Infamous, but I did not like Infamous – at all! I did finish the game, but only because it's my nature to finish once I start something, but I was not playing for the fun of it, I just wanted it to be over – that's how much I disliked this game. Perhaps it's because I took the "Hero" route. My recommendation to anyone starting this game would be to play as a "Thug." Maybe this would be more fun, though I'm sure it wouldn't make combat much more interesting. First and foremost: shooting electricity, as your sole means of weaponry, is NOT FUN. It is, in fact, quite repetitive, but that's not too surprising given that the majority of this game is repetitive. You run down the same looking streets, see the same citizens and hear the same comments, fight the same enemies over and over (and over). No building interiors to explore, no new landscapes, just repetitive missions (oh, I get to march these prisoners to jail… again. Wow, I can't wait). Oh, you do get to explore some sewers, though again, once you've seen one you've seen them all. You do get a variety of powers, but who cares? They all take on the pretty much the same look, and I'm sorry, but after the hundredth time I took down an enemy with an electric shock I was dreaming of getting a nice shotgun or high-powered rifle instead of the next lame electric power. At least with Assassins Creed you had some good stealth and melee tactics, which are missing from Infamous. I've found that in good games, you may avoid combat in the beginning, but as you power up you actually go looking for a fight because it becomes fun to take down enemies when you have the firepower. I did not find that in this game. Every enemy encounter felt like a chore, and even when I had upgraded all weapons I still would just run away from enemy encounters if it did not advance the story. Fighting was drudgery, not a fun experience. And if you are playing as a "Hero," get ready to heal people! Run down the street a block, find someone who is injured, lock on to them and use your electric power to heal. Then run half a block, find two more injured, lock on and heal. Then do it 50 more times as you go a few more blocks. Why? Because repetition makes for highly reviewed game, that's why.

The enemies are more annoying than anything else. Climb a building, try figure out where the enemies are shooting you from (not always clear). Throw some electricity at them. Knock them down, they get back up. Oops, need to reload. Go find an energy source and power up. Go back and throw some more electricity. Go find energy source (next building maybe?) and power up. Go back and throw electricity. Wash, rinse, repeat. Repeat again. And again. It's not just the enemies that are annoying. The characters are annoying also. At one point the playable character, Cole, has to choose between saving some doctors or his ex-girlfriend, Trish. Given that Trish spent most of the game needing favors from Cole while continually complaining about what a lousy person he is, it was an easy choice for me to choose the Docs over Trish. I was glad to have her and her constant nagging out of the game.

I could go on, but then I would start to sound like Trish myself. I really don't understand the hype this game got upon release. I'm just glad I didn't listen to it, or I would have forked over $50 for a game I truly disliked. I guess the irony is that even as I was stubbornly trudging along to the end of the game, it turns out this whole waste of time was just one big set-up for a "to-be-continued" sequel. In my case, that is one sequel I will gladly do without. My thoughts of this game in one word: Yuck!

Other Helpful Reviews for inFamous

Load Comments (0)