I know that inFAMOUS has been out for a while now, and I missed the mark for reviewing it, and that inFAMOUS 2 comes out in just 3 days (I have it preordered :D) but I just love reviewing games and expressing my utmost honest opinions of said games, so without further adieu... My 3rd review!!!!
inFAMOUS is one of those games that many are unsure of, and many have not necessarily heard of. It is one of those underdog games that I feel should get a lot more attention then it does. In inFAMOUS you play a man by the name of Cole MacGrath. Your character used to just be your average bike messenger, until one day a package he is delivering blows up in his hands.
Miraculously, albeit mysteriously, Cole survives the blast, coming out of it with super powers.
These super powers, and the story behind this game make for a truly original super hero chaaracter, story, and videogame. The explosion wipes out a lot of people in Empire City, but luckily your girlfriend Trish, and best friend Zeke survived. As you awake from your stupor of being 'asploded' you are injured so your character runs as such, which I found awesome. You also realize that something is different, you can absorb electricity????? WOAH!!! Soon you see your friend Zeke across a bridge and as you run to him, you all the sudden are shocked by lightning (or did you cast the lightning without knowing??? DUH DUH DUHHHHH) You pass out and wake up 3 days later.
The city has been Quarantined by the outside government, and as a result all hell is breaking loose in Empire City. Thugs and drug dealers now are the crimelords that are in Gangs known as The Reapers. They all happen to wield some sort of gun too. Police are also not nearly as prominent. The majority of the population that has survived are all seriously injured, or are overcome with an unknown disease caused by the explosion. With the city in such turmoil, it is up to you to save it..... Or not... :)
That is one of the many things that makes this game awesome. There are several moments in the game that present you with "Karma moments," where you must choose to do something heroic, or something infamous. And depending on your actions throughout the game, the general population will react differently, do you want to be loved? Or feared? Do you want the general public to throw rocks at your enemies? Or at you? Do you want to save people? Or drain their energy for yourself? Not only do the people behave differently, but your powers are different. The super powers you do get in this game, are all electrically oriented, from electrical shockwaves, to electrical groundpounds, made all the more epic and damaging the higher the fall (go to a tall building, and tell me you wouldn't want to jump off, land unharmed, and create a shockwave to knock back any enemies. It's EPIC!)
You get several powers in this game all relating to electricity, and you unlock them the further you get through the campaign, which is exciting. And as you do various missions, and get more experience you can upgrade your powers using those points through an extremely simple system implemented into the start menu, allowing for upgrades anytime, anywhere. Empire City is made up of 3 separate islands, each out of power and inhabited by several enemies. As you bring back power to each city using your battery powers you get a new ability, and as you complete side missions, you clear percentages of the island from enemies. This is a free roaming game, but don't expect to do anything aside from roaming, and blasting away enemies. However, roaming has never been more fun. You travel throughout the city not by automobile, but by yourself. Your powers allow you to do that in surprisingly speedy ways. Any super hero fan out there wishes they were able to navigate a big city like Spiderman with his web, or Superman with his flying, or batman with his awesome vehicles and grappling hook. And now you can do that in an original way, with a multitude of electrical powers. It is really fun choosing how you want to travel, how to get to a certain place the fastest way possible with what powers you have at your disposal. Not only this, but you also have to roam to find blast shards, which if you collect enough they increase your power meter (your juice for you super powers.) You can always recharge your juice by tapping into almost any source of power. Then there are dead drops, which are things you upload into your cell phone via various satellite dishes throughout the entire city that have a mysterious man by the name of John mentioned different things from experiments, mentioning a mysterious man by the name of Kessler, etc. These are fun to collect, just because they reveal more story, and it all regards to the main plotline too. However, you do not HAVE to collect all of them to complete the game, I certainly didn't. There are 32 dead drops, and TONS more blast shards. If you are a completionist, this game will run you into 40 or so hours.
Back to the Karma. There is karma meter that tells you how evil or good you are. And depending on if you are heroic or infamous, you will have slightly varying powers, and looks. Your electricy looks like well, electricity when you are good. When you are evil, your electricity looks RED. When you are good you yourself look more normal, and more human. When you are evil, your skin becomes darker, veinier, and your eyes red.
Additionally, there are NO load times in this game. Just the initial loading when you boot up your game, then that's it. Some say this causes frame rate issues, and/or buildings or cars popping in randomly. This was not the case with my play through though. However, I did experience multiple glitches, some more bizarre then others, but none that were game ending.
Enough of my blabbering though let's get to the nitty gritty, the statistics!
Story: 9/10
The story is slow moving at first, but once you get into the thick of things, it gets hard to stop playing. What was it that caused the explosion? Was there someone behind it? If so, who? Why did it give you powers and no one else? Who is this mysterious John you hear about from dead drops? Is Moya the FBI agent who she says she is???? Great story.
Sound: 9.5/10
The sound in this game is excellent, no complaints there. However, I thought Cole's voice was just too raspy! However, the voice acting was very well done. The soundtrack!!!! :D I loved the soundtrack. It is a very humble soundtrack. The music is not really "in your face" it is often non existent unless you are doing a mission of some sort. Therefore, the music doesn't shine all the time, but when it does shine, it shines BRIGHT. Like when you are in an epic chase after a vehicle, the fast drums and music, or when you are sneaking after some bad guy with a package, and there is that subtle bass, and sneaky music going on. Awesome stuff.
Gameplay: 10/10
The gameplay in this game is wonderful. The controls are extremely well done, you never feel as if you're struggling to do something, it all makes sense. Missions, and side missions have not only XP rewards, but also clear territories of enemies which makes it a little easier to traverse, then of course the missions themselves are really fun. Never a dull moment, except for in the beginning a tad. All cut scenes in this game are done through narration, and graphic novelesque pictures only adding more to the comic book super hero feel of the game. I myself have put 20+ hours into this game and am only at approximately 77% completion. That is with clearing all territories 100% of the way, doing every single mission. The only thing I didn't do all the way was collect all the blast shards to increase my energy cores, or collect all the dead drops.
Final Veridict: 9.5!!!!!!!!
Should you get this game?
If you are a super hero fan, and enjoy a good action adventure game with an original plot and super hero, then absofreakinlutely. This game is a must have for any super hero fan. Definitely the best super hero game out there. Even if you aren't a super hero fan, and you own a PS3 for this PS3 exclusive, it is at LEAST worth your time of day to pick this bad boy up for yourself and try it out for a few hours. I have a feeling you will not be dissappointed.
The game is rated Teen for blood, drug reference, language, mild suggestive themes, and violence. (Not that violent, not gory whatsoever, no specific drugs are ever mentioned, and cussing is minor, maybe damn, and shit.)
Trailer
