inFamous
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inFAMOUS
inFAMOUS comes from one of my favorite video game developers Sucker Punch. Sucker Punch created the great Sly Cooper games and their new game has much in common with that series both good and bad. Some fun and easy gameplay is mixed with some slight technical issues which bring the game down for those who are looking for a true super game to play on their Playstation 3. But the good news is that this Playstation 3 exclusive is a good game with a lot bang for your buck, but the game does lack a lot of key features most gamers would expect from a big PS3 game but what it does offer is a lot of action, explosions and more action on top of some wild gameplay.
inFAMOUS is a story about a delivery person who is, of all things, delivering a package which explodes in his hands and takes out a large portion of Empire City. Somehow surviving, you soon realize that you have gained superhuman powers and the ability to control electricity. The question is do you use them for good or evil? Not the most original story but it does the job to keep you interested in playing and see where the game leads you.
The city is large and you can go everywhere.
inFAMOUS is an open world sandbox game which takes place in a city devastated by a terrorist explosion and now gangs control different areas and it is your job along with your new super powers to solve a mystery, work for a secretive FBI agent and save your own life. Heavily influenced by games such as Crackdown and Sucker Punch’s great game series Sly Cooper and adds a heavy dose of new gaming involving some amazing electrical based superpowers.
You can climb almost any building or structure in the game and even taking huge leaps to reach a key area, wire extended between two buildings and more is made easy by the game almost knowing where you want to land and you will always hit your mark. This system does make the overall gameplay very easy but as you gain more powers you will be jumping, sliding and flying across the city which is nice because the city is very large.
The various electric based powers include throwing lighting, which is your main offensive power, electrical grenades, and glide, grinding on wires and train tracks and even healing people. Your various powers are always useful against various good and bad guys, and the city is populated by both. Starting out with the most basic of powers and you gain more by helping restore the cities power and gaining good or bad karma by completing quests for the FBI and the people of the city. You can upgrade most of the powers by spending experience points and the possibly upgrades for each power increases as you rise up in rank.
Shocking
There are three ranks for each side of the karma coin as it were and more powerful powers are opened up as you gain a rank. Though, it is not advised to switch between good and evil because you need to be at your best with either side to have the best powers possible. The good powers are more accurate and less destructive but the evil and certainly the more fun powers are less accurate and will destroy a wider area but to be honest looks way cooler.
Combat is very fast and fun with you shooting and destroying the enemy quickly and in an impressive manner. Some of the environments are destructible such as blowing the iron sheeting panels off of buildings, cars will explode and more. But not enough of the environment is destructible which is a bit of a shame because the game would be much better with more destruction. Some of the destruction is also weird as you can blow up a car beside a simple trash can and the car explodes but the trashcan remains in pristine condition.
Missions range from saving captured friends and citizens, destroying enemy devices, finding communication towers, helping medics and more. While the missions are fun they do become repetitive very quickly when you realize there is only a few types of missions and they just repeat all over the map. The only real difference between the missions is the actual location of where it starts and where it ends.
There is no co-operative gameplay or multiplayer options to speak of in the game and that is also a shame because the game would be excellent as a co-operative game. Perhaps in the sequel or the next Sly Cooper but it feels like they failed to take the game to its full potential but as Sucker Punch’s first Playstation 3 game they have done a great job.
It is good to be bad...
Dark is the best way to describe the in game graphics of inFAMOUS, and they are well done for the most part with some great animation and special effects for the main characters and villains. The civilians are nothing special and you will see copies of the same characters everywhere but the most disappointing part of the overall graphics issues are the pop-ins and jagged edges around all of the models. While the jagged edges are not as bad as we have seen these in several PS3 games they are very noticeable when you are looking at the faces of the characters. One other issue graphically is the facial animation of all the characters that almost appear as they have facial tics or lack of muscle control when they speak. This animation issue is distracting at times to the point you might not notice the character the lead character is speaking with. Thankfully most of the important cut-scenes are done with comic style images which are stunning.
Audio wise the game delivers in voice acting, music and sound effects and I was impressed at how well everything sounded during the quiet times to even the most hectic of battles. You will find most of the voices are highly professional sounding and fit their characters; even the most annoying voices fit their characters annoying dialog and personality to a tee.
Once you max out your powers nothing can stand in your way and people should fear you.
inFAMOUS is one of those games that if you enjoy playing it you will want to find all of the collectables and complete all of the side missions and then finally re-do the game on the other side of the karma meter. A co-operative mode would have extended the life of the game but for the only game of this type on the PS3 it does what it needs to do.
Shocking... part 2!
The overall quality of the game is not as high as I expected because I love the Sly Cooper games but as the first game this generation from Sucker Punch it makes this a must buy for PS3 owners. Just do not expect anything stellar or new in terms of gameplay, as we have seen much this game has to offer before and done slightly better.Pros
+ Good graphics for the most part
+ Good music and voice work and great environmental sound effects
+ Parkour is very well done
+ Good overall story and character interactions make the game interesting from start to finish
+ Two ways to play the game by being ”Good” or “Evil”
+ Your powers are well done and allow for some wild gaming moments
Cons
- little graphic issues are everywhere from jagged graphics and texture pop-ins
- Overall side missions need more variety
- Stiff facial animation is distracting during cut-scenes
- no Co-op or multiplayer
Final Verdict
Here's a small guide to help you understand our evaluation of games.
PRESENTATION GRADE
Can be from the game's box to the contents of the booklet, and even the game introduction. (Intro, menus, options, etc)
GRAPHIC GRADE
Up to what point the graphics have been worked on my the developper. The design type, the effort used for textures and environments, as well as animations and framerate.
AUDIO GRADE
Is the soundtrack a good match to the game's style, he ambient sounds keeping with the gameplay and the sound effects clear and convincing?
GAMEPLAY GRADE
Placement of the controls and the inferface that the player with be using during the game.
REPLAY VALUE GRADE
The most important factor in the evaluation of a game. It identifies the lifespan of the game and the fun of coming back again and again.
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