InFamous Review

inFamous has been around the media for a while, i remember hearing about this a while ago and then it sort of came out of nowhere at the end of 2008 into 2009, the game managed to catch my attention and since then it kept my interest. I had come to the conclusion that at least it would be a good game, but now that i have completed the game – what do i think? was it a good game? No.

No, it wasn’t a good game – it was a fantastic game. I love it, it is easily one of the best sandbox games i have played and probably the best superhero game i have played so far. I really do hope Sucker Punch continue this franchise on, even if it isn’t the same storyline – just want another game created with the same concept by sucker punch.

Graphics/presentation:
For an open world sandbox game, the graphics are great – there is an incredible lighting engine hidden in this game, but unfortunately you only get to see it working in its full glory a handful of times during the game. The game suffers considerably more from aliasing than most playstation 3 exclusive games, it can be a bit of a shocker at the start of the game but after an hour or so of playing it – you don’t really notice it and doesn’t effect your experience. The game has a great comic book style to it, the cut scenes are all presented in a graphic-novel type style which really added to the enjoyment of the story.


Sound/Audio:
I had to actually go back and play through the game a bit more for this review because i never paid much attention to the sound effects while i was playing it through the first time, but when i did wasn’t really *that* impressed. The sound effects were of a high quality but they just seemed to be re-used quite a bit. However, the voice acting is first class – it isn’t too over the top or cheesy, it is just right – fits with the game perfectly. The soundtrack however, i think was great but again – wasn’t used enough for anyone to fully to notice it.

Gameplay:
inFamous’s best part, everything is so easy to do – you’re never fighting the controls, you can immediately pick it up and understand how the game works. There are many different powers you unlock through the game, powers from electric grenades to the ability to call down lightning in the direction you’re facing which is pretty much the most powerful power in the game. The controls are a bit sticky at times, you know – you’ll sometimes jump to get onto something but it will try and suck you to the nearest thing instead, can be a bit annoying when you first start playing but after a while you will probably have already adapted your play-style to it so it won’t be that much of a problem.

Story/Narration:
I have not enjoyed a story in a game this much since MGS4 last June, the plot is basically – Cole (The main character) is a messenger, he was delivering a package which was some sort of device that blew up and caused destruction across the whole of empire city, Cole somehow gained electrical super powers from this blast and the city was closed off from the rest of the world by the US government to stop spreading of a “plague”.

Cole has to use his powers to try bring the city back to normal, defeat all the gangs that have taken over the city – including a few bosses. The plot is much deeper than it first appears to be, it has many perfect twists that you will never see coming including a great wrap up to the story. Pacing of the story is almost perfect, narration and voice acting is great too – as i mentioned above.

There are two ways you can play it, the evil way or the good way, there are different sections that will change depending on how you are playing but it won’t change that much, however there are different powers you can unlock depending on who you choose to be, inFamous or the Hero, also – the crowd, friends and enemies will react to you differently depending on who you are.



Conclusion:
This is the best super hero game i have ever played and one of the best sandbox games, the story, the gameplay, the presentation, the pacing – everything is done just right. I really enjoyed this game and i can’t wait to go and complete this again while being the “evil” character, fantastic game and highly underrated at an average metacritic and gamerankings score of 85/100%. Good job sucker punch, can’t wait for your next games.


Scores:
Graphics/presenation – 8.8/10: Not technically the best around but has a great style to them, along with its stylised cutscenes it overall is a very well presented game.

Sound – 8.5/10: Again, not the greatest in terms of sound effects, they’re of a top quality but there isn’t enough variety – seems some are used over and over again a bit too much.

Gameplay – 9.7: This game plays amazingly well, addictive fun gameplay makes you feel like you are supposed to feel in a super hero video game – which is rare.

Fun factor – 9.8: I had so much fun with this game, infact i am having so much fun with this game – i keep playing it even after the story has finished.

One of, if not the best sandbox game i have playedthis generation of consoles and one of the best i have played on any platform. Love it, highly recommended.

Overall: 9.5/10

Ups:

Great artistic style
Well constructed, deep and fluid gameplay.
Deep, well thought out story that keeps you interested through the game.
Great narration, character development and voice acting

Downs:
Graphics could be a bit better, aliasing needs cleaning up
The game needs to show off some of its best assets more

Written by: DeathroW22