Having complained on our last podcast about Sony’s lack of exclusive games, Nicole and I had the good fortune to check out a demo of Infamous
before its released this Tuesday. While at first I was a bit skeptical, I walked away from the game yearning for more and was disappointed I couldn’t pick it up today. Hit the jump for 5 of my initial impressions of the demo.
1. Solid Controls
Playing as a super hero weilding the power of electricity is a fantastic notion. However, no matter how powerful your character might be, it’s all for naught if that power suffers from a lackluster control system. Thankfully, controlling Cole, the bike-messenger-turned-hero is a breeze whether you’re engaged in combat or roaming the environments. The game is set in a sprawling, urban landscape where you can scale buildings, drop from insane heights, and quickly traverse rooftops. Simply point the analog stick in the direction you want to go and Cole is fluidly responsive, automatically crawling, climbing, and running just where you want him.
2. Sadistically Entertaining Powers
At first I was put off by what appeared to be an action game with little to no gunplay. I’m not saying an action game has to have guns, just that I prefer to have good old fashioned munitions to compliment whatever god-like abilities the developers give me. However, the power to wield electricity is immensely satisfying and a dizzying array of moves from force pushes and conjured grenades to large area-of-effect shock blasts which devestate your foes (or helpless civilians) are available; which leads me to my next point…
3. Enjoyable Moral Flexibility
While Infamous isn’t exactly treading new ground by allowing you to play as a tyrannical dick or a valiant protector of humanity, it’s well done and entertaining. In one mission you’ll find survivors of the blast that created you have been supplied food rations. You have a choice to either leave them be or lay waste to the masses and keep the food for yourself. Again, it’s not a new concept but there’s plenty of fun to be had from blasting an innocent civilian from one end of the street to the other.
4. Smooth Animation
In the graphics department, Infamous looks decent, but not overly spectacular. However, the animation is smooth in spite of some clipping issues and a slightly bland presentation. The frame rate also appeared to stay consistent even with multiple enemies and countless civilians roaming the streets.
5. Sand-Box Style
While you’ve got the whole good vs. evil dynamic in terms of how you proceed in missions, there’s plenty more to do. Sure there’s the obligatory random billion hidden items througout the city, but there are also side missions to keep you busy when you don’t feel like playing the main story. Or, if side missions aren’t your thing, I found tremendous enjoyment in just running around the city for a while.
While I can’t speak to the game’s longevity or replayability yet, I’m confident in saying that it’s shaping up to be a fun action romp. Granted, it draws on the concepts and successes of games like Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy, Spider-Man, and Crackdown, but what it copies from past games it does very, very well.
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