About three weeks ago, I had just completed the latest PS3 action, sandbox, free roaming title known as Infamous. During the production stages of this game (which took about a good year and a half, almost two) this game was being compared a lot to another action, sandbox, free roaming kill fest known as Prototype. Granted I haven't had a chance to play Prototype but after watching the prologue of each game online here's ma analysis of each from what I saw initially.
Infamous: An interesting romp through a once lively metropolitan city now turned desolate due to a decision made by Cole McGrath to open a mysterious package with cataclysmic results. The city now an apocalyptic wasteland of its former self; now finds gangs have conquered the streets as cops have either died or fled in fear, Cole's girlfriend Trish has lost her sister in the accident and the only person still supporting Cole is his fellow courier friend Zeke. Cole now finds himself with the power to manipulate electricity. Will he use these abilities save the city and make it a better place or eliminate everything until nothing remains? The cutscenes use a very comic book-esque appraoch to the story telling which is quite appropriate for the atmosphere of the game as a whole.
Prototype: As opposed to using a fictitious locale, Activision decided to have Prototype take place in New York City. The game starts up in a laboratory where obligatory scientist guy and obligatory military guy awake the central character (Alex) who's been engineered to be some sort of super weapon for the military...blah blah blah. Alex uses his new found symboite...Spider...Gamma radiation...ninja art...whatever the hell does to find out his true purpose of being captured and experimented on. I'm sorry for being slightly bias, this game looked so generic. It looked exactly like Hulk Ultimate Destruction on PS2 with a pissed off guy in a hoodie (because hoodies are always cool right?) I'll give a full critique when I play the full game but as of right now it didn't grab me as much as Infamous.
Now with that clearly one sided critique out of the way. Let's get to the full review shall we?
Introduction
As previously established in the comparison, the game itself takes place in the fictitious metropolis known as Empire City. The game starts off as Cole awakens from his coma only to find that the city he once called home now resembles every post apocalyptic war zone that you'd normally see on heavy metal album covers. Initially, you get to control Cole as he walks around in a semi-daze as he still has not fully comprehended and gained full control of his powers just yet. As you roam through the "prologue", you notice that there as you walk the surviving citizens of the town are cursing your name, throwing blunt objects in your direction, radio stations are describing your appearance telling people to stay as far away from you as possible and the local authorities will not hesitate shoot you on site. Hmmm, sounds like Mondays to me...
Dated Reference FTW! Cole will meet and develop positive and/or negative relationships with characters the further he progresses through the game. Trish (Cole's girlfriend) can't look at him the same way to due the fact that he caused the the death of her sister. Whether the two of them patch things up or never speak to each other again is entirely up to the player. Zeke (Cole's best friend) managed to seclude himself from the chaos as he has managed to stash most of his belongings on the roof of a building which he and Cole stay to avoid the public eye.
Other pivotal characters include Moya (an FBI agent who initially seems like she wants to help Cole but is using him to find the location of her husband John), John; Moya's husband and fellow agent who was captured by the main antagonist of the game and gives Cole clues of his existence through various satellite signals. Sasha (Cole's ex-girlfriend) who's mind has been corrupted some strange tar-like substance and is now jealous of Trish and leads the gang on the west side of the town known as the "The Reapers". Alden an elderly psychic who leads a gang known as the "Dustmen" on the east side of town. And finally the main antagonist; Kessler who has a very strong connection to Cole's past. And no he's not his father...
That's one Cliche' I won't even resort to....Gameplay
As I had established about twice already, the game is another free roaming sandbox action game. Similarly to any GTA title, you have the option of playing through the main story (or canon) missions as well as a plethora of side missions to earn yourself "Karma Points". As you progress through the main game as well as side missions you will receive Karma points depending on your actions throughout the game. For example, throughout the game's over-world there will people who are in need of rescuing or (albeit from gang members, a traffic accident or on the ground knocking on practically knocking on death's door). You can either be their knight in electric armor and come to their aid or be the biggest douchebag with super powers the city has ever known as you can leave them to die or shock the victims and the baddies straight to hell.
The Karma points allow you to purchase new abilities or to upgrade the abilities you already have. The only downside to that is if you're a "Champion" or an "Outlaw", you essentially have the same attacks just with different names. Oh and did I mention your lightning changes colors depending on what side you choose! *fake enthusiasm*
Now Mr. Deadbeat, would you care to take your ass kicking in Serene Cerulean or...?
...Cryptic Crimson...! Oooooooooh! *Flails arms in even more forced enthusiasm* One of the more unique aspects of the game I personally liked was the fact that when your electrical energy started to run low, you could easily refill from any electrical source within the city. From Power lines, satellites, cars, generators on the sides of buildings and even phone booths are their to use at your discretion.
Additionally, they are core abilities that you can only gain through the main story missions. Abilities, such as throwing small electric orbs that explode similar to grenades, hovering through the air for several seconds, conjure up a shield that deflects bullets and even rockets, sliding across power lines, plummeting to the ground causing a giant electric shock wave and even conjuring electricity from the clouds to send an enormous bolt to strike down and obliterate your enemies. It's quite invigorating to be able to use super abilities to punish your enemies instead of resorting to firearms like in EVERY OTHER title in the sandbox free roaming genre.
Despite all these superhuman traits that Cole so boastfully uses, he still can't climb the side of a building effectively. There will be certain missions where you'll have to peruse a helicopter, jet, hot air balloon or anything airborne. Generally the game will give you a 10 to 15 second grace period to catch up with your target. As generous as that may be, it doesn't mean a damn thing if your spending a majority of the time hopping over porches, climbing ladders and flipping over and around poles. This can also be somewhat of a annoyance when your trying to get the drop on your enemies by taking the high ground and stealthily make your way to the top of the building and the thugs spot you because it takes 90 minutes to make it to the top of a building. Cole may be an electrical badass, but Spider-Man he is not.
That's pretty much how it is trying to climb with Cole...
Presentation
One of the best aspects of this game is the overall graphical presentation. The design of the game was done by Sucker Punch (the developers best known previously for their work on the Sly Cooper trilogy on PS2). Leaving behind the bright, cell shaded, cartooney universe for a very dark and gritty comic book atmosphere which as I stated before could not look any better. The dirty brown shades of the buildings, the desolate grays of the destroyed streets, and the pale blues and greens of the automobiles (which all seem to be destroyed and yet people still manage to get to work on time...) are displayed in such a way that you can't help but say "Damn this place got F***ED UP!!" The sounds are very loud and attention grabbing (although it'll mostly be lighting, gun shots and explosions that you'll hear throughout the game). The writing and voicing acting though is probably the best I've heard in a next gen game since MGS4. I especially want to give kudos the voice actors of Cole, Zeke and Trish. They really drew me into their universe and gave a such strong depiction of what it would be like to live life in a post apocalyptic world where you or someone you knew gained supernatural abilities. I personally think Infamous would make a really kickass movie as long as it stuck to the formula of the game. And despite what most movie buffs say, I think casting is very...VERY important to a movie...
YOU'RE OVERRATED!! There I said it...Replay Value
Despite that I haven't touched the game since I completed it (mainly because I'm playing three other games simultaneously) there is plenty of replay value to be had in this game. Although it may take at most, a week to complete the main story missions there's more than enough additional items to collect, secrets and Easter eggs to uncover, trophies to earn as well as seeing the alternate ending depending on where your karma stood at the end of the game. And furthermore, it's such a great stress reliever! Long day at work? The misses giving you a hard time? The little punk at Burger King got your order wrong...again!? Channel your inner rage-a-holic and wreak complete havoc in fictitious city where there are no dire consequences for maliciously electrocuting everyone who looks at you the wrong way. And they said video games don't help people. TAKE THAT WII FIT!!
Conclusion Much kudos to Sucker Punch. They made a successful game outside the Sly Cooper franchise and oh boy did it work! Solid gameplay, excellent story, top notch visuals, soundtrack and voice acting, better than average controls and plethora additional aspects to keep ya playing after the main story is completed. Infamous receives a 9 out of 10 in my book.
Monte el relámpago baby!Pros- The game took three years to make and it was well worth the wait. Looks, sounds and plays beautifully.
- Fairly balanced difficulty. Starts off fairly simplistic but gradually becomes harder as the game progresses.
- One of the better plots for an original game I've played this year so far.
Cons
- Despite the extra missions, unlockable and additional content to be had; the main game could have been a little longer.
- A little more variety in the good and evil aspects of the game outside of the color of the lighting bolts would have been nice.
- COLE CAN'T CLIMB WORTH S***!!
Infamous is a good game and one of the better exclusives that PS3 has so far. I'm waiting for the Prototype fanboys to ransack my inbox with angry messages such as "this game sucks! Why don't you play a MAN'S GAME like PROTOTYPE!? BETTER YET, WHERE'S MADDEN!?" I will as soon as you geniuses take your left hands off of the caps lock button and the other out of your shorts looking at Megan Fox pictures on Google Image Search. Wait...
Mmmmmmmmm Megan....
*looks around with shifty eyes* Ummm, I gotta go! You know what it is...CJP: The Protagonist...Otaku's the new black! Bye!
*runs away from the computer leaving a trail of dust*