Better late than never: almost a month after the release of InFamous, I can finally propose you the first 10 minutes of the game. I will be adding the next 20 minutes as they come along so you can see some more action. As an extra, I'm offering you a video showing a specific platforming sequence which, I think, is worth a look.
Update: The third part has been added.
InFamous really is a very good game. The level design is top notch, the gameplay, rock solid, and the game gives excellent sensations. The guys at Sucker Punch know how to make good platformers and it shows!
Those of you who got their hands on the demo know that Cole is a true acrobat and that he can do pretty amazing things. The different moves are all impressive and classy and the hero’s progressive power growth allows the player to learn how to handle his abilities, so there is definitely some learning curve here. Soon enough you’ll be doing crazier and crazier stuff and believe me, there is nothing like completing a cool combination of jumps, dodges and kills on top of a skyscraper.
The game doesn’t always shine in terms of performance though: the character design is a bit poor (there have been more attractive heroes for example), there are pop up and aliasing issues and the framerate happens to drop from time to time. On the other hand, the texture work is rather good considering the scale of the game; there are also some impressive viewpoints (although the blurry background prevents from enjoying the long draw distance) and the powers and special effects look great.
Should the game's technical defaults be a reason to deter you from playing InFamous? Definitely not! Although it might be a bit of a disappointment when it comes to how the game runs (even considering the fact that it’s an open world), the game is just so much fun that it would be stupid to stop at that.
What’s more, there’s enough variety in the main quests (or sidequests for that matter) to keep you interested from beginning to end and jumping around everywhere while shooting down enemies never gets old. Sure enough, the storyline won’t win any award but the final twist is enough of a surprise to make it worth the effort. Much like in Crackdown, you can pick up collectibles in the forms of blast shards which help you upgrade your power meter. Soon enough you’ll find yourself searching the city to catch them all, stopping on your way to the next mission because you just saw one in the distance (well, up until the time when there’s only one left out of the 350 and you have no clue where the hell it might be – true story). You can also gain experience by completing the different missions, which will allow you to upgrade your abilities and purchase new powers.
As the powers you’re given change a little depending on your moral choices (that can lead to a good or bad karmic state), there’s good replay value. It’s all the more true as some missions are exclusive to heroes while others are for evil oriented characters. Even the way the story unfolds changes along with the choices you make (one at least being particularly tough by the way).
To finish, let’s talk about the game’s overall difficulty level. I completed the game on the hardest difficulty setting and, apart from the fact that you do have to be more careful and fall back a bit more than in normal mode, the game is far from being unbeatable. I mean, don’t get me wrong, there is still some challenge, but I never got to restart the same mission a hundred times. Only the final boss battle will give you a hard time and will require a bit more patience, especially if you have good karma (because in this case, powers are a wee bit weaker).
Besides the usual footage presenting you with the beginning of the game, I took the liberty of adding a video of me climbing up some sort of high tower. I thought it would be interesting to show you some Crackdown-like moments and that's the kind of sequence I really like. However, I strongly advise those who are considering playing the game someday not to watch. There are no spoilers but you might want to discover some of the environments for yourself.
This is my first time capturing so please, be indulgent. I’m a quick learner but I don’t "blimblim" as well as the others quite yet.
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All comments (28)
Commented on 2009-06-20 15:06:48
Commented on 2009-06-20 16:18:09This game provides me one of the rare moments I almost want to go out and buy a PS3 again (waiting for price drop + slim version). It certainly looks pretty damn fun! Oh well...
Commented on 2009-06-20 17:15:21
Commented on 2009-06-20 17:43:59
Commented on 2009-06-20 18:16:35It doesn't have the best visuals but they are very good. No 1080 support is annoying as I am used to the 360 scaling up at the very least and the aliasing (or lack of) is annoying.
BUT...the game play is excellent and truly fun. The missions or mostly fun (some are annoying of course) but I can't remember a game recently (other than Red Faction) that has brought be back for hours of actual fun.
Now...if we can just get the PS3 to be a bit more user friendly and do something about that awful controller :)
Commented on 2009-06-20 18:33:41I'm sure in the future, open-world games will be better than this, combing the greatest elements from GTA, Crackdown, etc, but for now, I have to say that this is one of the best open-world games I've played.
There are two elements, though, on which the game lags. The aforementioned character design is uninspired and sometimes downright ridiculous (like your BFF, Zeke). On the other hand, some of the enemies, particularly the Reapers, are designed well, if not in huge variety.
The other is the so-called Karma meter, which is a gimmick at best when it comes to moral decision making in video games. Because of your reliance on being fully good or fully evil, the Karma gauge becomes more of a progress meter, telling you how far down one alternative version of the Infamous universe that you've gone down. Because morality has nothing to do with it; just the initial decision of being Good Cole or Evil Cole is the only one that matters.
Addendum: People have been harping on the side missions, but often the were fun: blowing up the trucks or hunting the buses made for good shooting sequences, often full of destruction and mayhem, and the Satellite Uplink missions made excellent use of Sucker Punch's superb platforming engine and Cole's speed and agility. I finished the last one wishing for more Uplinks to race past!
Commented on 2009-06-20 18:35:33
Commented on 2009-06-20 20:13:53First I heard about this game and saw the footage I thought game is not bad but not good at all. I was so wrong. Actually this game delivers what SW:TFU fail to do. Those electrical stuff especially arc lightning is crazy!
Also I tried to climb this tower. It didn't work. Maybe this is cuz I went there without a mission or maybe it's bad luck.
Commented on 2009-06-20 20:38:29The one side mission that gets old is the removing the security devices from sides of buildings...that's just lame. The sat uplinks are sometimes fun but the last one (or what I think is the last one) is burtally difficult which sort of sucked the fun out of it for me.
Commented on 2009-06-20 21:00:11
Commented on 2009-06-20 21:21:00 In reply to speedyg725But thanks. ;)
As for the spelling/grammer mistakes I may have done, I apologize, I have had quite a lot of things to do lately and I didn't really pay enough attention to the writing. As soon as I get a chance, I'll read it carefully again so your eyes don't start bleeding. :p
Commented on 2009-06-20 22:52:13I just wish the mission variety was a little better. Being able to change the look of your character would have also been a major plus. Still a really fun game though.
Commented on 2009-06-21 00:51:57
Commented on 2009-06-21 05:33:43
Commented on 2009-06-21 11:57:34The story is rather wonky, the philosphy it attempts falls flat on its face, none of the characters you're supposed to feel sympathetic for are particularly likable and I saw the plot twist coming after the very first cut-scene which involves it - the constant "hints" only made it more obvious.
The city is pretty boring, it doesn't seem like a huge problem at first but I was expecting the other two islands to be more varied.. not copy and pastes of the first one - and I mean copy and paste. Also, none of the powers you get are tremendously exciting, they pretty much all mimic guns, pistol, sniper rifle, grenades, rocket launcher, etc. It seems they could have done a lot more.
In many ways I felt like they were holding things back for an innevitable sequel, which is disappointing, but I'll be looking forward to it. I just hope that doesn't turn into nothing more than a build up to the third game..
Commented on 2009-06-21 14:51:44
Commented on 2009-06-21 16:26:10
Commented on 2009-06-21 17:55:23
Commented on 2009-06-21 18:55:24
Commented on 2009-06-22 03:40:46the platforming, while simple, isnt assassins creed "simple", but isnt frustrating either. accessible, but still releatively skill based. combat is great becasue it DOESNT try to be too different. it's like a linear third person shooter, with electricity and put in an open (but not stupidly huge) world.
story was really good too, and the end was both surprising and fucking amazing. i've not seen a twist like that since KOTOR.
great game, and i suggest anyone who hasnt pick it up give it a go.
Commented on 2009-06-22 12:02:00
Commented on 2009-06-22 20:15:31
Commented on 2009-06-22 21:07:36 In reply to digi_matrixi wouldnt say prototype had a more varied colour pallet either, the game switches between blue and red. thats pretty much the extent of it, they're both going for that "gritty" looks with desaturated colours.
it's an amazing game tho. really fun. and as i said, easily the best game this year (although really, there hasnt been much competition)
Commented on 2009-06-22 22:15:05 In reply to KORNdog
Commented on 2009-06-22 22:44:30 In reply to Ronsauceand i disslike tanks and heli's cos they're in every damn game EVER. i'm just glad i didnt have to face off against them YET AGAIN in infamous. just a personal thing i guess. they just seem like they're thrown in cos hey cant think of anything cooler to put in the game.