inFamous Review

inFamous (PS3 only)

The summer is known for many things, heat, rain (lots of it) and, of course, the dreaded “video game drought.” However, it seems that this summer might not see a video game drought, with titles coming out, such as, Cross Edge, Bleach: Heat the Soul 6, Plants vs. Zombies, Devil Summoner 2, inFamous, Prototype, King of Fighters XII, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger… I think I’ve made my point. Among these titles is a highly anticipated, hugely hyped “summer blockbuster.” Does inFamous live up to the hype? Or does it become another infamous bust?

Graphics

inFamous isn’t the best looking game ever, but it doesn’t disappoint. For a sandbox game, the environment is quite realistic and the explosions give a satisfying visual display. The one big gripe I have, personally, is that when you jump off of a building from 10 stories above and land on the ground, you will notice that the ground gets cracks in it and depress into the earth some with dust and dirt swirling around. However, after about 3 seconds, this effect rebounds and everything looks normal again. If you land on a car from 10 stories above, nothing happens. I expected to see events like this to stay permanent and destructive; especially considering the kind of horsepower that the PS3 houses.

- 17/20
Sound

The voiceovers are adequate; reminding me of an indie movie. The music that plays during the game is good when it grabs your attention. There were many occasions where I didn’t notice music was playing because it was somewhat muted; not very immersive.

- 16/20
Story

After a massive explosion takes place in Empire City, Cole (the main character), finds himself with super human powers involving electricity. As Cole, you can either fight enemies to protect the city and help restore it back to normal or help further drag the city down into chaos. While you do this, you will be looking into what caused the massive explosion, as well as, regain the memories that you have lost. inFamous reminds me of a comic book; the cutscenes even play out like one. The story is actually very intriguing from what I’ve experienced so far.

- 19/20
Gameplay

This game has a good and evil side to the story. As you choose your path, Cole’s appearance will change, the city’s look will change and the availability of powers will change. As a sandbox game, you can go anywhere and do anything, think Assassin’s Creed or Mass Effect. From scaling tall buildings to jumping from building to building, Empire City is a fairly large city to explore. The overall missions and side missions that you complete seem to get a little bit repetitive after awhile, though. As you play through the game, you may run into a few glitches; they won’t ruin the game, but they are noticeable.

- 18/20
Replayability

Because of the story, with its good and evil parts, you’ll really want to play through the game twice; once as a really good hero and once as an infamous villain. However, with the somewhat limited missions, it could become tedious to play through the game twice, back-to-back. I have found inFamous to be an excellent pickup and play game, however.

- 18/20Conclusion

inFamous isn’t perfect, but no game is. If you’re looking for a fun, enjoyable PS3 only title, buy this game. As far as this title being the “game of the summer,” well… let’s see what the next few months bring us before we start giving out titles like that.

Final Score

- 88/100

Grab you copy of inFamous for the PS3 below!