Toronto Thumbs

REVIEW
InFAMOUS

Courier Cole McGrath is given a package to deliver. The sender, as well as the package’s contents, is unknown. Upon arrival, Cole is told to open the package, activating a strange device that obliterates a large portion of his surroundings but somehow leaves him alive.

The city is placed under quarantine, and the criminal element rears its ugly head. Meanwhile Cole, while recovering in hospital, discovers that the explosion has left him with some rather shocking abilities.

InFAMOUS places you in Cole McGrath’s shoes, and right off the bat, the game’s excellent pacing is established. I’ve got a weak spot for great introductions, and if they’re a seamless mix of movie and gameplay, I’m all for it. Nothing beats being able to learn the controls while orienting yourself with your character.

InFAMOUS is a sandbox game, allowing players to go just about anywhere in the city during their adventures. Cole is an “urban explorer” (read: Parkour) and is adept at traversing the cityscape in a variety of ways, all of them quite stylish. It’s certainly a handy thing, as your missions will take you all over the place, from rooftops to the sewers.

You begin the game with your best friend Zeke, who keeps in constant contact with you over your cell phone as you make your way around a quarantined, gang-ridden Empire City. He helps you out at the beginning and keeps you in the loop throughout the game, indicating just how the populace is feeling about your character. It’s vital information to have, as you’re certainly not going to get the keys to Empire City at the beginning of the game since you’ve been labelled a terrorist for blowing up a number of city blocks and killing countless people.

This is where the game gets interesting, as the game contains some great RPG elements. You get experience for various acts such as winning fights, subduing enemies, and other things I won’t spoil for you. The experience, in turn, allows for the purchasing upgrades to your ever-growing number of electrical-based powers. On top of that, the choices you make throughout the game will move your character towards either the “good” or “evil” side of the scale. Some of the choices are very large and contribute to your alignment rank quite significantly while other choices are made in how you act around the city. Killing innocent people for fun, for instance, is definitely not good.

At the beginning of the game, people were reacting in fear when they saw me. Some would run, while others would scream and point at me. The odd person would drop to their knees in despair. However, as I completed more missions that set me up as a good guy, people became friendlier. Some even took my photo with their camera phones.

As you move along your particular alignment, you will unlock newer powers that suit your moral compass. Believe me, you will need them given some of the challenges ahead. Playing a neutral character will just limit your more advanced abilities, so you will certainly need to stay on one path.

InFAMOUS is visually stunning. The city is massive and each district has its own look and feel. There are lots of cars and people around, and this lived-in approach adds to the character of the game. The third-person perspective allows for a deeper appreciation of the animation work put into Cole’s movements. His monkey-like moves are almost as fun to control as his powers (although I think that they might be more fun – but I also really like monkeys). The game runs smoothly, and there was only one instance where I felt the game to get slightly choppy. After revisiting that same area later in the game, I couldn’t get the sluggishness to repeat.

The music in InFAMOUS enhances the mood and the sound design adds to the ambiance of Empire City. The voice work for a few of the characters is a little cheesy at times, but this is to be expected from videogames, sadly. However, Cole’s voice actor is awesome. For a character that can be either good or evil, the voice works. He comes across as an “everyman” and his in-game dialogue (commentary, really) gives a lot of depth to the character.

InFAMOUS is a hard game to stop playing. Side missions are short enough to bang off in a short period of time, but challenging enough to make you want to try again. The character powers and health are done really well, allowing you to heal if you manage to find respite during or between battles. You can facilitate this healing by recharging yourself wherever you can locate a power source (which is easy to locate using your radar). The controls are fairly intuitive and make excellent use of the SIXAXIS controller (I won’t say how, because it’s a really cool surprise).

I certainly fell in love with this game. I’ve started out as a good guy (which is hard, considering some of the collateral damage you can cause to the poor innocents), and I’ll play the game again as an evil guy. With a great story, amazing graphics and tight controls, this game is certainly a blast to play.

Posted in Awesome, PlayStation 3, Reviews |