Becoming InFamous ...

I have just recently played one of PS3 biggest games of the year InFamous. This is a one player action game that makes you delivery man, Cole, who opens a fatal package that destroys six city blocks and blacks out the entire city of Empire City and gives him growing electrical powers. As the game begins you wake up after the blast and are told to leave the area, which provides the backdrop for a basic tutorial for the controls of movement. Later you meet up with your friend, Zeke, and your girlfriend before a powerful lightning storm surges and zaps you. The game goes to a comic style cut scene giving you the background on the main characters and what happened during the blast. When the game returns you participate in another tutorial on how to use your powers. After that you are provided with your first mission, your first battle, and what could be the best part of the game, your first moral dilemma. As this powerful entity, should you allow the other survivors of the blast get the rations the military has dropped, or use your powers to keep the rations for yourself and your friends. The choice you make determines your karma gauge, if you are seen either as a hero or a villain. After this the game is yours, you can do side missions which help you build your karma gauge, or continue the main mission and complete the game. This game has everything you could ask for, a great and original story, a lot of action, and a feeling of progress and accomplishment as you are able to upgrade your abilities and make Cole stronger. As you chose to be a hero or a villain, the side missions change depending on your stance on the karma guage and also you have access to different powers. Evil powers are more destructive and intense, whereas good powers are more precise and controlled. The side missions can get redundant after a while, but playing the story mission for a while and then switching back to side missions keep them somewhat fresh. I have played both as good and bad viewing the different cut scenes and endings for each. Its really great to see a game that puts so much detail into itself. Posters are placed around this destroyed and now runned down city, and depending on your status, they either portray you as a hero or a thug. Police officers either applaud or try to take you in, and even the relationships with the people close to you changes with the choices that you make. The story keeps you guessing to the very end and blows your mind with a devastating discovery, but at the same time leaves things wide open for a sequel. Graphics are very detailed and comic book like, the whole background of the game changes as the story progresses from either dark and gloomy or bright with light of hope. Cole is able to climb, jump, drop, and run around the entire city with little limitations, but controls are a little touchy and frustrating especially when you are falling close to a building which draws you near it to climb. All in all, I enjoyed this game both times that I played it and recommend it to anyone that has a PS3.





Pictures taken from www.ign.com