InFamous: Lightning Strikes the PS3

Review written by Zikron on 6/8/09
Last edited on 6/8/09

Sucker Punch Studios has struck gold with inFamous in their first attempt at this new IP. This is a time where a new IP is a rare thing and so many of those new IP's are half assed such as Gears of War, Mirrors Edge and Assassins Creed. InFamous joins the likes of Bioshock, Dead Space and Uncharted in the very rare original IP that comes off as a solid game.

If you haven't played the demo then basically imagine the free roaming ability and open world from Crackdown but with the detailed environment from Grand Theft Auto IV. Then add-on some force like abilities from The Force Unleashed and you will have inFamous. Sucker Punch Studios takes the best features from all these games and improves upon them. The world is more fun to explore than in Crackdown, the “force powers” are actually fun to use and the game looks better than GTA IV.

InFamous' gameplay is solid, fun and challenging. You play the role of a bike messenger who gains electrical powers and goes by the name of Cole. Killing baddies with your super human electrical powers is a ton of fun especially if you get an area filled with debris that will inevitably go flying everywhere. Killing baddies in InFamous is also strangely gratifying because they actually pose a real threat to you. Cole has super powers but being hit by a ton of bullets is not one of them. So running into a large group of enemies could be a death wish if you don't have a good plan. This challenge is done in a way that is not frustrating for the gamer but still encourages you not to die, unlike the latest Prince of Persia. When you die there is little to no load time and you respawn at the nearest medical clinic. There are no penalties but you will have to travel back to your latest mission to start again. If you fail a mission then you are able to restart from the start location and not have to travel back by foot.

Empire City is divided into three areas with each area having its own “unique” enemies. While the enemies look different as far as colors and their clothing they are all basically the same. You will encounter new enemies that are not limited to one specific area as you progress through the game and the enemies will start using more powerful weapons as you progress so the challenge is always there. There is the occasional boss that you will have to take down that can present quite a challenge. These bosses keep the game interesting but are few and far between.

No game is perfect and inFamous is no exception. While the game is a blast to play the story it attempts to tell is done rather poorly. The start of the game is great, the menu screen depicts a calm day in Empire City and tells the user to press start to begin. As soon as the start button is pressed the text disappears and an electrical explosion fills the screen. The blast is captured from several points of view before finally settling on your character, burnt and battered at ground zero. Sadly this unique approach to story telling is not followed throughout the game. Instead the player travels from mission to mission and the story is told from small cut scenes at the end of every mission. This quickly makes the user lose interest in the story and more interested in bigger challenges, new powers and new areas to explore.

The game lacks a multiplayer mode which greatly takes away from its value and replayability. I'm not sure how well a deathmatch type of game would have worked with inFamous but a co-op like in Crackdown is sorely needed in order to keep this title relevant for a long time. However, the way the power system is set up in inFamous it does encourage players to give it a second play through. Depending on whether you go good or evil will effect what powers you are able to unlock. So to experience all the powers you need to play through twice. There are also satellite dishes scattered throughout Empire City that you are to find and tap into with your phone, tracking all these down will take you some time. As if that wasn't enough you also have the option to complete missions form citizens in order to “free” areas of Empire City and prevent any enemies from spawning in said location. So with all these optional quests to go on this game is almost worth the $60 pricetag. The one kicker I left out was that it also comes with an invite to the Uncharted 2 multiplayer beta. While this isn't part of InFamous, it made me buy it so what the fuck, I'm giving it a $60 value.

Is InFamous worth getting a PS3 for? Well, for this game alone, no. But this goes onto an ever growing list of PS3 exclusives that may make buying the system worth it. This list includes the likes of Killzone 2, Uncharted, Warhawk, Resistance, Resistance II and LittleBigPlanet. If a sequel is ever made to InFamous and more of a focus is put on telling a compelling story and a multiplayer/co-op mode is added it will easily be a contender for game of the year.