Ah, open world territorial mini-quest super hero games. Why aren’t there more of you?
Infamous sets you as Cole, the unfortunate recipient of electrokinesis, amidst ruined Empire City. The city didn’t survive the detonation of the device that created you so it’s up to you to cross the regions, restore power and services all while you pursue the agenda of your handlers. You want out, they want information. And thus a deal is struck.
The game play is fairly conventional, i’m not sure what I could say on it that would be insightful. It plays much like Uncharted, with handholds and railings and ledges all with great abundance so you can scale buildings, climb light poles and rail-grind around the city on power lines.
As you progress through the game you’ll naturally encounter gangs, the native enemy element that makes your journey dangerous. In the wake of the destruction, several gangs have taken control and you’ll meet them in spades if you want to go anywhere. The upside, is that dealing with the gangs and completing side quests and main plot awards you with XP you can spend to upgrade your powers and unlock special abilities.
Backed by an alignment meter ranging from Hero to Infamous, you’re often faced with a choice that will help people or harm them. While it allows for a more personal and customized approach, as many abilities can’t be used by good or evil, it doesn’t change up the dynamic enough in my opinion. While I’ve had fun thus far, I can’t see myself playing a second time to see the other ending.
Mind you, my copy came free as a payment for the PlayStation Network outage of 2011, I recommend this to anyone who likes super hero action games. There aren’t a lot of those that are worth playing.
And if you like the first, I’m told that Infamous 2 is more of the same with some new powers.