Infamous Review PS3 Release
Sucker Punch's Electrified Playstation 3 Title
Being a superhero must broach difficult moral dilemmas. A superhero can save lives, or take them, prevent destruction, or cause it. Infamous, from Sly Racoon developer Sucker Punch, poses these exact choices for players, dumping them in a city mired in chaos and anarchy, whose fate they must decide. Inspired by comics, influenced by the likes of Grand Theft Auto and Fable, Infamous is an enjoyable and rewarding experience, despite a number of graphical flaws and hiccups.
Cole and Morality
Cole is but a lowly bike messenger before he delivers a mysterious package to Empire City. When the package explodes destroying much of the city, Cole is transformed into a powerful if bemused superhero, capable of harnessing electricity. In the aftermath of the explosion, Empire City has been overrun by gangs and poverty. Cole, aided by his loyal if paranoid sidekick Zeke and F.B.I agent Moya, must uncover the mystery behind the package he delivered and the origins of his powers.
Instead of forcing players to become either good or bad, Sucker Punch wisely opted for letting players decide whether Cole becomes hero or a villain. For example, Cole will encounter a food-drop tangled in the lofty arms of an Empire City monument. He could climb the monument, release the food-drop and share its coveted contents with the hungry citizens. Or he could take it all for himself and Zeke.
Moral choices punctuate the majority of Infamous’ story, and despite being binary, the city and citizen’s response to Cole’s actions is remarkably impressive. A benevolent Cole might be cheered or applauded, whereas an evil Cole may be booed and hissed.
Electrical Powers
Sucker Punch’s choice of electricity for Cole’s superpower may not be original, but its execution is superb. Cole can fire rapid bolts from his hand, hurl clumps of explosive matter, and even glide through the air. He must drain lamp-posts, cars and the like to replenish his energy, however. Cole’s powers evolve to reflect his moral choices, becoming more precise when he’s good, or more destructive when bad.
Cole’s powers can be combined to perform stunts and earn more experience points. For instance, he can blast an enemy away and then fry them in midair. Cole is very nimble, too, capable of scaling skyscrapers and surviving hundred-foot drops. He controls fluidly with jumps homing in on nearby targets.
Comic-Book Foundations
Infamous is clearly inspired by comic-books, with its superhero protagonist and Rorschach-esque monologues. Stylised vignettes convey key moments in the story, although their superb quality jars with the low-quality in-game cut scenes.
The dialogue can be cheesy, and Cole’s gruff voice seems odd for a bike messenger, but the story is generally good, and a scattering of audio-logs sheds further light on the Empire City mystery.
Graphical Problems
The graphics in Infamous are solid if unspectacular. Textures range from crisp brickwork to fuzzy asphalt, and Empire City seems perpetually dark and gloomy.
Cole’s electrical powers, however, are amazing to behold, especially in darker environments such as sewers. Cole is also superbly animated, with his flapping bag-strap and seamless leaping and climbing, whereas other characters’ animation, while competent, pale in comparison.
Infamous Review
Sucker Punch’s next-generation debut is an unequivocal success. Infamous has franchise ingredients, and rivals the likes of Spiderman 2 and Crackdown for the best superhero game. So much fun can be had from hopping rooftops, frying Reapers, grinding train-tracks and searching for elusive blast-shards and dead-drops.
Cole from Infamous
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