I didn’t know much about Infamous leading up to the game’s release, but once I saw a few gameplay videos and read a little about it, I was hooked.  The game is a mix between Crackdown, GTA, and Assassin’s Creed, combining the best elements of all three.  You play as Cole, a bike messenger who is in the process of delivering a package when the package detonates and levels the entire city.  For some reason, you remain unharmed and eventually develop powers of electricity.  How you decide to use your powers determines how the game will play out, with moral decisions presented to you regularly to determine if you are good or evil.

GRAPHICS 8/10

The graphics are solid. The city looks like it should after being wrecked by such an enormous blast. The character models are decent, but I wouldn’t have minded at least an alternate costume for Cole, as his look is a bit generic. The only problem with the graphics is that they tend to break up a bit when there is a lot of action onscreen at once.  There is also noticeable pop up  with buildings and other objects as you travel around the city. Overall though, the graphics are good and they do a great job of bringing this wounded city to life.

STORY 8/10

The game actually has a pretty decent story as you progress.  At the end, you’ll be stuck with some unanswered questions, but the story itself is pretty satisfying.  The premise is a bit of the generic “regular guy gets caught in explosion and winds up with powers” variety, but it seems to work sell within the confines of the game and it sets up the events that unfold nicely.  there is also a pretty good twist at the end of the game that makes the stroyline all the more rewarding.  What is also cool is that the events in the storyline play out differently depending on whether you are good or evil.

GAMEPLAY 9/10

The gameplay has all the mechanics of your standard 3rd person shooter. You can shoot, throw grenades, and even snipe. The trick is that these actions are all performed using your powers. When you snipe, you basically zoom in for a closer view and can pinpoint your lightning right between an enemy’s eyes. Grenades are charged balls of electric energy that you can throw which detonate seconds later. While all of the mechanics are similar, Infamous is unique in how they are all presented through your powers. Additionally, both good and evil characters have completely different sets of powers at their disposal.

Infamous takes full advantage of these power variations, as most missions require multiple tasks to complete. For instance, you may need to call a lightning storm to break down a shield, then use your snipe ability to take out a patrolling UAV plane, after which you will need to lob grenades to blow up a machine. With infamous, no mission is ever really clean cut and some improvisation is usually required to be successful. Things start to really heat up as cole gets more powerful and you seem to have more abilities than you can remember.

REPLAYABILITY 8/10

The game allows you to play through as both good and evil with each side having different outcomes. There are also numerous side quests found throughout the city that offer upgrades and experience points. While the single player experience is fairly deep, especially with the whole good and evil angle, there is no multiplayer in the game at all. I’m a bit ADHD when it comes to single player campaigns.  Once I complete it, usually the only thing that keeps me around is a solid multiplayer offerring.  Sadly, Infamous has nothing.  While it is a great game definitely worthy of at least 2 complete playthroughs, I don’t see it getting much more time after that point.

OVERALL 8/10

Infamous is a great game that you can easily become immersed in.  It combines different genres (sandbox, shooter, plat former) to give a unique gaming experience. The only major knock I have against the game is the lack of a solid multiplayer. However, for single player fans, there is more than enough to do in the campaign portion to keep you busy for a while. The PS3 was about due for an exclusive solid offering, and it seems to have one in Infamous.