inFAMOUS Review (From GameSpot)

Sleven and Ron seem to want to see what my reviews were like that I did over at GameSpot so I figured why not and that I'd humor them, so here you go for your viewing pleasure/displeasure (Keep in mind I am not a professional writer).



This game takes place in Empire City. You play the game as a guy named Cole. You're one of the survivors of some strange blast caused by an object called the Ray Sphere. At first everyone doesn't know exactly what to think of you and your new powers caused by the blast. At the beginning a message from an underground TV broadcast tells everyone that you're the cause of the blast and spends a lot of the game trying to keep the people of Empire City against you. While the news show that broadcast on the TV's scattered throughout Empire City they also spend their time giving credit to the government doing the things for the city that you are doing, while insisting that there is no such thing as someone having super powers. How you go about convincing the residents of Empire City how you should be thought of is your choice. There are two Karmic Story lines to the game (Hero / Infamous) and the path is yours for the choosing with it's own set of trophies for each and a unique story line for both that are similar, but have subtle differences that give each their own unique experience. Whichever Karmic Path you choose to build for your reputation influences how the people of Empire City view you. Some of the things they say are definitely entertaining. Also, once you reach the higher levels of your Karmic Meter the people of Empire City will either help you or attack you depending on which side of the story you are playing.

This game is full of great things so it's hard to know where to start first. The voice acting and developed story of the game are top notch and very enjoyable. The characters in it, down to the random people you encounter on the streets are enjoyable and fun to interact with. Zeke, your best friend/sidekick throughout the game, can be a bit annoying at times but he means well... or does he? I was actually shocked by a few parts of the story in this game and didn't see it coming, other parts are pretty predictable but still very enjoyable. Other parts of the game are just bizarre... or at least I thought since this was a new kind of game for me and I'm not used to some of the things in the game, but it was something I could relate to and understand so I still enjoyed the game even if it did have some weird type of creatures/monsters in the game, thankfully they kept that to a minimum though.

You will encounter some pretty hectic fight scenes throughout the game that will be very hard at first but once you get used to the controls and who are the most important enemies to take out first then you will do fine. After all, what kind of hero/villain would you be if you weren't powerful enough to waste several enemies at one time? I liked the combat very much for this game once I got used to it, but it's not the easiest game I've played either and there is a definite challenge to the game that takes some time to be able to do smoothly. Once you get more powers and upgrade your other powers with the XP you earn for doing various things in the game this also becomes much more manageable. By the time you are about halfway through the game (sooner for the hardcore gamers most likely) you're pretty much strong enough to handle anything that comes your way and by then you learn what to look for and utilize for power sources to keep Cole up to full strength. With all the upgrades and powers Cole has at his disposal you have plenty of options on how you want to take on the groups of enemies you face throughout the game depending on what style of gaming you are comfortable approaching the game with since there really is no one way to approach these situations and as long as you are comfortable with the strategy you are using it won't be too much of a hassle. (From fighting at a distance or up high to jumping right into the middle of a group of enemies and attacking anything that moves)

To go along with the two different story lines and unique Good/Evil missions that come along with those paths there are plenty of things to do on the side. From stunts, collecting dead drops, unlocking districts by doing side missions, or finding hidden packages, to collecting Blast Shards there are plenty of activities to do when you're not focusing on getting through the story part of the game. Stunts are special ways of dispatching your enemies as you play the game. Just a few examples would be to do Shockwave, then blast them while they are in the air to finish them off or to take down an enemy in mid-air as you're jumping off some high place. Those and other stunts you can do to creatively get rid of anyone that gets in your way which also awards you a little extra XP (Experience points used to upgrade powers). Dead drops are satellite dishes you find on the 3 islands in the game by hitting L3 and watching your radar on the screen and if you're close enough (and the power is turned on in that area) it will indicate the general direction these are located in so you can hunt them down. Same strategy applies for the Blast Shards in the game as well, just use L3 and they will flash briefly on your radar if they are close enough and you can go about finding them from there. Beware though, unlike the dead drops (there are only 36 of those) there are 350 of them to find scattered all over the 3 islands that make up Empire City.

Now, after all this good stuff I have described you might be wondering to yourself "This game sounds Awesome! Why did he only give it a score of 8.5?" Well the answer to that is a rather simple one. Although this game is a good game it has a feeling of being rushed or unpolished to me. Some times the camera and motion get glitched. Most of the time it's minor but other times it can be really annoying, especially in the middle of a battle with several enemies and it decides to strike causing you to either get killed or take a lot of damage until it straightens out. There's also times when the people laying on the side walk or street seem to be sunk right down into the street, or their heads are stuck inside the sidewalk while their body hangs out (not in an intentional way) and other little things that catch the eye while going through the city that just make you shake your head at the careless attention to detail, when in other areas they did such a great job of doing things just right. I also was stuck in a few places (corner areas, when two buildings meet or on the edge of something) and had to button mash the jump button and move the analog stick all around to get myself out. There aren't many boss fights in the game either, and except for a few, these bosses are also rather easy to dispose of and don't cause much of a problem or a challenge. Especially since by the time you get to any of them, if you have done all the side missions and upgraded along the way, Cole is more than strong enough to take them down rather quickly. A few of the conduits in the game can catch you by surprise though, so you still need to be careful but after the initial surprise they usually aren't too bad to deal with.

Other than that I have no complaints with the game and I'm glad I had the chance to play through it and it's probably a game I will go back to in the future although the replay value with it won't be as high with me as it is for some other games but it's important that it's definitely a game that deserves more than just playing through the game 1 or 2 times then putting it away forever. For those that aren't sure it's something you will enjoy then it probably wouldn't hurt to wait until a deal comes out on it to pick it up, but also if you do pay full price for it then I don't foresee you thinking of it as a waste of money because this game is enjoyable and worth the gaming experience. Maybe not the best game of the year, but something that is worth the money and have you hoping for either a sequel with improvements or another more polished game like it in the future.

I'd like to thank all of you for taking the time to read my user review as usual, it's appreciated and any feedback on it is welcome, negative or positive. Although if it's negative please try to relay that in a constructive way and let me know what I need to improve on for these. My PM's are open at any time for any questions, comments or suggestions regarding my user reviews or any other issue here at Noobfeed (Changed from GS) you think I might be able to assist with. Otherwise, thank you for your time and hopefully you enjoy this game as much as I did!