CartBlanche is here to tell us all about inFamous…
In all honesty, when I first saw the trailer for inFamous back in 2007 (E3), I thought it looked interesting, but was not initially blown away. Then a year passed, the E3 2008 trailer was released and this really peaked my interest, as it showed actual game play footage. Since then, I’ve been keeping tabs on inFamous’ progress and recent game play footage looks extremely promising.
For those who haven’t looked under the surface, let me provide some background.
inFamous is being developed, as a PS3 exclusive, by Sucker Punch Productions, who are better known for the Sly Cooper series of platform games on the PS2. The Sly Cooper games had a distinctive cartoony look and feel to them and, in my opinion, was one of the better examples of that cell rendering style on the PS2. It seems that like Insomniac and Naughty Dog, Sucker Punch have decided to grow up a bit when releasing their first game on the PS3. Therefore inFamous is a much darker and more adult offering. The game developers say that the game was influenced by Batman Begins/No Man’s Land, DMZ ( a near future graphic novel ) and apparently Nate Fox, lead game designer, took part in the Seattle WTO riots. This all explains the quite dark atmosphere to the game.
In inFamous you play as Cole McGrath, a bike courier who works in the fictional Empire City. While out delivering a package, Cole is at the epicentre of a huge explosion that destroys everything and nearly everyone within 6 city blocks. The only person who barely survives is Cole. After 2 weeks of being hospitalised, Cole awakes to find himself somehow changed but also being blamed for the explosion and that the city has now descended into lawlessness and utter chaos, with criminal elements running riot and controlling the city.
The game is essentially a 3rd person sandbox experience similar to Assassin’s Creed and Mirror’s Edge, where the player must discover how to use his new found powers and ultimately who or what caused the initial devastation. The developers say that Empire City implements what they call a ‘crime eco-system’. This means that crimes, such as muggings and murders, are going on through-out the city all the time and you, as the protagonist, can choose to either help the citizens or not. If you help your fellow Empirians or not, will affect how other citizens react to you later on in the game. If you annoy enough of the population, they can just about form a lynch mob and try to kill you. Alternatively, if you have been good, they may help you when you are being attacked. So your actions create reactions. I love games that give me the option to be be good or evil or even a little of both. The inFamous game engine will also allow you climb and traverse almost any building within the city, as well as weaken certain structures in order to get to your foes. Apparently, later on in the game there will be quicker ways of moving around the city.
When Cole awakes, he will have the ability to shoot electricity from his hands. He may also gain the ability to create an electricity-based shield to repel enemies, create a delayed explosion of a ball of energy, much like grenades. Not all of Cole’s powers will be available at the beginning of the game and not all of the powers have been divulged (understandably), but from reading various interviews it seems you will acquire new and more powerful powers as the game progresses. But his powers also have a downside. He cannot use guns as the ammunition would explode, he’s not too keen on getting wet either and is next to useless in areas that are suffering a blackout. At least there he can use his melee combat skills.
Not much has been revealed about the enemies that you encounter within the game, only that they will range from conventional gun totting types, to those who also have their own special powers. So I’m expecting some varied boss battle scenarios.
If you are looking for a game with Assassin’s Creed climbing mechanics, blended with parkour like abilities of Mirror’s Edge’s and a not so little electrical twist, then inFamous may be a game for you to look out for in 2009.
So when inFamous is released, will you save the citizens of Empire City, or will you destroy them all!!??
Congrats on the article Cart =)
Must say when I first saw InFamous, the immediate thoughts that came to mind were “This looks alot like Prototype”….
My only fear is that With Prototype being a multi-platform title appearing June this year…and InFamous being an exclusive to Sony - SuckerPunch may not see sales/profits that they might wish as players go for the “other” option.
I really do hope that they prove something very “different” about this game that sets it apart from the Prototypes and Crackdowns as its looking to become a very saturated super-hero/open world genre.
Fingers crossed!
Comment by JohnSketch — Jan 28, 2009 @ 10:18 pm
Very nice read Cartblanche, I agree that initially I wasn’t blown away until the latest news and trailers of the game. I think for this game to be a huge success, Sony need to release it at the right time. Any new game franchise has trouble getting off the ground, so hopefully this gets the attention it deserves.
Can’t wait to get my marigolds on it as I love the whole electricity thing that’s going on. Reminds me when I was electrocuted, shocking stuff I tell you.
Comment by E-ROLE — Jan 28, 2009 @ 10:28 pm
Really nice article Cartblanche. Before now I hadn’t paid much attention to inFamous as I had very little knowledge on it.
Must say though, I am now really looking forward to it, so there better not be any of the usual delays.
My only reservation is that it seems to be just borrowing elements from other games, i.e. crackdown, Grand theft auto and even Bioshock(the electric hand thingy).
However got my fingers crossed for an original title that gives as much as it promises.
Comment by ZX — Jan 28, 2009 @ 10:53 pm
for once i agree with JohnSketch, i am always getting this title mixed up with Prototype, and as for the electricity bit, Force Unleashed? that ability got tired very quickly. ok, so it may be fun running around a city pew pew pewing lightning from your fingertips but without a solid story/structure to back it up it could easily flop into the -meh- bucket and never be played again
i just can’t see what Infamous has going for it to make it stand out as a must have title though.
infamy, infamy, they’ve all got it in for me.
and i wish the gaming press/sites would stop banging on about the same 4 titles over and over again, there are other games coming out too you know. i am sick of hearing about KZ2, Uncharted 2 , Street-s0ding-Fighter, and this one, yes, we get it! you can only cram so much down a persons throat before they start to choke.
Comment by mobiletone — Jan 29, 2009 @ 8:10 am
This game also reminds me of Crackdown on X360 which is a game I’ve played over and over…. I hope this is going to be just as much fun!
I agree with mobiletone on the game coverage… where’s the coverage of Afro Samurai/MAG/The Agency/Aliens Colonial Marines? The latter I can’t wait for!!!
Comment by Monkey Rimmer — Jan 29, 2009 @ 9:22 am
Nice article CB, let’s hope the comments on this previ… ahem… Most Anticipated Game of 2009 stay free from the type of fanboy backlash unleashed on E-ROLE’s previ… ahem… Most Anticipated Game of 2009!!!
As for this game, it’s definitely on my radar, but I think it’s one I will need a demo/a few reviews on before I make my final decision, so I’m not 100% sold yet…
Comment by Apnomis — Jan 29, 2009 @ 10:20 am
Unrelated, but. Does anyone know if the Mirrors Edge DLC will be out today? Ben waiting patiently for it. As for Infamous… its not really jumping out at me to be honest. Give me Kill Zone and Resi!!
Comment by Terry — Jan 29, 2009 @ 10:34 am
In addition to CB’s preview, another important mechanic is that Cole doesn’t just create electricity - he draws it from his environment. This means that if an area of the City is having a blackout he will be powerless in that area. This reins in his powers, so in that sense he is not a Superman style superhero - he’s more a mutated Human.
With regard to the power that let’s you move quickly through the City later in the game, I’ve heard a rumour that he learns how to become pure electrical energy and use the City’s public phone system to travel through the phonelines! I honestly can’t remember where I read/heard this though, so it was either an official preview or developer interview, or just some random guy on a forum somewhere making it up!!!
Comment by Apnomis — Jan 29, 2009 @ 10:38 am
Nice article CB. I like the idea that it has Mirror’s Edge elements to it yet it’s third-person rather than first person. I found Mirror’s Edge very difficult to play as I’m not really a fan of the first-person perspective in games.
Comment by reakt — Jan 29, 2009 @ 10:42 am
Thanks for all your positive comments.
I agree that the proof of the gaming will be in the playing. Sucker Punch have the opportunity to make a very fun title, in the same way the Uncharted did not do anything ground breaking, but was, and still is, very fun to play.
If they can capture that essence, and make it enjoyable, they will have a hit.
Comment by CartBlanche — Jan 29, 2009 @ 11:55 am
I guess the “courier” character based city explorer is taking off.
I’m waiting for Metal Gear Courier and Pa Rapa the Courier.
Comment by E-ROLE — Jan 29, 2009 @ 12:21 pm
@Terry
The PS3 exclusive map is due out today, but the map-pack is delayed…
Read it over at Kotaku this morning
Comment by Mr.Monkey — Jan 29, 2009 @ 1:26 pm
[...] continue reading. Click Here [...]
Pingback by Infamous Look Ahead. | Criousgamer — Jan 30, 2009 @ 1:03 am
I playtested this at Sony in Foster City.
Comment by Tri — Jan 30, 2009 @ 2:36 am
@Tri : So can you say anymore about that experience?
Comment by CartBlanche — Jan 30, 2009 @ 12:52 pm
btw, Edge has a 5 page spread about inFamous this month ( March ). Looks like it will be very different to Prototype.
Comment by CartBlanche — Feb 9, 2009 @ 4:12 pm
[...] by the thread following CartBlanche’s article this is one of the more controversial titles coming out in ‘09. Let us know what you think [...]
Pingback by InFamous - gameplay footage from Comic-Con 09 | Three Speech: Semi-Official PlayStation Blog — Feb 10, 2009 @ 3:50 pm
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