inFamous

"Save one person, or save a thousand..."

Welcome to inFamous. This amazing game was made by Sucker Punch, known for crafting the famed Sly Cooper series. On to the review.

Story: A peaceful night in Empire City. All of that goes away when a massive electrical explosion goes off in the Historic District, causing extreme amounts of death and a huge crater to form. In the middle of the explosion was Cole McGrath, the protagonist of this game. He tries to escape from all he sees, when he walks near a open source of electricity, causing some to pour into him. Undamaged, he runs away and gets out of the wasteland. Two weeks later, Cole nearly perfects his newfound electrical talents and uses them to recharge a T.V. battery. His friend, Zeke, alerts him that the Government is dropping a huge crate of food into the city. Cole and Zeke run to the area where the drop it, but it gets stuck. Cole goes to free it, and when he does, a large crowd swarms it. He begins to think, "If I fry a few people in the crowd, they'll run away and we can have it all to ourselves. But these people will starve." No matter what you choose, someone on the T.V. announces Cole is the cause of all the hardship in Empire City, and people will attack him. If you choose to kill some people, you'll become evil, let them live and you'll become good. This becomes essential later in the game. The story starts out slow, but about halfway through the game, it picks up and becomes amazing. 10/10

Sounds: Perfect in every way. Lightning sounds like it should, the voice acting is amazing, jumping from high heights and landing produces a thud, guns sounds like guns, and using your final powerup even causes the sound of thunder to be heard. 10/10

Controls: L1 puts you in aiming mode, R1 fires electricity in aiming mode, Up and the D-Pad puts you in precision mode once you unlock it, L2 absorbs electricity, R2 allows you to use your special Good/Evil power when in aiming mode. X jumps, The left control stick moves you, and the right control stick changes camera angles. The other buttons use other electrical powers when in aiming mode, but you unlock them later in the game. 10/10

Graphics: The PS3 rarely fails to produce games with amazing graphics, and they didn't fail here. Lightning looks real, as the the buildings, people, Cole, enemies and just about everything in the game. Easily deserves a 10/10

Overall: inFamous is a rare case indeed. Only the truly legendary games deserve a 10/10, and this game earned it. For those who ask the rent/buy question, buy it, you won't want to give it back when you rent it.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/12/09

Game Release: inFamous (US, 05/26/09)