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Top ten cool things about Infamous
Reading yesterday's list of the top ten stupid things about Infamous, you might have gotten the impression that I didn't like the game. You'd be wrong. I quite liked it. It's a solid action game that happens to have some really clumsy stuff in it. If I had to rate it on a scale from Godfather II to Far Cry 2, I'd put Infamous above Mercenaries 2 but below Assassin's Creed. I'll let you do the math on what sort of rating that would be. Meanwhile, here are the reasons I liked the game.
After the jump are ten cool things about Infamous.
10) Awesome opening. Your first view of the game when Infamous boots up, and then the brief introductory sequence when you press the start button, is remarkably effective.
9) The checkpoints within missions made dying and retrying painless, even during traditionally annoying missions like "escort the target" and "protect the target". There was no mission that couldn't be completed with minimal persistence. Infamous can be challenging, but it's never punishing.
8) You might not remember a 1977 movie called The Gauntlet in which Clint Eastwood drives a tricked-out armored bus through several city blocks of sustained gunfire. But I do. And so does Infamous.
7) The electricity theme might feel a bit forced - couldn't they have gone with "gamma energy" or "bioflux lifeforce" or "blue crackle"? - but Sucker Punch knows how to commit and see it through. Cole's powers, how he replenishes them, and even how he interacts with the environments and the inhabitants all make for a great example of creative unity. It might not make sense, but it's nothing if not consistent.
6) The graphics look soupy at times, but they serve the gameplay perfectly. Infamous does not suffer from slowdown, or a lack of detail, or bad wonky physics. Saints Row 2 might have better gameplay and Grand Theft Auto IV might have better graphics, but both of those games are lacking in graphics and gameplay, respectively. Infamous, on the other hand, is the "just right" compromise where the technology and gameplay are a perfect tuned to each other.
5) As you choose to do good things, people snap your picture. Cute, but I already saw that trick in the last Spider-Man game, so it doesn't count as one of the cool things in Infamous. However, the one I liked was seeing the citizens throw rocks at the evil gangs once you've cleaned up the streets a bit. Go, bystanders! Let he who is without themed gang garb throw the first stone!
4) No multiplayer. You might think this would go under the "ten stupid things" list. But I admire a developer that doesn't feel the need to waste resources shoehorning in some sort of obligatory multiplayer support. Co-op would make no sense in Infamous and competitive games would just be a quickly forgotten side show. Whatever time Sucker Punch didn't spend on multiplayer was probably time well spent.
3) The powers in Infamous are spectacular. It's better to let them unfold for you as you play rather than read about them in a review, so I'll refrain from specifics. They're central to how Infamous is superbly paced. As it progresses, the gameplay evolves along with Cole's powers, which keeps thing fresh throughout, even if the city itself is pretty dull.
2) The cover system is flexible enough to let you switch hands when you're slinging superpowers, which makes a difference based on how you're looking around a corner or over a ledge. What's more, you can easily fight bad guys on top of a building while you're dangling from the edge of the roof. It's even easy to fight while clinging to the side of a building. I might have accidentally stuck to a low ledge or rail on occasion, but when it came to fighting bad guys, I never once felt the geometry of the city was a liability instead of an asset.
1) "You are powerful. As Infamous progresses, you get more powerful." Those ten words are Infamous in a nutshell. Never mind the godawful story, bad writing, shallow characterization, and mostly uninspired world building. The bottom line is that Infamous is a game about wielding superpowers (I never once wished I had a gun). It accomplishes this goal admirably, gradually scaling up your power in gratifying increments until, finally and literally, the sky is the limit.
So there you go. Infamous comes out on May 26th. If this list makes the wait too difficult, simply read up on the top ten stupid things to temper your enthusiasm.
By obonicus at 1:09 PM ON 05/21/09
Since this post will get much fewer posts than the other one, I'll just wonder what it's with you and Ubisoft Montreal's '4-hours of gameplay in a 20 hour shell' games.
By Frank Austin at 2:25 PM ON 05/21/09
Fanboy Paradox!
By Poohead at 2:30 PM ON 05/21/09
I wouldn't be too sure of that, obonicus. Remember that this game is a PS3-exclusive, and that Tom refers to the graphics as "soupy". He even goes so far as to suggest a game that appeared on the Xbox 360 has superior graphics, which as any PS3 Fanboy could (and most likely will) tell you, simply isn't possible.
Incoming PS3 Fanboy-Flames. Be warned.
By JB987 at 2:59 PM ON 05/21/09
Well I wouldn't be surprised if a PS fanboy did get upset. Both games suffer from the same issues (maybe a little more or a little less in different cases like aliasing, pop-in, jaggies, etc) GTA's poor performance on consoles and PC even is pretty cut and dry in comparison to this game. Infamous and GTA go 12 rounds in a lot of areas ranging from poly count to textures to lighting. It's back n forth in favor of one or the other. Lighting is probably the hardest one to determine. Bottom line, both games look good for sandbox games, but Infamous runs better so I would think infamous should get the nod because it does exceed GTA in certain areas like particle effects and textures.
By salwon at 3:33 PM ON 05/21/09
OMG GAYSTATION FANBOY!!!!!!
Just thought I'd get the ball rolling here.
By salwon at 3:40 PM ON 05/21/09
And nevermind your bullshit scoring mechanism, there's only one metric I care about. What % of Crackdown are we looking at here? The scale goes from 0% (game that is entirely unlike Crackdown) to 100% (game that is just as good as, or is, Crackdown). This should be the only scale used for any open world superhero game. Examples:
Spiderman 2 - 85% Crackdown
Spiderman 3 - 40% Crackdown
Hulk: UD - 90% Crackdown
Crackdown - 100% Crackdown
Crackdown 2 - 125% Crackdown (please?)
Guitar Hero - 0% Crackdown
By Joshua at 3:46 PM ON 05/21/09
salwon's right, also can you tell us how long it was before you encounted a crate?
By Mike at 4:16 PM ON 05/21/09
I watched the quicklook for this at GIant bomb (25 minslong) and to me this is a combination of assasins creed climbing, crackdown jumping/environment kinda/ spiderman 2 all over/ anda bit of the force unleashed with the shocking power. not a bad combo. in the end this game will be fun and really isnt that all that matters.
By Jesse at 4:16 PM ON 05/21/09
'If I had to rate it on a scale from Godfather II to Far Cry 2, I'd put Infamous above Mercenaries 2 but below Assassin's Creed.'
So it's the sad, shameful meat trapped in the middle of a disappointment sandwich. Every one of those games broke my heart. Don't be so forgiving, Tom!
Salwon, I love your ranking system!
PS: Prototype = 100% goth/emo Hulk: UD
(you can do all the same things Hulk could--with almost the same animations, even--but now you have a black leather jacket and the hoodie!)
By Neuromancer at 4:22 PM ON 05/21/09
Salwon you should start a review site where you specifically compare every game to Crackdown. I'd go there. It's actually not a bad metric, at least the people would know where you're coming from.
By the way I'd like to add that Saints Row 2 is probably about 90% Crackdown.
By Neuro at 4:30 PM ON 05/21/09
Ah Joshua, the Crate Review System. If I had to guess, I'd say this game gets negative points and is disqualified.
From what I hear the first mission objective is to get to a food crate at which point you have to make a tough moral decision about said crate. The third mission makes you protect a medical crate. It's a crate escort mission.
By Tom Chick at 4:42 PM ON 05/21/09
Mike, the problem with saying "all that matters is if it's fun" is that fun isn't something you can quantify. It means different things to different people, and unless you know me, whether i find something fun won't be very helpful to you. Fun is a largely useless word and whenever you see someone using it in anything but an informal conversation, I'd argue he's being lazy. That said, yeah, Infamous is fun. So there.
Neuro, a crate escort mission is exactly right. Good one! The great thing about escorting crates, however, is that they can't move, so it's easy to keep up with them.
And salwon's Crackdown ratings scale is brilliant! Although Saints Row 2 breaks the system a little.
By Jesse at 5:08 PM ON 05/21/09
Towards an algebra of game reviewing?
Saints Row 2 = 100% Crackdown
MINUS X (where X equals how much the gamer enjoys super strength and jumping)
PLUS Y (where Y equals how much the gamer enjoys the tons of things to do besides kill people, the better vehicles, the excellent cut scenes, and humor)
This is actually a good approximation of how I try to comprehend game reviews.
By Neuromancer at 5:15 PM ON 05/21/09
Jesse the lack of super strength and super jumps is why I knocked 10% off. The other 90% stands for comparable sheer awesomeness of game, or CSAoG.
By Jesse at 5:50 PM ON 05/21/09
I have faith that a unified field theory of videogame reviewing will one day be discovered, though I may not live to see it.
Meanwhile, Tom, thank you for continuing your experiments! The double top ten list is an interesting idea.
By Aeon221 at 7:03 PM ON 05/21/09
Tom, you need a control list or your experiment won't be acceptable. Perhaps a Top Ten List Of Things I Am Ambivalent About In InFamOus would suffice?
By Moeez at 12:31 AM ON 05/24/09
Glad to see all the Crackdown love here, clearly popularising platforming in sandbox games.
I'm surprised you love Far Cry 2, because I love it too, and haven't seen a valid criticism against it, asides from respawning guard posts!
By Susan at 1:18 AM ON 08/12/09
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Susan
By Susan at 1:19 AM ON 08/12/09
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Susan
Susan:
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't kno...More »