The demo opens up with the Sony Computer Entertainment and Sucker Punch splash screens. Both are designed to match the art style of inFamous, much like a comic, but still filled with foreboding.

The game starts with a camera pointing toward an angle of the town. Here you see people going about their daily lives, electronic adverts lighting up the night. But suddenly a surge quickly passes through, knocking out a few people and killing the lights. The camera pans back round and you see a massive explosion, covering 6 blocks of the massive city. The explosion almost looks like its made of electricity. The camera pans out above the city where the explosion sends a car hurdling towards you, and everything blacks out. Then the inFamous logo fades in.

 

A brief cutscene introduces us to what happened. An explosion killed many in the city, except Cole, the protagonist of inFamous. Cole is put into a hospital. He talks about society crumbling at the foot of the explosion, crimes are on the rise and cops are nowhere to be seen. The government is even hiding and covering up a biological threat, locking down exits and entrances to the island. And while everything was falling apart, Cole began to notice he had special powers. He can control electricity. Will he use it to destroy the foundations of society? or rebuild it? The choice is up to you.

 

The first story mission you’ll encounter is entitled ’The Rescue’. A woman named Moya briefs you on the mission via phone call. A group of civilians have been captured by a gang, and they’re locked inside a train. After taking out the henchmen, you’ll be able to power the train using your powers. The objective is to bring the train safely to the station, where the civilians can meet up with their families and loved ones again. But a series of gangs and technical hitches get in the way. You’ll encounter about three to four stops where you have to take out a gang, or fix a voltage feeder box to make the train continue running. The voltage feeder box is a little device that sits underneath the rails under one of the bridges, where you have to shoot it with your lightning bolts a couple times to get it functioning again. 

Once the train arrives at the station, a crowd waits for the bystanders. Cole isn’t particularly happy about this because the day before he was treated as a criminal, yet now they thank and treat him as one of their own. But he still appreciates the feeling of being a hero. Cole also looked for a ’John’ in the crowd, but couldn’t find him.

 

The next 3 missions are all side missions, simply because they are given to you by being at a certain checkpoint, and because they contain no cinematic cutscenes.

 

The first side mission is called ’Dark Water’ where you have to meet a lady to receive your instructions. After going to her, she’ll tell you about a gang on the rooftops trying to poison the water supply. After traversing your way up one building, you’ll have your hands full. There are roughly 5-6 rooftops, with around 2-3 enemies on them. After fighting your way through to the water tower, you’ll be instructed to destroy the poisoning mechanism with a ’Shockwave’ attack. After that, Zeke will call and notify you that crime rates are down thanks to you.

 

Side mission 2: Trish reaches out has you protecting a medicine box necessary for the survivors. You’ll encounter three waves of enemies, three trucks (with turrets on them), a wave of running exploding enemies and a couple of hostiles with miniguns. Even on easy mode this was rather difficult. This mission also showcases the destructibility of some obstacles. For example, there was a stack of wooden crates that were ripped to shreds when you attacked with your lighting bolt. The medicine box also displays the status of its damage, starting with undamaged, to light damage, to damaged, to WARNING. When you’re done taking out all the enemies in the area, Trish (and another person, assumed to be Zeke) arrive and thank you for your deed.

 

The final side mission, Mobile Poison, starts off with an old lady pleading your help. Apparently a Tar Truck belonging to one of the gangs is passing through the neighborhood, and you’re given the job to stop them. But it’s easier said than done. Enemies will come at you left, right and centre. Even taking it out with your most powerful attack won’t do. The mission ends with you calling in a lightning strike, that obliterates anything around a 10 yard radius. Zeke calls again to praise you.

 

Missions end displaying XP awarded, stunts pulled off, as well as any Karmic shifts (whether you shifted to the good side or the bad side more. It’s possible it remains the same). In the beginning of the first mission, your rank is Hero, while when you start the side mission, it becomes ’inFamous’. Sometimes (in the demo, only the side missions show this) when you complete a mission, the enemies will not return to that area. Sucker Punch have also added a feature to the game that you will be greatful for once you play it - In-mission checkpoints. Countless times you will die be it explosion or gunfire, but thankfully you don’t have to waste time doing it again. The team also makes sure that you stay on path, not walking off to the wrong place or wrong island. They implemented an aborting mission screen, where if you walk away from the mission, static fills the screen and it clearly says ’Aborting mission’. This is to ensure that you keep the task at hand.

 

gameplay

 

inFamous gameplay is very much split into two. Combat and platforming/ traversing. 

In your arsenal you will have quite a few lightning/ electricity attacks, as well as a couple melee techniques, and non-lethal, techniques. In the menu, there are 16 attacks in total, including melee and energy absorb, however only a few are available in the demo. All have videos and instructions on how to use. Your karma also affects your attacks, however this was still not revealed. Your electricity attacks consist of electricity bombs, calling in lightning, shock waves (a blast that blows the enemy away), and a thunder drop (where you jump off and land with a crushing force). The latter two have become a favorite, simply because they are possibly the most versatile and beautiful attacks. The former two are the most devastating attacks, taking out hordes of enemies. Using your electrical powers, you can even ’glide’ through the air, which becomes useful later on when moving building to building or structure to structure. Melee techniques are also available, which range from punches to kicks to a special combo of the two. Chaining these attacks and melee techniques will become essential in attaining XP. XP can be earned not only through combos, but through multikills, skills, high falls and even ’head shocks’. A cover system is also somewhat present, where it allows you to duck behind cover and pop out, but similar to ’Army of Two’, it doesn’t actually snap you to cover.

In addition to these lethal attacks, you also have attacks for downed AI (both hostile and friendly). After locking on (R1, context-sensitive), you have the option of restrain (circle), heal (triangle, friendly only), or bio leech (tap square multiple times). The last one enters you in a quick time event, where you have to keep tapping to finish the move. It basically absorbs all the electricity from inside of them, and shifts your karma to infamous. 

Keeping an eye on your energy is also essential. On the top of your HUD you will see a series of ’battery cores’. These are needed for certain skills and attacks. They deplete depending on what attacks you use. These can be recharged by the absorbing ability. With a click of the L3, you can find sources of electricity. Street lights, Engines, power grids, Televisions, Train tracks, even people - almost everything you can gather electricity from. Cars also contain energy however they aren’t advisable considering they only offer a short amount. To enhance your battery cores, you must collect special shards scattered around the city. 

Enemy AI is rather smart as well, and they will try to find cover when they can or try to outflank you. One small detail noticeable is when your taking cover, the enemy will lift their gun over your head and fire. The enemies come in many shapes, colors and sizes. Some will have white hoods and can teleport (Conduits), others can control fire, some carry missile launchers and miniguns, but most will wield the AK47. The enemies are usually in a hood (a skull painted on it) with their face concealed, thus earning them the name ’Reapers’.

Traversing is undoubtedly one of the highlights of inFamous. Virtually everything is scalable. inFamous allows you to shimmy on ledges, climb up street lights, trees and pipes, hang on to shop signs, and balance on to hand rails. You can even skate on the train tracks and phone lines. 

A risky but well-placed feature that was added is the fact that you can’t fall off. This takes away realism, but it makes the game a whole lot more enjoyable. 

To describe this type of freedom is like Assassin’s Creed meets Mirror’s edge. You certainly have a lot of freedom in where you go, but you can also get there fast. 

There is also the engine that mashes these two together. While your hanging, shimmying, dangling on to a ledge you can raise your hand and shoot above, below, ahead to the sides or even behind you. This works perfectly.

 

 

inFamous plays great, but thankfully it looks great as well. Textures are detailed, models rendered accurately, and frame rate is pretty decent for an open world game. But the winner of the graphics department is the draw distance. Stand at a top of a tower or building, and the island will stretch out to the horizon. It’s simply magnificent. The game does have a little pop-in here and there, but that’s understandable for its genre. HUD is kept to a minimum, a radar at the bottom left, and your karma rank and battery cores at the top.

Details are what make the game. The environment is filled with little details. Chimney smoke makes Cole float up slightly. Leaves fall from trees when attacked. Explosives and Fire barrels found littered. Towers can fall. Everything adds up to present that post apocalyptic nightmare. 

With Cole being a living battery, he too affects the details in the environment. Dark areas light up when Cole’s lighted hand passes. Fountains and puddles are electrocuted when Cole stands in them. The tassels of his bag are affected by his movements. The sound of choppy wind when your high up a building. Even when Cole sucks the energy of electrical gadgets, they turn off (lights, cars and TVs).

Of course, the biggest detail in this city are the people living in it. Of course many bodies lie unconscious or dead on the ground, but some are still very much breathing. They run in fright, sit in despair, or just complain about everything. The best has to be when your climbing up a pole, and a group of bystanders gather. Some take pictures while one of them will shout, ’He’s gonna kill himself!’

 

 

The demo concludes with the famous trailer ’The Beauty of Power’.

 

 

inFamous is scheduled for release later this month. Be sure to check Ultimate Playstation for our official review on the PS3 exclusive.