The old “reluctant hero” plot device might have been done to death both in games and in movies, but the “reluctant superhero” is less common – and they don’t come much more reluctant or unlikely than inFamous’s central character, Cole MacGrath, an everyday delivery rider, who sets out one day to deliver a package in the downtown area of Empire City. Cole is right at ground zero when a massive electrical explosion rocks the city, but miraculously he manages to survive it, left in a smouldering crater hundreds of yards across. The government quarantines the city and as rioting and anarchy follow, the city’s cops are outnumbered and unable to stop the wandering gangs from doing as they please. A television report places Cole at the epicentre of the explosion and he is blamed for the blast; he is now a wanted man, but finds that he’s also been endowed with some extraordinary electrical powers as a result of the explosion. After escaping from the blast area Cole passes out, and when he comes round he finds that he can shoot electricity from his fingers (the way electricity crackles through conductive objects looks really impressive) and can also survive falls from high places. Soon he finds he can do a sort of “Jedi force push” shockwave, to move objects as big as cars or blast enemies violently away from him. This means Cole doesn’t need to use conventional firearms to battle his enemies with, which as just as well as his touch apparently cooks off the ammo and it blows up whenever he touches it.
Early in the game you’re given the option of being a good guy or a bad guy, and throughout the game you can enhance your good reputation by doing good acts, or become more infamous by being evil and working for the government agent Moya who wants you to do her bidding. Good or evil could mean something as simple as using your electrical power to zap a dying city dweller back to life like a defibrillator, or just ignoring someone who needs rescuing from the marauding Reapers or Dust Men (gangs of criminals made up from junkies and criminal scum). A karma gauge in the top left of the screen shows you your good/evil level from 'Guardian' through 'Champion' to 'Hero' on the good side, to 'Thug', 'Outlaw' and of course ultimately 'Infamous' on the evil side. As you perform missions for either the good guys or the bad guys you earn XP (eXperience Points) with which to upgrade and enhance your amazing powers, only a couple of which are apparent at the start of the game.
Apart from being able to do normal actions like running around, punch-kicking bad guys, climbing, dive-rolling and covering behind certain scenery Cole’s super powers include:
Electric Drain (replenish Cole’s electrical reserve from any everyday electrical source, like a street lamp or power generator)
Shockwave (force push)
Shock Grenade
Polarity Wall (shield)
Megawatt Hammer (think: rocket launcher)
Thunder Drop (a bit like Incredible Hulk's smash)
As I said earlier, all of these can be upgraded and enhanced in the order you want to, and you’ll definitely use certain weapons/abilities more than others.
Cole can even grind along live cables and the El-train tracks to charge himself up, and eventually even fly – well, more like ‘glide’ actually as he loses height as he travels. His ultimate power is to conjure up a massive lightning storm to frazzle enemies with, and this supplies some of the game’s most spectacular moments.
If you come across a downed but not yet dead person you have a good or evil choice to make; you can use any one of Pulse Heal (defibrillator), Arc Restraint (electrical tether) or Bio Leech (drain their life force and convert it to electricity).
Lots of missions involve climbing to heady heights, and certain enemies are always best taken from above so you can use the roofline as cover. Cole can hang from the top ledge of a rooftop and snipe enemies from relative safety, or cover behind certain objects, you can flip the aim to Cole’s other hand if something obstructs your view too, which is a very useful touch. The inFamous game engine did a praiseworthy job of giving me vertigo-inducing moments. One thing I did think could have been improved was Cole’s climbing ability. Yes, he can clamber up most buildings and structures like a monkey, but after a while - and in some missions in particular - where you have to be at rooftop level, getting back up there seems to take an absolute age. There are some massive structures that should you fall from it can take you a long time to find your way back up. Falls are frequently not your fault as some of Cole’s climbing habits are annoying; he won’t grab onto some surfaces that clearly look climbable (like mesh fencing) and refuses to grab onto some objects that look identical to others that he will climb. Some sort of electrical Bionic Commando-like grapple hook or Spider Man-esque web-slinging would have been perfect to solve this annoyance, and even if it was one of the final abilities that you unlocked, it would have made Cole feel a lot more super that he does. The fact that Cole is dressed in his dispatch rider’s outfit throughout the game doesn’t really make him feel particularly super either. You can call me daft, but I like my superheroes to be dressed in a cool outfit, tatty casuals were fine for Will Smith in Hancock, but I always prefer them in a spandex one-piece.
The feeling of being in a living city has been well realised, the game engine supplies plenty of detail and a decent draw distance, with a smooth frame rate regardless of how much action is on screen (and there can be a lot), thankfully pop-up only raises its ugly head occasionally. You’ll notice how people’s reactions to Cole change depending on how your karma gauge is looking. Be the hero and they'll take photos of you and cheer you on. Become infamous and they'll throw rocks at you or run away in fear. Events unfold based on the course you take in them, creating broader reactions in the city’s people and environment. At one point when I restored the city’s power one certain neighbourhood actually looked quite sunny and cheerful, in complete contrast to the decrepit and menacing feel that other areas give you.
Difficulty settings in games are always a thorny issue, and developers can never keep everyone happy but I have to say I think inFamous’s normal setting is just too damned hard. Extremely generous restart points within missions would suggest that they realised this, but even on “Easy” some battles with copious enemies can verge on the frustrating, tiresome at best. Sucker Punch did a pretty good job of giving the game some variety but almost inevitably the game can get samey, despite the fact that almost every mission will pan out in a different way because of hugely adaptive and varied AI, and a wonderfully complex city with mazes of back alleys and diverse buildings that become Cole’s battlefield. I think the lack of vehicular action (Cole doesn't drive and can only ride on the roofs of cars or the El-train) and Cole’s understandable aversion to water may have something to do with this, but maybe I’ve just played too darned much GTA and Saints Row for my own good…
Infamous is without doubt one of the best PS3-exclusive games you’ll get this year and will certainly keep you entertained with its plentiful combat and search-type missions. The story is regularly updated with superbly done manga/anime type cut scenes, and you’ll want to see it to the end – twice probably. It’s just a shame Cole isn’t a bit more "hero", and a little less "reluctant".
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