The city also changes as you play – there are three gangs that have taken over the three districts that the city is divided into, and you’ll engage in a few side missions to rid each sector within each district of the oppression and violence that these gangs perpetrate. It’s simple – complete a side mission within a sector and the gang members will be too afraid to return to that sector, making your life slightly easier when travelling through the city. 
You might even gain favour with the cops or local medical crews if you do the right deeds for the right people, resulting in a number of benefits. There are a lot of random encounters that you’ll come across which will pose you with a moral dilemma that helps to draw you into the world and make you feel more connected to it. Following the disaster that you brought upon it, the city is without electricity and it’s up to you (and your new abilities) to fix that little problem, one power grid at a time. Not only that, but as it turns out, you’ll also gain a new ability each time you restore power to a section of the city. No super-powered individual is complete without a few nemeses, and Cole has no shortage of them. You’ll meet a bunch of baddies on your quest, each with their own superpowers. On top of all this, there’s some great platform-style gameplay (Cole can climb pretty much anything that looks climbable – he’s like Altair, but with electricity thrown into the mix), a system for levelling up your abilities, and lots of phenomenal action sequences. There’s a lot going on in inFamous, far too much to mention in this short space, so we’ll just get down to business.
To put it bluntly, inFamous is an awesome game. The game’s story is a little rough around the edges (as with most open-world games), but it’s good enough that Cole’s journey from zero-to-hero is a compelling and engaging one. The characters are memorable, and by the time the game is over you’re very likely to feel a strong connection to the characters. The action is fast, frenetic and enjoyable, while the platform bits provide a nice change of pace between zapping enemies and dodging bullets. The story missions on offer are varied (both in terms of action and objectives) and each one is more exciting than the last. The side missions, while they can get a bit repetitive, never stop being fun. Special mention must be made of the game’s amazing visuals. There are a few problems with dodgy animations, but other than that the game is absolutely gorgeous, mostly thanks to the fantastic lighting engine (it’s difficult to describe just how good-looking the effects for Cole’s powers are) that the developers have brilliantly utilised. Empire City and its environs are truly a beauty to behold and the game’s striking visuals lend themselves well to the over-the-top action in the game. Even the animated cut-scenes look phenomenal. The game certainly isn’t without its problems – it’s not devoid of bugs and the usual issues that most sandbox games suffer from (lots of repetition, grinding, and some more repetition). Despite the small problems that I encountered while playing the game, it’s just too good in every other respect to dwell on the negatives. If you own a PS3, this should be high on your wish list. If you don’t own a PS3, inFamous is reason enough to put the game and the console on that wish list anyway. I, for one, can’t wait to experience the next chapter in the life of Cole, gaming’s newest superhero.
This article is a re-run from the July 2009 issue.
