Save What's Left... Or Destroy It All
The official tagline for inFAMOUS is way too fitting not to use here. Luckily, we came up with a few words of our own to describe the ultimate fate of Empire City.
Published: May 27, 2009
Those docks do illustrate a minor complaint I have, which is that there's a modicum of cut-and-paste to the outlying areas in the game. There's a logic behind them, but it does help to make some areas feel a little similar -- particularly when you notice that things are made up of the same basic building blocks with a slightly different texture on them. Still, the three districts of the game look varied enough that you'll generally know where you are even if it all looks blasted to hell. The textures as a whole are nicely varied, and as mentioned before the animations (especially the slo-mo bodies arcing through the air during really big, explosive kills that end a mission) look wonderful. That none of it was motion captured proves that, yes, keyframed animation is alive and well, and can still look gorgeous. Not only that, but it fits the tone of the game perfectly.
That goes double for the audio, which is actually quite a bit more subdued than I thought it would be. Despite having no less than four composers working on most of the tracks (including the insanely awesome Amon Tobin), the music is rarely at the fore. It sort of rolls in for a few moments while you're playing (mostly during the main story), and punctuates the key moments in the game like the cutscenes with some awesomely mixed bits of tribal percussion, somber ambient sustains and some rounded, orchestral swells that set the tone and pace for the game beautifully. It really is a fantastic soundtrack, though even after 30 hours, I'd felt I hadn't really heard enough of it to be able to hum anything. In fact, I've only notched the Platinum Trophy in the game as of a few hours ago and I can't attach the game to any one theme. Whether that's a good or a bad thing is up for debate, I'm sure, but I certainly wouldn't have minded hearing more.
The effects are similarly understated. There's actually something of a rounded, almost "soft" quality to everything. I don't mean that as a slight, it just seems to complement the rest of the game's visuals, which go for style over realism and end up feeling just right. There's a level of polish to the presentation that shows just how reserved the Sucker Punch audio team is, and the less-is-more approach definitely works. From the soft, echoey chime when you confirm a takedown to the punchy explosions to the arcing crackle of Cole's feet grinding on power lines to the soft thump of his feet hitting concrete, brick and mortar, everything feels soft without being muddy.
Voice work, too, is top-notch. Cole's gravelly delivery might seem a little over-the-top at first, but it fits with the tone of the game, especially depending on which route you've taken. The rest of the cast all do a wonderful job of egging you on, soothing your ire, offering a pep talk and keeping you on task.
The only thing that really hurts the game is the same thing that often hurts most open world games: repetition. It's almost a non-issue the first time through, but chances are most players are going to at least chase half the side objectives during their first go round, and doing it all again, plus seeing the games major points not change all that much, plus not having the city react in irreversible architectural ways means that there can be a bit too much of doing the same thing. That wouldn't be so bad if the game weren't incredibly fun to play. You want to turn around and run through it again a second time as soon as it's over, and that invites a feeling of déjà vu -- if only a little.
inFAMOUS is one hell of a game. It's the start of something new without feeling like a BS cliffhanger or a "Chapter 1" of something bigger, yet seems remarkably sure of itself. The level of polish, the way the game supports and encourages you to stick to one karmic path is admirable and the whole experience is something that belongs in every single PS3 owner's library. Just remember, it's an open world platformer, not a sandbox game, and you'll walk away wanting a sequel as much as I do.
