inFAMOUS Review

Post by Steve Farrelly @ 03:55pm 27/05/09 | 34 Comments

inFAMOUS arrives as a PlayStation 3 exclusive that offers up a very mixed bag of gameplay wrought with frustration and fun. Unfortunately the latter comes in very small doses while the former reigns most of the experience supreme.

Marred by dated visuals and unbelievably bad AI, inFAMOUS might actually be forgotten a lot sooner than its namesake would have you believe, but for the diligent out there, there's still value in the game, it just takes a little while to find it.

Check out our in-depth review right here.

infamous review

Latest Comments

Link

Khel
Posted 04:46pm 27/5/09

I bought this yesterday and so far I'm really loving it, played it for about 3 or 4 hours last night and had a lot of fun. I wasn't really expecting it to be like GTA though, I'm kind of over GTA and games that try to be like it, this feels a lot more like Crackdown than GTA to me, but with a good story vs Crackdown's non-existant story.

That platforming mechanics feel really awesome and solid too, I can jump towards the thinest ledge, or the make the most death defying leap onto a suspended cable and be pretty confident Cole is going to do what I want him to do and land where I want him to land. The AI hasn't bothered me yet, I don't mind that everyone cowers and runs screaming from me, I mean, thats probably the smart thing to do because I'm most likely going to kill them and suck the electricity out of their bodies to feed myself.

Its not the best game I've ever played, but so far, I'm having a lot of fun. Its easily as much fun as Crackdown was for me, probably more so. And just for the record, I'm not a Sony fanboy :P

Link

Steve Farrelly
Posted 04:48pm 27/5/09

Nah, fair call Khel, I just thought it acted a little dated, and when you get deeper in and are dealing with a host of reapers, Cole's sticky legde/climbing ability can actually become somewhat cumbersome

Link

Khel
Posted 04:55pm 27/5/09

It does definitely have its rough edges, the fire effects in the intro bit looked really s***, thats one thing that stuck in my mind. Some of the props and stuff around the world are animated really poorly too, like the fridge on the roof of your friend's place, if you zap it, it swings open, and if you zap it again while its open it snaps back to being shut and swings open again.

But yeah, I guess the novelty of electrocuting people and tossing stuff around with emp blasts and such hasn't got old yet, those rough edges might start bugging me more when the initial shine has worn off.

I do definitely agree about the death from above move though, that kicks major amounts of arse, I didn't realise at first that the longer you fall for the harder it hits, and I jumped off a really high building into the middle of a street and basically annhilated everything in sight, quite cool :)

last edited by Khel at 16:55:27 27/May/09

Link

ChiZ
Posted 04:55pm 27/5/09

6.9? Really? I'm really enjoying it. I think the look of it is pretty good. Also comparison it to GTAIV and saying it's not sandbox because you can't drive cars isn't a fair point.

ALSO, Cole has a lot more moves than you listed, the ones you unlock after doing good missions are pretty good. And you don't touch on getting the ability to grind along rails, and hover etc!

Again, 6,9? :( I like it much more than that.

Link

Steve Farrelly
Posted 05:09pm 27/5/09

oops, for you early review comers - this para was missing due to it being missed during cut and paste :P

The karma system is also really lax in that it's just too cut and dry. Throughout the game, in narrative effect, you're offered choices of either good or bad consequence. One particular instance had me choosing whether to be sprayed in the face with a murky mutagen substance that brought on hallucinations (which actually progressed the story), or make a bystander do it. Here the choice was obvious - do it myself so I can get more of the story fleshed out. What's worse is said hallucination lasted less than 10 seconds with no negative effect. You will unlock different abilities specific to your karmic alliance, but for the most part these rarely change the shape of engagement.

it's in the review now though

Link

Khel
Posted 05:15pm 27/5/09

While I can understand that driving cars and stuff might have been beyond the scope of the game, one thing I thought was a bit corny was that they went out of their way to give silly reasons why he can't do those things. Like he can't touch guns or he ignites the powder in them and they explode, or he can't sit in a car cos it will explode. He can ride on top of a car, thats fine, doesn't hurt the car at all, but yeah, can't sit in them apparently. It just felt pretty ham-fisted.

Its like that game Wet, I remember watching a dev interview with some of the guys working on it, and in the game you're an assassin and you have your own set of custom handguns, and you only ever use your own handguns. Fair enough, thats how their game mechanics are built, you don't pick up other weapons, you use your own weapons. But then they felt the need to write in a reason for it, and added a backstory to the main character about it, saying how she only ever uses her own guns because she has a phobia of touching other people's guns.

I assume they do it in an attempt to try and not break the immersion, but it just has the opposite effect on me, it just harshly reminds me of how fake and contrived the world I'm playing in is.

last edited by Khel at 17:15:03 27/May/09

Link

d0mino
Posted 05:18pm 27/5/09

And you don't touch on getting the ability to grind along rails, and hover etc!

spoilers?

Link

Steve Farrelly
Posted 05:24pm 27/5/09

I did touch on it actually

Link

ChiZ
Posted 05:31pm 27/5/09

And you don't touch on getting the ability to grind along rails, and hover etc!
spoilers?

Not really? You see that in most of the video and screenshots.

EDIT:

And you don't touch on getting the ability to grind along rails, and hover etc!
spoilers?

Sorry, just re-read, it was in there.

Link

pixem
Posted 09:05am 28/5/09

just like to say I'm really enjoying this game myself. I thought at first it could be a bomb as definately noticed the dated visuals.. especially compared to something like killzone 2, the last game played by myself.

But its actually a lot of fun, and I actually like the AI. I don't find the AI predictable at all. Maybe I don't game enough, but when I used to the AI always would do the same thing, if you figured out how to beat them you could just keep using the same trick. So far the AI pisses me off because it does things differently than I expect and makes it harder for me to kill them.

Sometimes the ledge stickyness can get in the way but for 90% of the time I find it really great and a lot more fun than games where you have to be so precise with your jumps you give up in frustration. Maybe its suited to the more casual gamer which I probably fit into these days.

I find the style of gameplay fun and not having to beat minibosses all the time is actually refreshing (ala Force Unleashed, a similar style in my opinion but infamous is far more enjoyable). Only once or twice have I done a mission that was repetitive, but it were some side missions anyhow.

Really enjoying it thus far, probably 70% in.

last edited by pixem at 09:05:43 28/May/09

Link

trog
Posted 09:04am 28/5/09

Feedback from someone who couldn't be bothered making an account but took the time to post feedback via our contact section:

What are you guys smoking over at the office. I read your review of infamous and was very confused and have a few questions for you.

Did you guys confuse your copy of Infamous with GTA4 or something. Having play 20 hours of Infamous so far and barely getting to 15 hours with GTA4 I must say that your review reeks of unfair critism. Everything you describe about infamous would have been true if describing GTA4!

Furthermore there is no room in an objective review of a game for words like"fans", or more accurately "Sony fans". It only makes you guys sound like fanboys, which is what I've been led to believe.

Bottom line is that although I'll admit that it has its flaws, but in the end it is an infinitely more fun and good looking game that GTA4 was (Game of the Year 2008 scoring 98 in Metacritic) with a better story and unmatched platforming. To label it 69 out of 100 is downright wrong, and I hope for Suckerpunch's sake that no one reads this review and takes it seriously.

This will be the last time I visit your site and will be the advice I give everyone I come in contact with in person or online.

Cheers to unbiased reviews.

Disgruntled gamer.

Link

Beanith
Posted 09:14am 28/5/09

This will be the last time I visit your site and will be the advice I give everyone I come in contact with in person or online.

Will he come back if I promise to post a photo of a kitten?

Link

Nathan
Posted 09:24am 28/5/09

David gives a movie 2 stars and Margaret gives it 3.5 stars. Which of them is wrong?

Link

Reverend Evil�
Posted 09:26am 28/5/09

Does Ausgamers get angry emails from developers and publishers when you score a game below what they think it should?

Link

pixem
Posted 09:57am 28/5/09

I'll say this for his rant, the bit he refers to in the article is a little confusing..

non-hardcore Sony types are seriously going to find it difficult to feel compelled to get to said point

I don't really get that statement. I guess I've never been a type of any console whatever that means, I guess if I am I'm a PC type - i like my mouse. I just find it hard to believe that someone will percervere just because they are compelled by faith in a brand. Can such a statement be applied to a Microsoft or Nintendo fan? Would a similar issue on an Xbox exclusive title garner the same quote? If it did wouldn't that make hardcore Microsoft types and hardcore Sony types the same?

Or are the types different based on their choices of brand - i.e only a certain type of person would by a PS3? If not then the statement doesn't relate to brand and would relate to a type of gamer irregardless of brand. If it is, then if the title were an Xbox exclusive the Xbox review would contain the same quote referencing hardcore Sony types.

I don't mean to start any fan war thing. I know people get protective about their choices in life. But the point they would percervere with something that you consider others would find painful and unenjoyable seems a bit unrealistic to me. I've always seen games as a source of entertainment and fun whats the point if they aren't.

Link

trog
Posted 10:15am 28/5/09

PA guys seem to agree that this game has its ups and downs as well:

Infamous is a decent game, and that's the whole of it. Ironically enough, it lacks spark: it lacks impetus. Whatever power it does exert grounds out after a few hours, so that by the tenth hour I was twiddling my charged thumbs wondering if there was some other mutant that could torment this grey town. It's cool to shock dudes, true. That's a good Goddamned thing, because you're going to be shocking a lot of f*****g dudes.

There's a lot about the game that is incoherent. A game based on truly beautiful, fully realized art that (unlike their previous efforts) never seems to inform the gameworld. Some water kills you outright, some water doesn't. It's a game about urban traversal where the platforming has been trivialized by a kind of capricious magnetism, which sometimes negates or just disregards your input. As a result, Cole can climb virtually anything, almost automatically - marquees, exposed girders, modern art - everything except chain link fences, something any normal person could climb.

It's a pretty carefully phrased post; I had to read it a few times before I decided he was saying it was a little on the average side - it ends with a comment about game journos which I assume means most other sites are blowing over this game, but I haven't looked around so no idea.

Link

Steve Farrelly
Posted 11:13am 28/5/09

pixem, that's based on our feedback and run-ins with hardcore Sony elite whenever we review an exclusive sony product. And yes, in said contact, the parties have looked beyond physical flaws of games to proclaim them the best thing since sliced bread.

I used to be a hardcore Nintendo nut and would do the same thing with Nintendo products... now I've seen the light and game across the board

Link

Steve Farrelly
Posted 11:16am 28/5/09

case in point - this is a comment from the news post for this review at News 4 Gamers:

1 - no name site, no credibility

"probably an xbot with his own website.. i played the game, definitely not a 6.. well, xbots would give ps3 exclusive low scores to up their self-esteem..

poor xbots, i see this all the time in sports forums.. when their home team is losing they talk a lot of crap about the other teams players.. like those cavs fans bashing howard for the incident with mo williams.. saying he is not a superstar because of the technical for taunting.. got off topic there.. i'll end now"

Link

Spook
Posted 11:37am 28/5/09

uhoh, this wont get steve game review of the year

Link

trog
Posted 12:33pm 28/5/09

PS3 people definitely rage more when they see low scores for platform exclusive titles. They certainly don't then go and give us props when games get good scores. Confirmation bias!@#

Link

groganus
Posted 01:09pm 28/5/09

i was pretty keen to play this, but with some many people whinging about the annoying little things like not climbing fences and siht its kind of turned me off..

Link

trog
Posted 01:16pm 28/5/09

Oh, I just got the most recent PA - I guess that's relating to the game

Link

BillyHardball
Posted 01:29pm 28/5/09

6.9 is not bad? I'd say the only game that has come close to a 9 for me would be Quake, or maybe Doom, when I was young enough to think that games were the duck's nuts.

What sort of scale are you using? How did you land on 6.9 after you list the pro's vs cons? Does the scale ever drop below 5? (looks like there are more bad than good features.) Is a 6.9 for one game going to mean that a 6.9 on a different game will be the same?

How the hell can anyone write an "objective" review? It's totally unfeasible in terms of gaming reviews. Even "disgruntled gamer" has based his/her own review as a comparison to a different game.

Bottom line is that although I'll admit that it has its flaws, but in the end it is an infinitely more fun and good looking game that GTA4 was (Game of the Year 2008 scoring 98 in Metacritic) with a better story and unmatched platforming.

So, they are saying that, objectively, the game has flaws, but compared to a different game, it's better? What personal investment does this guy have in a video game to need to reply like that? Clearly, disgruntled gamer is a 1/12 case, IYKWIM.

Link

greazy
Posted 01:39pm 28/5/09

Screw the hates Steve. What I look for in a review is honesty. That's why I enjoy watching Yatze or whatever the angry British guy is called.

Link

pixem
Posted 03:58pm 28/5/09

Just so people are clear the score is fine with me if that is your opinion, never said it was wrong. Its a review.

My only interest is in the comment quoted, I don't know any hardcore PS3 or Xbox fans. My only experience with console gamers is for to tell me they are an Xbox fan when they know I have a PS3, but never go on to bash it or me which I would consider fairly normal. I guess I'm not in a position to have the reverse and have a PS3 owner comment on my choice if I had an Xbox. I guess in your position you are exposed to it a lot more from both sides, if there is one. I just don't understand it, I would assume the hardcore pride induced console gamers are common to both sides? They just chose differently which side to die for? Or is there one type specific to one brand, and they would only chose that brand because of who they are?

I guess its the whole I'm a Mac I'm a PC where people tie their personality into inanimate object choices. Just seems odd.

Sorry to have maybe gone OT as well. That PA comic is pretty funny too. Those fences caused me great annoyance.

last edited by pixem at 15:58:13 28/May/09

Link

sony1978a
Posted 08:52pm 28/5/09

LOL AT ASUGAMERS 6.9????????

I DONT KNOW WHY, BUT EVREY TIME YOU GUYS Review A PS3 GAME,YOU PROOF TO ME THAT THIS WEBSITE IS OWNED BY 360 FANS.
Game Spot gave it 9, Game Trailers gave it 9. IGN gave it 9.2
I swear if this game was on 360 you guys would give 9.
Do me a favor stop Reviewing PS3 Games.

Shame on you FAN BOYS

Link

ctd
Posted 08:56pm 28/5/09

MORE LIKE AUSXBOXGAMERS

Link

fpot
Posted 08:56pm 28/5/09

Irony... of... someone... called... sonu1978a... signing up... just to have a whinge about a subjective review score... and then calling people fan boys... too much... overload....

Link

ViscoS
Posted 12:39am 29/5/09

They didn't like it as much as other sites; big whoop, you obviously aren't going to listen to Steve anyway so what's your issue?

Link

trog
Posted 09:48am 29/5/09

LOL AT ASUGAMERS 6.9????????I DONT KNOW WHY, BUT EVREY TIME YOU GUYS Review A PS3 GAME,YOU PROOF TO ME THAT THIS WEBSITE IS OWNED BY 360 FANS.Game Spot gave it 9, Game Trailers gave it 9. IGN gave it 9.2I swear if this game was on 360 you guys would give 9.Do me a favor stop Reviewing PS3 Games.Shame on you FAN BOYS

I assume you didn't read everything else in these comments before posting :(

6.9 is a pretty good score; it's almost 70%. That's way above average.

Link

weedy
Posted 12:22am 30/5/09

I thought it was an interesting game so downloaded the demo for my PS3 i found the game play extremely boring - needless to say i spent longer waiting it for to be installed then i could bare playing it... the only good thing about it is u can pretty much climb on anything you like but that wears out in 5 minutes of game play, so many awesome games comin out soon save your money for OFP2, BF1943, Fight Night 4... and all the other ones i have lined up which i cbf lookin up right now

360 or PS3 makes no difference this games crap

Link

Donovan
Posted 08:57am 21/6/09

Im glad I found this site. I have always been a huge Sony supporter even though I own both a PS3 and 360. I get most multi-platform games on the PS3 cause I like the controller more. Anyways, I've been dissapointed with some of Sony's exclusives lately, and I was searching for a game website that felt similarily to me about inFAMOUS' shortcomings. I should have known I was going to have to come to Australia! I agree that this game had good intentions and was fun at times.I could tell that the developers at Sucker Punch are skilled, but it lacked in a lot of areas and wasn't polished. Nice review Steve!

Link

Midda
Posted 10:30am 21/6/09

I've been playing this for the last few days, and it's pretty cool so far. I just got the gliding ability, which makes jumping from building to building more interesting. I have to say though, the cutscene animations are awful, it's like they didn't even try. Which is strange, because the in-game animations aren't too bad, but those cutscenes... F*****g terrible, the worst I've seen in a long time.

Link

Khel
Posted 01:16pm 21/6/09

Yeah, I've noticed that too, and it has lots of people turning on the spot without their legs moving

Commenting has been locked for this item.

34 Comments

Show

Features

Reviews

ASUS ROG Rapture GT6 WiFi 6 Mesh System

User:
Pass: