OXCGN investigates – Is it a game to make 360 owners jealous…?
by Shadow Wave:
©2009 Ben Cadwallader
Sucker Punch’s brand new Playstation 3 exclusive inFAMOUS is out and selling like hotcakes, countless PS3 owners are happy and Sony fanboys are trying to rub this title in 360 owners faces.
I recently had the pleasure of playing through the entire game to find out if this title really is worthy of all its hype and if 360 owners should really be jealous or not… Here is the lowdown:
In Sucker Punch’s new game, you play as Cole McGrath (no, not the guy from Gears of War), an ex-bike messenger who accidentally opened a package which contained a unique bomb called the Ray Sphere, which of course caused devastation to everyone around him, except for himself.
In inFAMOUS, he wakes up from the devastating blast with new inner strength and a swag of wicked electrical abilities: he essentially becomes a human battery. But sadly, as anything electrical can’t go near water, Cole will never be able to swim, drink or have a shower again….stinky!
Cole McGrath is essentially a human battery.
Shortly after the bomb, a pandemic was declared and the government sets up quarantine for the entire city. Three different gangs rise up quickly and take complete control of the Neon, Warren and Historical districts of the city. With the entire city now ruled by fear and chaos, it can only be saved by Cole in whatever way he wishes thanks to a great moral choice system.
Every story sequence that plays during the game is shown via a comic book style cinematic, told from McGrath’s perspective as the narrator. These cut scenes I thought were presented very well with fantastic artwork which really pulled me into the game’s universe. These cut scenes often reflect back and mention various choices you have made over the course of the game, with the final cut scene really amazing as it felt like it had been put together from every single choice you have made over the course of the game.
inFAMOUS probably has the best moral choice system I have seen used in any game before it. Almost every choice affects the story directly, and these choices actually give you that feeling of being a Hero or Villain. Do you give the food supply drop to the people? Or do you keep it all for yourself? Some of the later choices you have to make give you a very strong moral feeling when choosing what to do.
The choices you make affect the story directly.
It all works very well. Depending on your good or evil alignment you get a cool different look: a good character gets lovely blue lightning bolts and a slight blue aura and an evil Character gets wicked red lightning and a complete ‘The Dark Side’ evil look. I chose to be a good, Heroic character throughout my game.
The game play for me generally was very entertaining but I found it could have been much better. Almost every single mission McGrath has to complete over the course of the game involves killing masses upon masses of gang members with his awesome lightning abilities.
Cole gets to learn various new abilities over the course of the game each time he restores power to an area of the city, but from then on you need to spend precious experience points on upgrading these abilities to be stronger and more effective. Most abilities can be upgraded up to 3 times, but the amount of XP they require ends up being too much for the amount of XP you earn by killing enemies or completing missions.
This essentially means that sometimes it might take an hour or 2 of playing the game before you can upgrade an ability and there is almost no way you will complete the game with all your abilities maxed out unless you dedicate a lot of time to doing some repetitive side missions.
For a superhero, Cole McGrath is quite underpowered, as a human battery he can deplete his power quite quickly so he must recharge himself at the nearest electrical appliance, whether it be a TV, or a street light quite often.
The main form of attack you will use over the entire game is a standard lightning bolt ability; hold L1 and mash R1 as fast as possible to fire as many bolts of lightning as you can. You will use this ability the most because it’s essentially the only one that does not deplete your energy and can even use it to fill your energy back up once you have upgraded it.
Why oh why all this flash – please!
One thing I hated in this game is the flash on the screen when you fire your lightning bolts. Because you use the ability so often I found my eyes a tad sore/worked out after a decent gaming session.
McGrath does earn a decent amount of abilities over the 12+ hour campaign though. Ranging from an electrical rocket launcher, to being able to hover in the air, but for the most part all his offensive abilities can drain your energy very quickly and you’ll often just resort to using your standard lightning bolts until you are in a tough spot, because Cole dies quick, really quick.
As mentioned earlier, there are three islands or districts of the metropolis that Cole gets to adventure through and conquer. Each district, Neon, Warren and Historical, plays host to a different gang that are literally swarming throughout the city. Performing repetitive side quests can unlock new abilities, but more importantly makes areas of the world enemy-free. And believe me, you’ll want some recovery zones in your adventure.
Which brings me to a bit of a negative: free roaming isn’t as fun when you’re being shot at from every angle by enemies with near perfect accuracy. If you are planning to go to the other end of the city to start a mission through enemy infested areas, the chances are you are going to have to fight the whole way there, which I found a tad annoying. Sometimes I just want to do some cool tricks and flips with no death involved.
Who said free roaming was always fun?
Free roaming isn’t as fun when your being shot at from every angle by enemies with near perfect accuracy.
As Cole is an underpowered Superhero (he can’t fly or run at super speeds) he must climb up many, many buildings. Generally I found this quite fun, and it definitely is a new interesting take on the free roaming superhero game. But climbing can become almost a routine as there is almost no strategy involved in climbing; essentially all you do is mash the X button until you reach the top of a building.
When you have to do this for almost every single building in the game, the basic mash X can get a little tiresome, but with that being said, a more complex climbing experience would also have been potentially even more annoying because it would have taken away from the superhero experience.
Interestingly enough, you can NEVER go indoors in Infamous, which some could say was VERY last gen. But I think this step made for a much better game. I think if most people think back to almost every free roaming game, they often would find the indoor sections the most annoying.
Graphically the game is pretty good. It’s such a plus to essentially have no loading screens during the game and because of this it flows so much better than similar games such as Prototype. There are jagged edges in the distance and there is pop in when you are moving fast, but this is a no-load-screen free roaming game, so we can forgive all of this.
Ahhh . . no loading times . . .
It’s such a plus to essentially have no loading screens during the game.
Sound effects are decent, but nothing overly amazing during game play. During those amazing cut scenes. however, are some great sound effects which somehow all work well with its comic book presentation.
Overall, Infamous’ greatest strengths are its awesome moral choice system, accompanied by its great story and presentation. The moral choices do affect the story and can make you question your own morals.
The story is fantastic and it’s great how the choices you make from early in the game are referenced much later on and show development of the main character. The presentation of the cut scenes is so unique and well done it’s great to sit back and enjoy them.
While I personally don’t think it will be a Game of the Year-type title, it is without question a fantastic game, and all 360 owners who are bored of Prototype should be very jealous of this fantastic, superior game.
If some of you 360 owners are lucky enough to have a PS3 as well, definitely pick this one up and have a go.
Would we steal this title for the 360?
Steal It? YES!
©2009 Ben Cadwallader
Please share us around
Filed under: Console gaming, Game Impressions, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 Game Reviews, Xbox 360 News, Xbox Community Network Tagged: | 360, Cole, Cole Mcgrath, comic book, fanboys, GEars Of War, Historical District, Impressions, inFamous, infamous reviews, Neon District, Playstation, Playstation 3, PS3, Ray Sphere, review, Sony, Steal, Sucker Punch, Superhero, Warren District, Xbox
i was left dissapointed by the inFamous demo, hopefully judging by the praise bestowed upon it here it might actually be a worthwile play?
Thanks again people for your great comments.
If you would like to read another PS3 review, we have our Metal Gear Solid 4 review you might be interested in reading as well;
http://oxcgn.com/2008/06/21/metal-gear-solid-4-review-closest-thing-to-perfect-since-ocarina-of-time/
Or our Killzone 2 review perhaps?
http://oxcgn.com/2009/02/27/killzone-2-review-ps3-exclusive-raises-the-fps-bar/
enjoy
Great review by the way. Although only a PS3 owner; I think I will be visiting here more often to check for more PS3 reviews.
For me it was not so annoying with the enemies shooting me from everywhere as I’m the sort of player that likes to do all the side missions. Completing the side missions marks areas of the map enemy free zones and most of the side missions are done in about 2-5 minutes. Just jump on the rail and grind your way to a side mission – once you’ve upgraded the ability to recharge energy from grinding you can’t die grinding on the rail (except by being hit by an oncoming train and that doesn’t always kill you)
I had no problems with the flash either – maybe because my brightness is turned up (for playing socom and KZ2) the flashes aren’t too bad for me. I know that sounds weird – but due to screen already being bright; the flashes are less prominent.
Well written review! Glad to see that someone can atleast write a review without bringing out their inner fanboy. Keep it up!
When I reviewed Red Faction: Guerilla earlier this month I was shocked at the quality of the game that seemed to come out of nowhere.
The same applies to inFamous. I’ve been having an awesome time with RF:G, inFamous and Prototype this month, and loving them all for different reasons.
Have to say though, inFamous has a weird addictive quality to it. Absolutely fantastic game and so far my favourite PS3 game (I’m not a stealth fan, so not really inetrested in MGS4).
But don’t be surprised that we at OXCGN love gaming on all platforms – we’re a completely independent site, not paid by anyone or owned by any parent company, and no-one tells us what we can or can’t enjoy.
The 360 is of course the focus of the site and our console of choice, but if there’s something excellent on other platforms we’re just as happy to sing its praises as any equally excellent 360 game.
This month inFamous, Prototype, RF:G, Killzone 2, Gears of War 2 and Star Ocean 4 have been living in my consoles and i can’t wait for Uncharted 2 and Alan Wake.
and don’t listen to the fanboys, they probably are 10 … max.
spoken like a true gamer
Great review. Owning one system doesn’t mean it owns you. 360 = PS3 game wise. Plus to everyone bashing [Prototype] and saying that inFAMOUS is superior, it is not superior, it all depends on what you like.
I played through inFAMOUS twice and loved it to death, but then I got [Prototype] (both for my PS3) and I’m enjoying [Prototype] a lot more. Just because a review says inFAMOUS is superior or because of anything technical, that doesn’t mean it is. It’s s matter of interest.
Mmmm… it’s nice to see a review that I can not only read without getting agitated, but I also relate to the issues mentioned. The parkour (free-running) bits are annoying, as are the plague-stricken and formerly homeless enemies you fight that have access to heavy weapons and the accuracy of an Army Ranger with an AK.
cool
I don’t own a 360, but I really enjoy the articles on this site. Reviews are masterfully done, and it’s obvious that you all are more concerned with good games than what you play them on.
I think you do it so well in fact, that you should become a multi-platform site.
I own inFamous and I think you described it very well. Keep up the great work.
haha thanks mate, I don’t think we have any plans on becoming multiplatform anytime soon, but who knows what the future could eventually bring.
Great, unbiased review and i agree completely. Its a fantastic game and one any true gamer will enjoy.
Oh and to add a little to the review:Ive finished on good, now Im just about finished on Evil and i must say you get a really good ‘Emporer Palpatine’ feel from Star Wars. Blasting people with electric grenades and rockets never gets tired. All it needed to top it off was a voiceover saying ‘ fully armed and operational battle station!!’
I am like quiet a few whom already posted about this review by ..is it Shadow Wave…Whom ever deserves the credit … I Applaud you. Great job ..not because I own a PS3 or the game but because I could not tell which one you owned. I too am sicken by the childish FANBOY mess that we are subjected to on a daily basis by none other then these self proclaim experts on these gaming sites. Some of which have never even seen an Atari 2600, Calico Vision, let alone the original nintendo. My point is those of us who grew up playing those systems are older and we just want the unbias truth when reading a game review. CONGRATS to you…
Thanks mate, yes it is I who wrote the review
haha.
While I use my 360 most often, and usually buy multiplatform games on it, I always have a soft spot for my PS3 and even more so for my huge collection of PS1 games that I could never get tired of.
As a 360 fanboy this title really does make me envious. But I think in a few months I’ll forget about it.
Great article, I own a PS3, had a 360 but tired of the RROD, despite the fact that I think 360 is a rubbish console, there were maybe 5 really good games that I enjoyed playing a lot (re-count, 4) so this type of open minded true gamer spirit does swing both ways, thanks.
Please note that the 4 good games I mention is true, I only really enjoyed 4, it’s my opinion only and understand that others may have enjoyed more than 4.
This is what I like to see. Fair reviews from people (sites) with different preferences. This review represents everything that the gaming journalism scene needs. Fair, unbiased, and lacking the butt-hurt attitude of most pro-console websites when a must play game is released on the “other” console.
I was a little worried that this would be all about how prototype was better in every way, and constant comparisons to features in other open-world games that inFAMOUS may have lacked.
Your bit on the simplistic yet necessary climbing mechanic, and the forgiveness of some pop-ins in exchange for no loading times shows that you made an actual effort in reviewing this game. A good inFAMOUS review from an xbox site is really nice to see. A nice break from the usual garbage reviews out there.
Thanks for the great review, you deserve every hit of traffic from this one.
Cheers mate, I always try to be unbiased in my reviews and its great that people notice
Coming from a Playstation 3 owner & Sony Fanboy: Great artical thats is fair and unbias…Ben you are a gamer with CLASS!
Nice unbiased review guys.I have both consoles,but I bought both Prototype and InFamous for my PS3 (also bought Chronicles of Riddick for my 360 recently,but that’s another story).And I can easily say that InFamous is not only more enjoyable and 50 times better in everything.Prototype seriously has the worst graphics in this generation,particularly for a game with hype.The controls are mind-numbingly tedious,and the combat is a bit unresponsive.I was very very dissapointed with Prototype,particularly when you compare it to the much better InFamous.Biggest issue in both games is that the real sandbox freedom like in GTA is not there.InFamous has these junkies always shooting at you from rooftops,while the military in Prototype literally throws everything at you when you’re trying to have a little fun with your powers.You can guess that I’m not recommending Prototype to anyone,but InFamous is a must buy for everyone with a PS3.
Congratulations, OXCGN; this is one of the most well-rounded, fair and unbiased reviews of the game I have come across.
The writer has put across the pros and cons of the game without resorting to the normal fanboyisms such as ‘the controls would have worked better on the XBox controller’, etc.
Very well written, and hugely refreshing.
Thanks, for the kind words mate
M$ must to learn to create games not just COPY it from SONY…
M$ is just F***cking with the world’s game market…First, trying to BUY every JRPGs…now copying SONY games…
Alan Wake is just a SILENT HILL COPY…
Microsoft, stay with your Windows and let the games to Who KNOW about games….SONY….
See this is the type of bashing of the 360 this crap invites.
Nice job! You won’t see PS3 fans or PS3 sites EVER giving 1 single prop to anything 360 related and this azzhole is the perfect example of what you get from PS3 gamers(the worst in gaming) when talking about the 360.
So good job you keep on selling the PS3 on your Xbox site and the PS3 sites will continue to tell you that you are an idiot for buying an Xbox and how not one Xbox game is worthy of anything. Oh and your a stupid bot for paying for XBL.
Of course it’s all love and hugs to you now but the minute you say the slightest negative twords the PS3 these people will sting you up. All these “congratulations on your well rounded blah blah blah” are PS3 fanboys and they will be your best friend as long as you continue to slobber over the system.
What the hell is your problem mate . . ?
Seriously!
We’re gamers, we don’t give a rats arse what platform the game comes on, so long as it’s good. If it’s crap, then we’ll say so, and shock horror, we have, even 360 games, our lowest score is 3/10 I think, or even a 2.5???. Thing is, we’d prob not check out a terrible PS3 game because we’d prefer to play the better ones. Perhaps if you got off your high horse, and started playing games on different platforms, you might see that the world doesn’t revolve around you and your 360, and that it’s perfectly okay for a site to discuss WHATEVER platform it chooser to discuss.
If you want to start a site up, and have ppl come, because why would you start one in the first place . . one wonders . . and keep the attitude you have, and just see how far you manage to get. Not too far I bet.
If I had the $$ I’d get a PS3 in a flash, ‘cept I don’t, and can’t right now. But that does not stop me, or the team for that matter from playing and enjoying games on whatever platform THEY like. When you do grow up, send us a letter and we’ll have a party together and you’ll see how much you have matured then, you’ll probably look back at this and go “omg – did I say that – shit – hits head on desk”.
SO you’re NOT representing all 360 gamers, just the fanboys out there, which OXCGN does NOT support one bit.
MS doesn’t create games publishers make them, for the xbox…… How is Alan Wake a SILENT HILL COPY? And how would that stop me from buying it? Maybe if you stopped being a fanboy and using the same old false claims of “copying” over and over again you wouldn’t look so miserable and stupid. Seriously, just stop.
Well, as a PS3 only owner I’m both flattered by your article and ashamed of the PS3 fanboys.
Now is the time to say it; I would gladly “steal” Gears of war 2,left 4 dead, Orange Box,and some other multi-plats for the PS3 if I could!! : D
Great article:X:X:X respect for you guys!you are the real gamers of this generation,and others sites should follow your example! keep up the good work:X CHHERS
i was blown away from the NO loading screens in infamous,
prototype installs itself to the HDD and STILL has more and longer loading screens than infamous.
just goes to prove you dont need to install games to the HDD for them to load fast u just need to pull your finger out of your lazy A$$ and do some work capcom.
and your right thats the most annoying thing about infamous you cant take 2 steps without getting your head blown off, i was trying to look for shards but constantly being distracted because i was being killed.
same with red faction guerrilla its so bloody annoying i cant just free roam, i have to stop every bloody 5 minutes to kill some enemies, im trying to build up my salvage but cant because 99.9% of my time is spent killing assholes.
but out of the 5 games ive bought this month prototype,infamous,red faction G,ghost busters,transformers 2.
i would have to say red faction Guerrilla is my favorite.
who knew destroying things could be so much fun, and there physics engine the way things break so realisticly blew me away top job, my seccond favorite 3rd person shooter of all time.
That’s for the good works people, it was a pleasure to bring another, non-360 game review to OXCGN
To the author of this article/review:
While i consider myself to be a Sony fan (notice: “fan” , not “fanboy”) , i generally hate the usual bashing that comes from the majority of PS3 or Xbox360 centered websites.
So coming into this site , is definitely a testament of what “true gamers” are really like.
First time i came to your website was when i saw a link of your MGS4 review.I thought “oh dear God they are going to bash it so hard just because its on PS3″… so with great hesitation i clicked to see your review.I was amazed.For a moment i thought i clicked the wrong review.
Since then i’ve read a lot of reviews and articles here , and i have to say that your unbiased judgement is one of the finest and most rare examples in this generation of console gaming and deserves respect.
You have my congratulations and a place in my bookmarks.Thank you for showing to everyone that games>than any fanboy.Keep up the good work it may sound ironic , but i respect your take on PS3 games more than the majority of well known websites.
Thank you – thank you very much, your words are most appreciated . . . We have some interesting interviews coming soon, so do stay tuned. Great to see you here, and please do spread the word.
Infamous is awesome. nuff said.
Being a Wii fan I always thought that the big ‘hate’ was from the Xbox360 and PS3 fanboys towards the Wii (after all, the Wii is like sooo casual! :p), after recently purchasing a PS3, I realised that the PS3/360 vs Wii was nothing compared to PS3 vs 360!!!
If only we had more gamers sites like this who are into the games and not the consoles. Sure, I don’t agree with everything, but I’d put that down to taste rather than bias i.e. the onscreen flash and expensive upgrades.
Nice one!
Very good and informative review esp considering it is a PS3 game and this site is about X360.
Nice exaple of good journalist and unbiased opinion
Thanks for both
PLAYING THIS GAME NOW! You can tell when your playing it its not a mutiplat game
wow. im a ps3 owner and i when i saw this review on a 360 site i immediatly thought it would be a fanboy trying to bash the game down as mach as he could and tryin to prove how superior he thinks prototype is.. i was pleasantly surprised when i realized this a review i , for the most part, agree with and seems quite unbiased. well done mr/ms reviewer
Thanks mate, comments are most appreciated, even if ‘some’ Sony fans believe that NO Sony game should ever appear on a Xbox-centric site.
To those ppl I simply say, grow up, and become ‘gamers’ – not sheep. You’ll find other iteems from us on Sony in here, we went to the opening of Killzone 2 (only Xbox site there btw) and we did a review on the game, gave it decent score as well, and MGS4 got one of our highest scores, 9.8/10 – seeing we don’t gove out a 10/10, I’d say that speaks for its self . .
Games are for gamers, those that think otherwise simply are NOT gamers at all.
well said
Well said indeed.
Great unbiased review. Its for reviews like this that future Playstation 3 reviews that may not be so great will be credible, even from a 360 focused site.
sorry X fans, you cant ave tis game.. but you can buy PS3 For it.. because Sucker Punch is 2nd party for sony, and they are still dev on PS3 3 or 2 projects.
thank you writer
… reads like the review of a true gamer. No Fanboy garbage and no clouded bias opinion, very refreshing to read. One sure is in a great place if you have both a Xbox 360 and PS3. Great games for eons.
inFamous and Prototype…
Apples and Oranges
You don’t need a PS3 and 360 to play the two games you mention, just a PS3 will do it, Prototype is cross platform.
…I know, just a comment on how different the two games are. There shouldn’t be put against each other so much.
apples and oranges.
I had to admit, it’s a nice analysis of the game.
Keep it up