Infamous is like most new video game IPs these days, which is to say that it doesn’t intend to be a “new IP” for very long. If a developer is pumping out all the time and resources it takes to create a modern-day blockbuster, chances are they want their idea to stick around for multiple iterations. They want to start a franchise. Sucker Punch has not escaped this basic money-making goal with Infamous, but they’re smarter about it than a lot of developers. Sucker Punch builds ideas that fit into a franchise mold extremely easily. With Sly Cooper, they had a goofy crime-caper cartoon not unlike the kind that could run for years on Saturday mornings. With their new PlayStation 3-exclusive Infamous, they draw on an entirely different, much darker source, but one that all the same lends itself to what’s sure to be a long line of releases.
Infamous is a contemporary digital superhero myth in the same vein as Crackdown or Prototype (which actually hit shelves right alongside it). Unlike both of those titles, though, Infamous attempts to create a sense of ownership for your actions. You become more and more powerful as the game progresses, but never all-powerful. In this way, it aligns itself with the Marvel Comics school of superheroes. Though your choices are limited and binary, you are still expected to learn the Spider-Man mantra: “With great power comes great responsibility.” In fact, protagonist Cole MacGrath is a lot like Peter Parker or most other Marvel heroes. He’s a regular boring guy, a bike courier of all things, who finds himself at the epicenter of a horrible accident that kills thousands and grants him undesired powers. He must overcome brutal street gangs led by maniacal supervillains, problems with his friends and love life, and a healthy dose of self-induced angst in order to save the city and become a beacon of good (or kinda evil).
If that’s not enough to convince you that Infamous could fit just as well into a serialized comic book, the game also features a handful of stunningly stylized hand-drawn cutscenes that make up for some clumsily animated in-game conversations. The story told in those scenes is a fairly traditional origin tale, but by placing the first Infamous game within that context, it is set up for sequels in a way that helps make up for the game’s shortcomings. Without resorting to full-on spoilers, this first game’s plot leaves us with a major tragedy for Cole, a complicated “sidekick” character, a small interesting supporting cast, and at least a couple of major villains who are likely to make comebacks. Somewhat silly ending twist aside, few games have left me more satisfied and eager for their continuation than Infamous.
Three Infamous walkthrough videos from Current Gaming
This origin story format does leave a few concerns, of course. In comics, character growth is entirely a matter of plot, something that becomes evident through the dialogue and the situations the hero is put through. Detractors who believe that superhero comics are immature or under-developed often point to their never-ending nature, a symptom which often causes them to re-live very similar problems rather than growing old or changing in any meaningful way. Batman must endlessly fight the Joker, Spider-Man must endlessly battle Green Goblin, and both must constantly be put in situations where people they love may be hurt in a way that can vaguely be interpreted as their fault, forcing them to face their nightmarish beginnings over and over again.
But in video games, character growth also springs from learning new moves and gaining greater control over your character as you become more accustomed to the game. By the time you reach the end of Infamous, Cole has a fleshed-out spectrum of powerful attacks, and you’ve had time to determine which are most useful for you. When the inevitable Infamous sequel hits…will those moves simply be wiped clean, forcing you to re-learn them? Or will you already have access to your powers from the first game but then learn another batch of moves on top of that? Sucker Punch faces a dilemma here. One path leads to the Metroid-esque frustration of having to find all of your abilities over again in each subsequent game, while the other leads to the controller-twisting complication of an ever-growing list of moves. And in between the two is the worry that players could get bored if things are not switched up in some way. Perhaps the introduction of new heroes with different power sets could solve this problem, although it remains to be seen exactly how that would fit into the world created in the first game.
Honestly, though, the biggest complaint I can hand Infamous is that its got the room to grow and figure that out. Sucker Punch has expertly laid the groundwork for what could be a very long-running series with its own universe of heroes, villains, and civilians caught in the middle. This beginning is far from perfect. Certain story threads — especially one involving a pirate television host broadcasting slanderous screeds about the main character — are cut too short or left hanging completely. But overall, they have crafted an excellent origin that has me wishing I could subscribe to Cole’s adventures monthly.
July 7th, 2009 at 1:13 am
Personally, I couldn’t tolerate Infamous on a monthly basis. Having finished the game for review about a month ago, I found that I was frustrated more often than I was having a good time. I wanted to kick Sucker Punch in the jeans for the annoying AI (AK47s that drop me in seconds from the roof of a building four blocks away? GTFO!). The combat is cool, and the upgrades came in droves. That’s what Infamous has going for it. I just couldn’t stand the constant agitation of dying at the drop of a hat. I AM A *SUPER* HERO.
July 7th, 2009 at 1:24 am
Interesting. What difficulty were you playing on? The game auto-bumped it to hard for me, and I ended up keeping it there. It was definitely tough, and I had to keep a slower pace than I might have on a lower difficulty, but I really enjoyed it. It helped that the checkpoints in the game come often, so even if I died lots, I was never too far back from whatever I’d just been doing.
July 7th, 2009 at 1:36 am
Interesting article, Phil. I haven’t played Infamous but I liked the article a lot. The writing style is nice and the focus of this piece, and how short it was (some people take three more pages to do what you did) and was a pretty good read. Better than 98% of gaming stuff I read, at the very least.
July 7th, 2009 at 2:40 am
I played it on Normal my first time through (Good Karma) and figured I can play it on Hard my second time through since you can worry less about collateral damage when playing as inFamous. I thought enemies were damn near surgical with their aim, especially when you consider they had AK-47’s but it was never something that detracted from the game. In fact it did force you to be a bit more methodical when your instincts were telling you to run and gun.
The checkpoint system in inFamous was great. Lousy checkpoint placement can be a pain sometimes (stares at GTA IV and Bionic Commando) so I really appreciate it when developers are generous with them.
July 7th, 2009 at 9:26 am
Thanks so much for the kind words, Jason! One of the greatest lessons I learned from writing for 1UP and EGM was how to fit as much as possible about the game in a smaller space than a lot of other sites use. I also just try to focus on what I find interesting, because I think in the end that’s what’s going to be more interesting to read for people.
And I agree entirely, JohngPR, the checkpoints just really stood out to me in this. Sucker Punch clearly understands that you don’t need to punish people for dying, and I appreciate that a lot.