Go to steam. If you don't have a steam account, make one. Download this game. Play it. Enjoy.
Btw, it's free. Up yours farmville.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Open world games and their infamy
A friend of mine got a ps3 and it came with Infamous 
and some other games. So over the last month or so, we sat down and took turns at missions and played through the whole game as a good guy.
My first impression of Infamous was mild interest. I've played open world games before, and honestly Infamous didn't really offer anything you haven't seen before as far as gameplay. It felt like a mix between GTA4 and Assassin's Creed, with some interesting power combos you could pull off with a little luck and skill.
The powers were neat. You have baseline powers and Karmic powers. The baseline powers are regular Lightening bolt, a shock wave (literally, and no pun is needed here... it literally is a shock wave in both senses) Shock Grendades, a shock drop, a shield, and then your basic melee attack, defense, and energy drain ability. What gave these flair was the effect your karma has on them. Max good karma characters can buy an upgrade for lightning bolt that restores energy on successful attacks, and that will on a headshot chain to other nearby enemies. Good shock grenades will bind enemies automatically, good shield will restore energy when it blocks damage. Also, when you turn evil, your lighting turns red, and when you're good, they're blue. Neat. Not thrilling, but neat.
The karmic powers weren't that interesting to be perfectly honest. Good karma gets a chargeup bolt that can hit enemies behind metal cover (fences, cars, etc.) and while neat, by the time you unlock it enemies are powerful enough (and your chargeup bolt weak enough) that it almost isn't worth waiting for the chargeup... it was easier to run around and flank enemies. Evil karma gives you chain lightning. Same idea, charge it up, let it rip, it chains off of enemies. Looks neat when it hits. Doesn't really do enough damage.
The way you upgrade your power is really neat though. Rather than "LEVEL UP! WOO! X NUMBER OF ABILITY POINTS!", you spend your experience like it's cash. World of Darkness has a similar level up element.
So I realize that so far you're like "So this game is ok... why should I play it when there's a thousand other games out there to try?" Well, while the gameplay is nothing to be wow'd by, the story definitely is.
We're all pretty familiar with the hero/anti hero routine. I think every super hero has had a run where they were looked at as an enemy (a la Hancock or Spiderman), but what makes Infamous interesting is it's character. He's bitter, he's lonely, and he's... actually not that likeable. Without giving too much away, the storyline works no matter which way you play, be it pure good, pure 'evil', or a hybrid that leans either way. Your motivation is forced on you: Survive, and get out of the city alive.
There's a neat comic book element to cutscenes. The cutscenes are done in this animated artwork style that I have a hard time describing. I really liked it, it had a very Noir feel to it.
I will say this. The ending was a serious "WTF" moment for me. I did not expect them to go the way they did. The whole last mission I was like "Man... this is gonna be a stereotypical ending." Then I got to the ending and was like "Maan... this is totally a sterotypical endi--... woah wait what?"
Another reason to pick up this game is the side missions. They may repeat themselves a bit, but there's enough variety that I only felt the "OMFG not this side mission again" a few times. There's a race type mission, a 'protect his area' mission, escort missions, rescue the hostages missions, and a couple more that are variations of one or a hybrid of a few of these. Even the missions that were repeats, because the city is so well developed and each zone has it's own feel, they don't really feel repeated because the landscape plays such a huge part of gameplay.
There's also a ton of neat aesthetic choices that I really like. Also, there are very few places were you're like "Why can't I go here/do that?" that isn't taken care of by an element that makes sense. For example, you can't use guns because the electricity in you sets off the gunpowder in the bullets causing the gun to explode. You can't ride in a car because you might cause the gas tank to explode. It might be annoying, but it does make sense, and 'workarounds' so to speak are available to you.
The only thing that was a constant irritant was the noises you make when you walk. There's this clinking sound that is apparently your messenger bag (which, by the way, you never use) clips and stuff bonking together. Honestly, it sounds like you're running with pockets chock full of change.
It's a good game. It's an original story. It's a very original character, at least, it is in my humble opinion.
Replay value is moderate, as the cutscenes are different but the main plot isn't affected by your choices. Also, by the end of the first play through, I had every power available to good/nuetral karma maxed out, so playing through again without going bad would feel unfulfilling from a gameplay standpoint.
So, if you're looking for an in between big titles game, this fits the bill. Story wise, I'm insanely excited about Infamous 2
. If they take the route of Mass Effect and have your choices in 1 affect the story of 2, I'm sold.
RATING TIME! WOO! All in all, I give Infamous' story a 9/10, and its gameplay a 7/10.
So until next time, game on players (see what I did there?)
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and some other games. So over the last month or so, we sat down and took turns at missions and played through the whole game as a good guy.My first impression of Infamous was mild interest. I've played open world games before, and honestly Infamous didn't really offer anything you haven't seen before as far as gameplay. It felt like a mix between GTA4 and Assassin's Creed, with some interesting power combos you could pull off with a little luck and skill.
The powers were neat. You have baseline powers and Karmic powers. The baseline powers are regular Lightening bolt, a shock wave (literally, and no pun is needed here... it literally is a shock wave in both senses) Shock Grendades, a shock drop, a shield, and then your basic melee attack, defense, and energy drain ability. What gave these flair was the effect your karma has on them. Max good karma characters can buy an upgrade for lightning bolt that restores energy on successful attacks, and that will on a headshot chain to other nearby enemies. Good shock grenades will bind enemies automatically, good shield will restore energy when it blocks damage. Also, when you turn evil, your lighting turns red, and when you're good, they're blue. Neat. Not thrilling, but neat.
The karmic powers weren't that interesting to be perfectly honest. Good karma gets a chargeup bolt that can hit enemies behind metal cover (fences, cars, etc.) and while neat, by the time you unlock it enemies are powerful enough (and your chargeup bolt weak enough) that it almost isn't worth waiting for the chargeup... it was easier to run around and flank enemies. Evil karma gives you chain lightning. Same idea, charge it up, let it rip, it chains off of enemies. Looks neat when it hits. Doesn't really do enough damage.
The way you upgrade your power is really neat though. Rather than "LEVEL UP! WOO! X NUMBER OF ABILITY POINTS!", you spend your experience like it's cash. World of Darkness has a similar level up element.
So I realize that so far you're like "So this game is ok... why should I play it when there's a thousand other games out there to try?" Well, while the gameplay is nothing to be wow'd by, the story definitely is.
We're all pretty familiar with the hero/anti hero routine. I think every super hero has had a run where they were looked at as an enemy (a la Hancock or Spiderman), but what makes Infamous interesting is it's character. He's bitter, he's lonely, and he's... actually not that likeable. Without giving too much away, the storyline works no matter which way you play, be it pure good, pure 'evil', or a hybrid that leans either way. Your motivation is forced on you: Survive, and get out of the city alive.
There's a neat comic book element to cutscenes. The cutscenes are done in this animated artwork style that I have a hard time describing. I really liked it, it had a very Noir feel to it.
I will say this. The ending was a serious "WTF" moment for me. I did not expect them to go the way they did. The whole last mission I was like "Man... this is gonna be a stereotypical ending." Then I got to the ending and was like "Maan... this is totally a sterotypical endi--... woah wait what?"
Another reason to pick up this game is the side missions. They may repeat themselves a bit, but there's enough variety that I only felt the "OMFG not this side mission again" a few times. There's a race type mission, a 'protect his area' mission, escort missions, rescue the hostages missions, and a couple more that are variations of one or a hybrid of a few of these. Even the missions that were repeats, because the city is so well developed and each zone has it's own feel, they don't really feel repeated because the landscape plays such a huge part of gameplay.
There's also a ton of neat aesthetic choices that I really like. Also, there are very few places were you're like "Why can't I go here/do that?" that isn't taken care of by an element that makes sense. For example, you can't use guns because the electricity in you sets off the gunpowder in the bullets causing the gun to explode. You can't ride in a car because you might cause the gas tank to explode. It might be annoying, but it does make sense, and 'workarounds' so to speak are available to you.
The only thing that was a constant irritant was the noises you make when you walk. There's this clinking sound that is apparently your messenger bag (which, by the way, you never use) clips and stuff bonking together. Honestly, it sounds like you're running with pockets chock full of change.
It's a good game. It's an original story. It's a very original character, at least, it is in my humble opinion.
Replay value is moderate, as the cutscenes are different but the main plot isn't affected by your choices. Also, by the end of the first play through, I had every power available to good/nuetral karma maxed out, so playing through again without going bad would feel unfulfilling from a gameplay standpoint.
So, if you're looking for an in between big titles game, this fits the bill. Story wise, I'm insanely excited about Infamous 2
. If they take the route of Mass Effect and have your choices in 1 affect the story of 2, I'm sold.RATING TIME! WOO! All in all, I give Infamous' story a 9/10, and its gameplay a 7/10.
So until next time, game on players (see what I did there?)
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