[PS3] inFamous

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I played a slice of the game a couple of weeks ago and have been wanting to share some impressions. These may be vague or seem scatter-shot, but such are the impressions of open-world games. You only really know an open-world game is good once you have it for yourself and can see if quality fills its scope.

Here is some of what I saw that I liked that doesn’t come through in screenshots and trailers:

-Defibrillator Powers: I knew Cole could shot electricity from his hands to charge things and fry enemies. I didn’t realize he could hogtie enemies with bands of electricity, serve as a human defibrillator for wounded people and leech energy to the point of killing others. All these actions affect the hero’s moral alignment.

-“This is a yes you can game”: That’s what the game’s director, Nathan Fox, told me while showing me so many of the acrobatic climbing moves Cole can commit, the bosses he can fight, the choices for characters with which he can interact, and so on. He said the game is doling out a new power to the player every hour of play time. Given everything that the “Sly Cooper” games allowed players to do — and given how many activities games like “Grand Theft Auto IV” compel players of open-world games to want to do — the Obama-style “yes you can” design philosophy seems like a very good thing.

-A dash of “Crackdown”: While most of what I was shown in “Infamous” were main missions, I wanted to know about the side stuff. The peripheral missions and general life of the open-world are what make or break games in this genre. I learned from Fox that, not only are there going to be many side missions, but that there will be a “Crackdown“-style dynamism to this game. “Crackdown” was a well-received open-world super-cop game for the Xbox 360. The city of “Crackdown” was unusually organic for a game of its type. The player was charged with hunting the leaders of enemy gangs. One member of the gang might be a weapons dealer, another a vehicle supplier. Attacking the weapons guy and defeating him would cause all of the gang members of his gang to have inferior guns. Locking up the vehicles guy would have a regional affect on enemy vehicle quality. There were several dynamics like this, all of which were affected by the order with which the player decided to attack the leaders of the gang.

What “Infamous” has that is like this is a system of civic morality that changes the rhythms of muncipal life. Helping civilians in one area might bring some safety and economic prosperity back to a part of the city. Assisting cops might improve police patrols and think the ranks of local gangs. Actions of a more nefarious bent are supposed to have grimier implications. This type of dynamism that allows player-chosen actions to begin to re-color the world — not seen in even the ambitious “GTA IV” — could greatly enrich the “Infamous” world.

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inFamous Not Releasing This June, After All

Posted by Asad Qizilbash // Marketing Manager, SCEA

Many of you may be wondering when we plan to announce the release date for inFamous. Well today, we have a little surprise for you….the release month is no longer June. Now wait, I know what you’re thinking…inFamous is NOT delayed, in fact, the guys up at Sucker Punch have been working so hard that the game will be releasing in the U.S. on May 26!

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And, yes, the inFamous demo will be made available to everyone on the PlayStation Network on May 21. We’ve got a lot more surprises on the way the next few weeks, so stay tuned…..

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EBGames in Australië heeft een special edition-bundel onthuld voor de aankomende titel inFamous. De bundel bevat een zogenaamd 'digipack'-hoes, een exclusief art-boek en een promo-voucher. Met de voucher krijg je beschikking over speciale super-kracht die via het PlayStation Network kan worden gedownload. Om wat voor super-kracht het hier gaat en of deze met de release al beschikbaar is, is vooralsnog onbekend.

Of er in de Verenigde Staten en Europa ook een dergelijke special edition wordt uitgebracht is nog onbekend.

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inFAMOUS U.S. Launch Set For May 26th, Europe May 29th

With the worldwide release of inFAMOUS just around the corner, things have really started to ramp up at both Sucker Punch and Sony. When inFAMOUS launches in the United States on May 26th and Europe May 29th, the U. S. gets its own unique box, and folks in Europe can purchase a regular edition or a special edition that's loaded with extra goodies.

Between now and May 10th, we'll be launching the official inFAMOUS website, www.infamousthegame.com, and the demo will be available on PSN starting May 21st.

If you can't wait to try the game, you can pre-order it to get exclusive, early access to the demo, or an exclusive Reaper costume for your HOME avatar, or an exclusive power, Gigawatt Blades. This is extremely powerful melee weapon.