EDIT: Thanks to Carbon Fire for the new thread title.
Didn't see a thread, so I'm making one.
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/36316.htmlWhat is it?
inFamous is an upcoming sandbox-style video game for the PlayStation 3 video game console. It is currently in development by Sucker Punch Productions, the creators of Rocket: Robot on Wheels, and the Sly Cooper video game franchise. It will be the company's first original IP since Sly Cooper. The game was announced at Sony's E3 2007 Press Conference on July 11, 2007. The game is expected to be released in June 2009.
The game is a third-person sandbox world that combines elements of the superhero MMO City of Heroes with a roaming open-world, allowing the player to make choices between being a hero or an antihero that will affect the game.
What's the story?
inFamous follows the story of Cole McGrath, a bike messenger and resident of the fictional Empire City. At the start of the game, a package that Cole was assigned to deliver causes a huge explosion that rips apart six city blocks, leaving behind a crater and Cole as the only survivor. The explosion has granted Cole several electricity-based powers, but he falls into unconsciousness, waking up two weeks later to find that Empire City has fallen into chaos; without police, gangs have taken over areas of the city, and a plague has infected many of the residents causing the city to be quarantined by the government. It is revealed by "The Voice of Survival", a surviving disk jockey that broadcasts across the city, that Cole was the cause for the explosion, and thus setting the population of Empire City against him. Cole must come to terms with his powers, and opt to help those in need or simply survive on his own, facing off against larger threats that have manifested in the city due to the explosion and its aftermath.
So how does it play?
Combat looks very interesting indeed. Normal weapons are out of the question due to the lack of control that Cole has over some of his newfound abilities, but they are replaced by an array of different EM-themed attacks. An electrical grenade, for example, is a ball of energy that sticks to enemies and blows up as you might expect. Then there are more traditional electrification attacks, which can be used to idly torture passersby (if you're inclined that way, but more on that later), and the TK pulse, which sends a massive shock wave through the air that can toss obstacles out of the way. We're not just talking bits of garbage, either. A properly placed pulse tosses cars up into the air and can be a very valuable weapon in your arsenal if you get in a tight spot.
The environment can help you in other ways, too. Cole can climb seemingly anything, from walls to lampposts, but the enemies' climbing skills are rather more limited. So he can, for example, scramble up a pole and fling lightning at approaching enemies to thin them out before engaging them on the ground, or he can just rearrange the street furniture from on high to reset the battlefield to his advantage.
Cole has a two-tiered system of powers to play with. His basic lightning blast comes with an unlimited supply of energy; while not strong enough to kill an emeny in one shot, you can rattle off an almost constant barrage of bolts making it plenty useful for taking down individual enemies. It works so well that it's easy to fall into a rut of just running around spamming lightning at everything. Your other powers are stronger and open up a number of build-your-own-combo opportunities. One of the basic ones that works well for dealing with groups is the Shockwave, which sends out a shock wave throwing everything in its path up in the air, leaving the flailing, helpless enemies vulnerable to easy lightning attacks.
Why is it called inFamous?
The interesting thing about all of this is the fact that Cole doesn't have to use his powers for the good of all mankind -- he can be as selfish as you want him to be. See, Infamous employs a seven-level Karma System that monitors your actions and lets you know how good or bad Cole is being. See, this will all be broken down in a little crescent-shaped meter next to your power level. If you're reviving pedestrians who have been hurt by your enemies (a quick deliberator-like shock from your palms can fix just about everyone in this game), your meter fills in with a little blue. If you're just wailing on every person you see in the street before pinning them to the ground and sucking their life forces out of their faces, your meter is going to fill in red. From the middle/neutral spot, you can do good deeds and climb to Guardian, Champion, and Hero ranks, or you can fry passerbys and sink to Thug, Outlaw, and Infamous Ranks. Awesomely, this position on the good/bad scale is visually represented by Cole as well. When he's being a good boy, Cole's electricity attacks will be blue and his clothes will be pristine. When he takes a turn towards evil, Cole will crackle with red energy, lose the pigment in his skin, and get mud on his face and clothes. These visual cues get more and more severe as you move up the ladder of your chosen Karma path.
How Empire City views Cole is a big component of the Karma System. If you play as a just Cole, the city will be cleaner, shops will begin to reopen, and people will cheer you on the street. If you go the all-about-me route, the city will become a darker place, the public will hurl stones at you when they spot you, and desperation will seem to be around every corner. You're literally giving the city a reason to believe or robbing it of its hope -- a choice that was reflected in a random Karma moment. Whether you're being good or bad, you're going to be battling the Reapers, Dustmen, and other thugs roaming the city. This means that at least a few people are going to like you. While heading to another mission, a guy stopped Cole and thanked him for what he was doing. To show his gratitude, he was going to begin plastering the city with posters of Cole so that everyone knew someone powerful was watching. The artist presented Cole with two posters to choose from -- one was a blue and white inspirational number that showed Cole staring towards the sky while people cheered below, and the other was a red and black scare-fest that depicted half of Cole's face as a skull. It was up to me to pick which one was scattered all over the place -- I had to pick if I wanted people to look to me as a hero or as an outlaw.
So yeah, this is seriously one my most anticipated games of the year. Everything I seen of it makes it looks great, and with the news of a demo coming soon, hopefully we'll get a chance to see how it really plays.
EDIT: 4/27
Great trailer? Or Greatest trailer?
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/48514.html
IGN seems to like it
9.2
Posts
I was showing my PS3-hating friend a trailer for this yesterday, and he made the exact same Spider-Man quote.
Good job!
edit: Isn't Sucker Punch Productions a 2nd party developer for Sony? That'd make chances of seeing this on any other console pretty slim, I guess.
Both look good, I would have liked a choice on powers rather tahn just electricty but still looks fun.
360 gets Prototype, PS3 gets Prototype and inFamous.
Published by Sony. Chances aren't even low, they're nil.
There's obvious parallels, because they're both Superhuman based games, and having a PS3 means I have the option on which one I want (technically I'm going to get both, but one of them is going to get put on the "wait til cheapish used" list). Out of the latest things I've seen for both games, I gotta say inFamous is in the lead for me. Not to turn this into/further this into a inFamous v. Prototype thread.
I will say that I like how they're handling Cole's powers, because it really seems like they're putting some thought into it. He can't use guns because his powers would ignite the gunpowder before it even left the barrel. He can't swim for obvious reasons. A lot of people elsewhere have complained that it's a lame move to limit where he can go, but at least it makes sense. I am kinda wondering if they intend to leave out rain, though, or have something in place for that. Then on the positive side, the use of it for an electromagnetic deal to climb and 'fly' is a really good idea. I'm really looking forward to seeing more from it.
Do... Re... Mi... So... Fa.... Do... Re.... Do...
Forget it...
How do you know it won't in the evil skill branch? IGN's preview of the karma system showed that powers have good and evil branches (maybe standard as well?). Like, 'good' electric grenades will unleash a huge arc of electricity that puts electric binds on bad guys, while bad electric grenades are little cluster bombs for maximum destruction. So I would expect the polarity field would have multiple effects as well.
InFamous has the Rocket: Robot on Wheels guys behind it. I fail to see your point.
Hiyaaa! Ninja edit: also, I can't believe it took so long for someone to make a thread about it.
But the game looks pretty good I guess
If I had a PS3 I'd probably buy it
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
But I'm cautiously optimistic. I was pumped up after seeing the Prototype trailer a year ago...then played it at Comic Con and decided it wasn't even worth a rent. That game reminded me way too much of the last Incredible Hulk game to come out. I'll never understand why developers enjoy breaking up a game's pace by interrupting a chaotic fight with a 10 second cutscene showing enemies running into the fight.
I did not expect to see some weird, horror style hallucinations in this game. And I thought they were done well. The voice was very odd and ominious and the visual cues were executed in a stylish, dreamlike way that, while distracting, didn't make the game unplayable.
I realize the game probably doesn't have a madness meter or anything sanity based, but the brief section they showed seemed really well done. If they can switch up the game style like that and do each of them well, I will be impressed.
Another game to watch.
Let me tell you about Demon's Souls....
People just violently hated the fact that you played as people other than Sly and that much of the work was done in a big hub world, but the sheer variety of stuff you did in the world, not to mention the gradual planning toward an extremely complicated heist, more than made up for it.
I have electric powers, so to me the choices read out like:
"Fuck Shit Up"
"Fuck Shit Up In a Different Manner"
LIke I said this is PROBABLY early on in the game and with any luck you won't get prompts and instructions.
I dunno, the fact that there doesn't seem to be any truly tough moral quandaries is a turnoff for me. Like shades of gray. This thing seems to boil down to "do you feel like being a bastard? If yes, pick A. If no, pick B."
Let me tell you about Demon's Souls....
also, this good/bad stuff seems mostly the same in all games with that sort of system. only in KOTOR were you supposed to be NEUTRAL. I don't like being neutral, since i as a person am not.
it would be cool if you were playing through doing good deeds, but then some guy just pissed you off so you fried his ass. then the game finds some way to keep you accountable for that sort of deviation. makes you think much more about always taking the high road no matter what.
and is it just me, or did he kidna sound like roarschach in the trailer?