Infamous Demo Review

So the InFamous demo hit the PlayStation Network and many people are getting their first taste of this superhero/villain action title by Sucker Punch and SCE. I didn’t get to spend as much time as I would have liked with the demo as I have some overriding responsibilities.  That being said, I can still imagine myself picking it up once things settle down a bit, possibly after E3.

During my time with the game I can say I did have fun.  It’s pretty tough for a sandbox game to not provide, at the very least, instant gratification.  How it keeps you interested is where things get tricky.  I had fun running, climbing, and flying around limited parts of Empire city.  Naturally, I killed a few innocent civilians as it wasn’tmy game meaning I was not bound by cause and effect.  This was nice, as I am sure if I do have a real file, I will strictly obey all the loser superhero codes of ethics.

Since I had seen all too much of the lightning-palm-blast-thingy, I figured I would try playing with the very under-covered melee skills at Cole’s disposal.  They work well against most bystanders, but armed enemies can usually get a few good shots in by the time you run up to them, which pretty much forces you to go with the palm-blast.

As much as it seems overused, I don’t really mind the palm-blast.  It had a nice aiming system which smoothed things out.  It actually was pretty fun just standing on rooftops or as high as possible while raining down electricity on enemies.  It may be the kind of thing that gets old to watch, but is fun to do.

Since I mostly rock the RPGs, I died way more than I probably should have, which was frustrating and the reason I have yet to complete the demo.  It’s tough going from Valkyria Chronicles mixed with Devil Summoner 2 to a game like InFamous.

I like the art of the game a lot, which tries to mimic a comic book by telling a story with a series of hand-drawn panels and a monologue from the protagonist Cole.  Everyone loves a good monologue.

During the second portion of the demo, Cole’s polarity shifts towards the evil side, changing his powers and appearance a bit.  I think this is a pretty cool feature and really helps keep the comic-book feel alive.  Although, as NG5 points out, there is no constant comic book banter a la Deadpool.  I think this is for the best though…

All in all, the demo was fun, and I would like to spend some quality time with the real game.  Despite my closing comment I think I will probably grab a copy after the dust from E3 settles.

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