Wow, just Wow.
It has been a very long time since I got really really really sucked into a game. This is one of my favourites of this generation so far (up there with Halo 3, CoD4, TF2 and L4D) and I've played a lot of games this generation.
NOTE: I ain't responsible for any spoilers after this point and for the rest of the thread. You've been warned
For those who read my last thread ("So, I'm about 3 hours into InFamous and..."), I listed 4 complaints.
At the end of the game, all of them still stand. Parkour isn't as fluid as we've seen this gen (which is really annoying for missions where you're on a limited time period to get from point A to B). There were more technical issues to be found as I explored more of empire city. In particular one mission where you had to find 3 conduits in the dustman fortress, first time I tried there was only 2 and I mean actually only 2 (I searched for 30 minutes through the ENTIRE maze, not just the area I was supposed to look), after I reset and tried again all 3 were there.
But the comic book cutscenes to in-game transition got a lot better (mainly because they didn't transition from comic to a zoomed in close up of cole's face as often). Side mission variety did improve though, but my only complaint is that I really didn't want to do counter-survelliance (among other things), so I kind of wish there was a choice between doing different side missions that would free the same patch of area.
The one massive negative thing I have to say is the parkour and city scaling has it's issues. Especially later in the game where the game requires you to navigate really narrow ledgers, pillars etc (Especially climbing that tower to take on alden...). Sometimes cole would jump and make the body moves as if he were to grab a ledge and then suddenly spasm and not grab anything.
Anyway, I finished the game as the Hero. I only did 2 evil actions and they were:
1) I killed a guy 3/4 into the game in order to get his shards that were in his locker (I was desperate because I was seriously underpowered for the part of the game I was upto).
SPOILER ALERT
2) I tried to save Trish. I didn't know at the time that my actions would have no outcome on what happened to her, but I chose to save her instead of the doctors.
Now the good stuff: (I'm only planning to write stuff in addition to what I wrote in the previous thread to save me typing again)
1) Powers. Slight concern at the beginning with variety (seriously, it's lightning, how much variety could there be?). But I was wrong. However, I have to say that unlike my initial impression (I found uses for all powers at some point or another), towards the end of the game, I neglected the shock grenade and went with the megawatt hammer most of the time.
Also, I didn't find much use for the chain reaction lightning (hold L1 and R2) that the hero side gets. Especially with the regular lightning getting the chain reaction with head shots, I never found much use for that power.
But Boy is the megawatt hammer fun. It truly is.
2) Story. Wow, the ending was really unexpected for me, but now that I think about it, the signs were there. (Sasha when you first run into the hallucinations)
I'm really interested to see who this beast person is. Looks very much like how I'd expect Cole to look in his InFamous leanings.
The character were fantastic (I had the feeling that Zeke would betray me and then redeem himself from the beginning, he always seemed like that character type). Speaking of characters...
3) Characters. I have not cared for a character in a game since Price at the end of CoD4 and I have not truly cared for a character since Kingdom Hearts 1. I truly cared about Cole's story in Infamous. I'm not sure whether it's the being the hero therefore making him likeable as a character thing, but I was honestly devastated when Trish died and I was honestly shocked when Kessler revealed his identity. Cole has a tonne of personality, and I believe he is the best sandbox game main character ever (edging out niko from gt4).
It's very rare that a game makes me care about the person I'm playing, that's especially true for games with a karma system in which the character is usually initially neutral and boring, but Cole isn't. That's probably my main issue with ME1, they gave you so much choice about who you were going to be, that you never really felt connected to the character because you knew very little about their journey before the game.
EDIT: 4) The City. At the end of the game, I loved the fact that the city had my back. A few times I was getting absolutely hammered by the enemies swarming all around, and the only reason I survived was that the citizens took up arms and threw rocks and distracted the enemies (mostly dust men and First sons). Felt like Spiderman 1 to me (and of course the missions with the choice between the doctors and trish as well). Very cool.
Summary:
I'm not sure what else I could say to convey the message that this is a must buy for PS3 owners other than this. This game is the FIRST exclusive game in the PS3's lineup (and I've played all of them except VC) that I feel truly makes the PS3 better than the 360 for me. This is the first game I have felt "wow, if I didn't sell my 360 and buy a PS3, I would have regretted it because I wouldn't be able to play this game".
It's not a masterpiece, but much like many of my other favourite games (FF8, KH, Chrono Trigger, DMC3) this game has a soul, which is something I felt Resistance, Uncharted, R&C (to a certain extent, mainly because it was so similar to the other games) and Killzone 2 lack. MGS4 also has a soul, but it didn't hook me in at all, unlike this game.
Like my previous thread, no score. All I have to say is, PLAY THIS GAME. I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for Cole (especially now that Kessler, who drove the story in this game, is gone.)
EDIT: I should say that I now plan to beat the game on the Infamous side, hopefully the game changes a bit.
