Joystiq E3 eyes-on: inFamous

Sucker Punch delivered a behind closed doors gamplay demonstration of the game this year at E3, demonstrating the direction they're going in with the title. Gameplay during the presentation consisted of exploring a small part of the city, which felt very similar to Assassin's Creed. Cole is an urban explorer, a hobby he had since before the blast, so he has ability to climb around the city at ease. How convenient.
Cole's more supernatural abilities are all related to electricity. Those demonstrated consisted of a thunderbolt zapping power and telekenesis (manipulation of electro-magnetic fields, apparently -- that's electricity related, right?) In order to remain powered up, you must continue to syphon energy from the city, drawing it out from electricity pylons and other sources. Sometimes the city will suffer from a blackout, leaving you without any way to refuel should you come across any particularly brutal enemies.

"How would being an electric superhero affect your life?" It wasn't specifically stated, but the implication seems to be that water is most probably not your friend. As powerful as Cole might be, he's probably a little bit stinky. These powers will grow over time, though the exact method of progression, as well as its link to your moral choices throughout the game, is still mostly under wraps.

The game's moral choices, which make up a large component of inFamous, will affect the powers that you develop in a "what color is your lightsaber" sort of way. These choices won't be black or white, fork in the road moments, but will involve the game tracking how you perform certain tasks. The characters in the world will respond differently to you, depending on how you play. Details were few, but when asked whether your superpowered peers would also react to this, Sucker Punch refused to reply, stating that we'd "found the line" they weren't allowed to cross. Hopefully the morality system is as deep and game-changing as this suggests.
What we saw of the game was impressive. Graphically the game looks great, considering the game is just under a year from release. The story, now that we know the basics, seems intriguing enough to keep us interested and the style of the cutscene that we saw fits in perfectly with the game's comic book connections. The gameplay demonstration was a little short, though, giving only a brief glimpse of inFamous. We're definitely looking forward to seeing more and getting some hands on time with the title.











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Duke @ Jul 21st 2008 10:38AM
Somehow, I was more interested in this game before I knew it was an urban superhero tale. Until reading this I honestly had no idea. The idea of shooting electricity doesn't excite me too much.
Tom18230 @ Jul 21st 2008 10:44AM
Have you not seen the direct feeds? You can run up lampposts, arc electricity between conducting objects and create electrical storms. It's cooler than it sounds.
Duke @ Jul 21st 2008 10:53AM
"Have you not seen the direct feeds?"
No, I haven't.
LAZoftheTamarinds @ Jul 21st 2008 11:36AM
"Have you not seen the direct feeds?"
"No, I haven't."
Then go watch them! LOL
Noshino @ Jul 21st 2008 11:42AM
Here, I ll save you some time (btw, no matter how annoying the staff gets, just keep watching as they show a lot of gameplay/mechanics)
http://www.gamespot.com/video/942025/6194158/infamous-e3-2008-stage-show-demo
The game looks freaking amazing
Duke @ Jul 21st 2008 1:34PM
Christ you guys are pissy today. I just said the lightening angle didn't excite me. Relax.
Duke @ Jul 21st 2008 2:57PM
OK, Noshino, I watched that clip. Some of the gameplay elements do look pretty nice. I'm sure I will grab a copy of this.
My issue when I first read this was in thinking of how generally I am disapointed with super hero type games. They almost always disappoint me.
PunchyMcJunk @ Jul 21st 2008 3:31PM
How 'bout the power to kill a yak? From two hundred yards away! With mind bullets!
Thats Telekinesis
Young Nastyman @ Jul 21st 2008 9:36PM
How about the power to move you?
tmontana213 @ Aug 1st 2008 6:16PM
I am wonder boy
Tom18230 @ Jul 21st 2008 10:40AM
This game looks very cool, I hope they make a pc port.
browntown @ Jul 21st 2008 10:40AM
Me Want!
Jack Tretton @ Jul 21st 2008 10:43AM
Fuck this. Where's the new Sly Cooper?!
Noshino @ Jul 21st 2008 11:38AM
I don't know, you tell me Mr. Tretton
Burnt Meatloaf @ Jul 22nd 2008 4:19AM
I'm just thankful we got 3 Sly Coopers. When the first game came out, I was afraid it'd be a one-shot deal.
Plain and simple: Sucker Punch is awesome.
Laurel @ Jul 21st 2008 10:55AM
yeah, just what the videogame industry needs right now, another fucking shaved head caucasian male. ugh, wow how original. haven't we seen this before?
riggs @ Jul 21st 2008 11:02AM
i blame michael scofield
ThePerfectCompanion @ Jul 21st 2008 11:04AM
Lol that's priceless.
Noshino @ Jul 21st 2008 11:45AM
well, there was the spiky haired era, then the long haired era, sooner or later it had to be the shaved-head era....
LAZoftheTamarinds @ Jul 21st 2008 11:51AM
The only other shaved caucasian male character that I can name is Nathan Hale from Resistance.
But that's just me, guess I don't play too many games with bald guys in them.
Dirty @ Jul 21st 2008 12:11PM
The new star wars apprentice is a baldy. Kratos, and Homer..... thats all I can think of.
MikeO. @ Jul 23rd 2008 12:52AM
Baldur in Too Human, Commander Shepherd in Mass Effect (by default), the "Apprentice" in the upcoming Star Wars game. Those are just 3 off the top of my head that feature "caucasians with bald to heavily shaven heads with intimidating grimmaces".
WiiFTW @ Jul 21st 2008 11:04AM
"In order to remain powered up, you must continue to syphon energy from the city, drawing it out from electricity pylons and other sources."
YOU MUST CONSTRUCT ADDITIONAL PYLONS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr33cm8IZM8
StrangeAxel @ Jul 21st 2008 11:14AM
Howabout another parkour game eh? I can tell this type of game will start getting tired as much as the FPS genre is right now.
David @ Jul 21st 2008 11:32AM
What's with the name? inFAMOUS? I don't get it. And I have to agree with Laurel on the "another-fucking-shaved-head-caucasian-male" part.
Vidikron (FU) @ Jul 21st 2008 11:39AM
Because there are more characters with shaved heads then with hair, right?
Vidikron (FU) @ Jul 21st 2008 11:40AM
*than
DarkNessBear @ Jul 21st 2008 12:33PM
What the hell is it suppose to be? A Black dude with a Mohawk?
I know your favorite character was Tommy from Prey. But I thought he was fucking annoying.
AK @ Jul 21st 2008 1:03PM
Go watch "The Three Amigos".
baby sea tuna @ Jul 21st 2008 11:46AM
Is it just me, or does he look like he's about to piss off the rooftop in that first picture?
Vcize @ Jul 21st 2008 2:42PM
"Are you pissing off the side of this building?"
Tim The Enchanter @ Jul 21st 2008 3:34PM
Try as he might, I doubt he'll anger that rooftop...
Dirty @ Jul 21st 2008 12:13PM
Time to dust off the ol ps3. Looks sweet!
Dwag @ Jul 21st 2008 12:19PM
GGGGGGENERIC........Crackdown meets force powers and moral choices. It looks awesome though even if the gameplay is generic.
DarkNessBear @ Jul 21st 2008 12:32PM
Haha, a majority of you posters even turned this into, "WHATEVER!"/bad news. We got it you guys hate everything that deals with the PS3. Can you now fuck off?
AK @ Jul 21st 2008 12:59PM
I don't have a ps3, but from what I have seen, I think this game looks good. Kind of like Psi-Ops meets Crackdown.
To all the people complaining about being a white guy with a shaved head. I have your solution.
Go play 50 Cent, Bullet in the Sand instead...
Dwag @ Jul 21st 2008 1:04PM
@DarkNessBear
There's nothing innovative about this my friend its not thats it has to deal with the PS3 is not why I diss it just thats its Generic and gets more credit then the games that aren't generic(multi million dollar marketing on a generic game is not smart). The only reason its getting hyped is because its a PS3 exclusive sure thats okay if it weren't so generic that if I look into my PS2 backlog I could find 5 games that have the same gameplay and superhero concept. Like I said before gamers and especially gamers with only a PS3 don't need generic titles that can be found on other systems. It seems this gen Graphics matters more than Gameplay since everything(excluding wii games) is all about beauty but yet its gameplay is just plain generic.
Noshino @ Jul 21st 2008 1:33PM
"I could find 5 games that have the same gameplay and superhero concept."
Go ahead, I bet you $5 that you can't, remember they have to have the same gameplay/concept...
Oh, and I ll save you some time by telling you that Crackdown, Psy ops, Uncharted, Gears of Wars, Assasin's Creed don't fit on that criteria, yes, the game does borrow a lot of the mechanics from those games (even the guys at Sucker Punch have said so) but they are not the same gameplay/concept as inFamous
Dwag @ Jul 21st 2008 1:43PM
@Noshino
You pretty much shut me up on that but i'll response by saying they Borrowed(AKA copied) a lot of concepts its not even original. Its an unoriginal game with about the only thing new(original) is lanscape and artwork but thats about it. Oh yeah you forgot KOTOR for the moral choices and powers effected by those choices.
Why do you like the game even though you know its "borrowed" so many concepts don't you get bored of playing the same shit over and over again?
Noshino @ Jul 21st 2008 2:28PM
Dwag,
Thing is, every game borrows at least 1 mechanics from other ones, the ones that are innovative are very very rare.
Well, I wouldn't really say that it was that influenced by KOTOR, since there your choices were more black or white, if it did borrow from it, I would say that it was just the mere concept of choices affecting everything, which would be more in between Mass Effect and KOTOR
"Why do you like the game even though you know its "borrowed" so many concepts don't you get bored of playing the same shit over and over again?"
Did you like Gears? it borrowed mechanics
Did you like MGS4? it borrowed mechanics
What about Bioshock, Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid, etc many of those titles have borrowed mechanics from other games.
Its great to innovate, but its also great to improve upon other innovations
Vidikron (FU) @ Jul 21st 2008 3:31PM
"Why do you like the game even though you know its "borrowed" so many concepts don't you get bored of playing the same shit over and over again?"
I'm sorry, but if that's actually your criteria for playing a game then you must not be playing many games at all. There are almost no games out there that don't build on concepts previously explored in other games. Sometimes it's not an individual concept that makes a game unique, it's the combination of concepts that set can set a game apart.
But, hell, even if this game was essentially Crackdown 2, I'd gladly take that. I loved Crackdown and despite your attempts to label inFamous as generic, there haven't been any games like Crackdown worth a damn since (any at all?).
Dwag @ Jul 21st 2008 3:55PM
The only reason this is getting any attention is due to its status as an exclusive. Yeah I wouldn't mind getting a Crackdown 2 but hearing all this hype for a game that is basically Crackdown with is gimmick is foolish. I've played many games including Crackdown but it gets annoying after reading hype thats basically saying oh it looks good we don't mind the generic gameplay but yet games that actually do something don't get hyped.
@Noshino
The problem for me is that inFamous is just borrowing and not improving anything its like KZ2 its borrowing but not improving much at all. I would go into detail but if you played Crackdown you'll notice that this isn't really all that different and plus i'd be ranting for no real reason but to nitpick at a demo.
I'm not saying I won't buy it cause I'm gonna get it. Obviously shit can change down the line, they've even changed the main character's name so I believe they might add something unique but as of now its basically Crackdown with a gimmick.
Vidikron (FU) @ Jul 21st 2008 4:58PM
"I would go into detail but if you played Crackdown you'll notice that this isn't really all that different and plus i'd be ranting for no real reason but to nitpick at a demo."
OK, but again, there aren't many games like Crackdown to begin with. Ignoring the fact that the game could turn out to be a completely different experience, even if the game was very similar to Crackdown, how is that a bad thing and how does that make it generic when there aren't many games like it? You act like this an FPS where there are literally dozens of options. You have a very broad definition of "generic" if that fact that there are 1 or 2 similar games makes another game generic.
"I've played many games including Crackdown but it gets annoying after reading hype thats basically saying oh it looks good we don't mind the generic gameplay but yet games that actually do something don't get hyped. "
Like what? What games out there are doing something totally new and aren't getting attention?
As for KZ2, perhaps you should read this:
http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2008/07/20/killzone-2-multiplayer-combinestf2-with-ffxi
If all you do it read this site with its boatload of PS3 bashing fanboys you're always going to wind up with a negative impression of anything Sony related.
Dwag @ Jul 21st 2008 6:39PM
EndWar,Far Cry 2,World at war, Soul calibur 4, Street fighter IV. Titles that we all heard of but yet barely get commented on unless its about something bad in the game and they wanna state there opinion on why this is bad(LBP)and also barely get as much hype as an exclusive.
I don't really get why you put the KZ2 link in there it still says generic title thats just a compilation of everything good in one which may not be a bad thing but its not all that great either but I can understand because they're first game wasn't all that good so they need ideas so why not take em from the best of the lot.
But I believe 3 games is all it takes to make a game generic cause if 3 games done it before then why would I want the 4th? Yeah I have been treating lie an FPS but thats because the sandbox genre is expanding and more it expands the more it becomes like the FPS genre just plain sequels and no innovations.
And to the last thing you said fanboys are annoying and I can't really blame anyone for hating Sony/PS3 because the Fanboys of Sony/PS3 are annoying its like everything game is a good game you saw the Lair and Haze hype it gets freaking annoying and then when said game fails they still act like dicks looking only at the surface(Graphics) but yet forget the most important aspect of a game(Gameplay). Frankly I hate fanboys they don't do anything other than bitch or call you a fanboy of the other system just because you dislike what there system is doing now.
Like I said before I started ranting Infamous just reminds a lot of certain games thus I deem it generic until further notice, so basically what i'm saying is anytime I hear anything about the game i'll read about it and see if it changed if not then I'll do the GGGGGGenric thing.
Vidikron (FU) @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:04AM
"EndWar,Far Cry 2,World at war, Soul calibur 4, Street fighter IV. Titles that we all heard of but yet barely get commented on unless its about something bad in the game and they wanna state there opinion on why this is bad(LBP)and also barely get as much hype as an exclusive."
You have GOT to be kidding me. What are ANY of those first games you listed doing that is different? And barely getting any hype? You think inFamous is getting hype that those games? Really? MAYBE inFamous is getting more hype than EndWar, but the others? No way. You're just crazy to think that.
Maybe inFamous gets my posts than a couple of those, but do you know why? Because it's a Sony exclusive. On this site almost any game that is a Sony exclusive draws the fanboys out of the woodwork. But, geeze, go back and look at some the news items for World at War and Soul Calibur. Those games are getting tons of notice. And no one is ignoring SFIV... come on! There's just not much to actually say about it though... it's SF. Everyone knows what to expect, so we're all (SF fans) just waiting for its release.
"I don't really get why you put the KZ2 link in there it still says generic title thats just a compilation of everything good in one which may not be a bad thing but its not all that great either"
Whatever.... you're just determined to write it off. That's fine. Again, show me what those games you listed above are doing that no other game has done and maybe you'll at least have a basis for your arguments even if I disagree. IMO, as I've stated before, a game doesn't have to have an individual unique concept to be unique... sometimes it's the combination of concepts.
Easo @ Jul 21st 2008 1:26PM
It really does look like a reimagined Crackdown, which is not a bad thing.And since theres not going to be a crackdown 2, this should fit nicely in my collection.
David @ Jul 21st 2008 1:57PM
Ok, but I still don't get the name... What's with the mixing of CaPiTaL LeTTeRs? Come on, all you shaven, caucasian kids, explain it to me.
Vidikron (FU) @ Jul 21st 2008 5:00PM
I think the idea is that you can play the game as either a good or evil person (good = Famous and bad = Infamous). So the title is meant to show the duality. That's my guess anyway.
Vcize @ Jul 21st 2008 2:48PM
I have this suspicion based on what I've heard that all the "moral choices" and whatnot are going to be very 5 years ago a la Bioshock (either you get the saint ending or the conquerer of the world ending). IE you're either "good" or "bad" which just affects how ordinary people react to you and not much else, espcially given his dodging of the question about the supervillains changing their opinions of you based on the route you took.
Still though, I'm very excited about this game. Crackdown had no story to it and was still an absolute blast, and you couldn't even shoot lightning. So any story stuff is just icing on the cake.
I hope there is a day/night cycle (every video/screenshot I've seen is at night).
Crackdown 2 is pretty much my most desired unannounced game (next-gen systems perhaps?), so this looks like it will fill in admirably in the meantime.
Jacksons @ Jul 21st 2008 3:28PM
Apparently whatever Yahtzee says is gospel around here. All this over the choice of haircut? Seriously? Suit yourselves, I can't wait to play it.