World Domination Plan

At WorldDominationPlan we don’t review games. This is mostly due to the fact that we don’t post anything at all, but also partly because I find “criticism” of any entertainment mainly the past time of idiots and assholes (as much as I do enjoy and take part in it). I could get deeper into the philosophy behind this and try to define the shaky lines between useless opinion and thought-provoking or informative discussion, but that should be saved for another post titled “REVIEW Review”. So on that note, let’s review inFamous!

inFamous pulls off what most other open world games can’t. It gives you controls that feel completely intuitive to the world around you, as if existing in this universe is just as natural to you as it is to the main character. Each action corresponds directly with the environment in ways that make traversing the many obstacles of the game as simple as walking down an empty street. Cole (the protagonist), latches onto buildings, ledges, pipes and edges with an almost sticky quality, ensuring that you always end up going exactly where you want to go. All of the game’s assets are laid out to accentuate these actions, from the proximity of buildings to the layout of utility poles that you often use to grind to each location. There seems to have been an uncanny amount of thought that went into the placement and layout of nearly every immutable item in the city, which translates into an open world experience where you are never confused or lost.

It is because of this that everything else works so well. The numerous ‘powers’ you unlock in the game and the actions you learn along the way are all easily executed because you’re not worrying about how to do something, you’re focused on what to do, confident that you will be able to execute it. It leads to granting a feeling that few games succeed in emanating… that you (well, your character) is the ultimate bad ass.

So, the game’s fun. It doesn’t really need much more than that to be worth picking up. But Sucker Punch delivers that same quality on atmosphere, story, and amazingly, the more intimate moments. One thing I did not expect while joyfully running through repetitive side-missions was the grace with which the game zooms in to tell a story. There are some missions that have you hopping around the city before it subtly closes you into a linear path that you hardly realize you’re on. This gives the developers the ability to give a surprising intimacy to some majorly epic moments, and lends a more personal feeling to the entire experience.

One thing I’ve been focusing on lately, personally at least, is the execution of sound design. It’s almost strange how much audio effects the feel of anything really. A drive to the supermarket can become surreal if the right song comes on. When enemies march out in a game, it only really feels intense when the music matches it and you’re caught in the mood on more than a purely intelligent level. By the time I beat inFamous I began asking myself questions about why I was drawn to certain areas of the game more than others. I stood still in the street listening to the swirl of city noise, from the frequent and unique npc chatter to the sounds of cars, trains, gunshots, and just that general hum that cities seem to have. Then I began climbing the nearest building. As I ascended, the background noise faded away. The wind picked up a little bit. The sound was more peaceful. I understood at least part of the reason why I was so drawn to the rooftops, aside from the fun of hopping from roof to roof. The combination of sound and music in inFamous really struck me to the point where I’m debating purchasing the soundtrack (available on iTunes).

To further promote the game, Sucker Punch has also released an online comic, with art and story telling in the same vain as the game’s cut scenes, available at the http://www.infamousthegame.com/ website.

I’m hoping this is an IP that takes off for Sucker Punch, as this is one of the few new game universes that I feel is worth being evolved.