inFAMOUS and Prototype are two games easily confused. Both are open world games in cities that are or have been destroyed. In both games, the player plays as a super powered human trying to figure out the past and uncover the events that sparked their creation. To that end, they use their abilities to thwart enemies by pulling off crazy moves with their various powers.
Prototype has been a game I’ve been excited about for months, yet inFAMOUS was somewhat of a throw away title that I wasn’t expecting much from. Yet, while I haven’t even gotten to play a final copy of Prototype yet (my copy is in the mail) I can say that it is up against some pretty formidable competition.
inFAMOUS stars generic gravelly voiced bike courier Cole McGrath who makes the mistake of carrying an object that has the effect of destroying the city, yet giving him electric super powers. On top of destroying the city, his girlfriend’s sister is killed in the devastation and his girlfriend holds him responsible. At the beginning of the game, you find Cole discovering his powers and generally trying to survive and carve out a life for himself as he discovers that his powers can be used to make things better for either the city or himself. You end up pairing up with an FBI agent named Moya who promises your freedom from the city in exchange for assistance in finding her husband, another FBI agent who went missing inside the city, named John.
InFAMOUS’s Empire city is divided into three islands that you’ll traverse to play through the main story. You’ll do story missions to help Cole figure out how he got to be electricity man, get new powers, and unlock new areas. Each ‘day’ in game time will help you unlock a new part of the island with each 3rd day leading to a boss fight and opening up the next island. There are also plenty of diversified side quests that, by completing, will make your life easier causing enemies in that area not to respawn. The game also has a couple collection quests. In one, you’ll need to find all of John’s ‘dead drop’ locations which will give you bits of backstory and the other you’ll find ‘blast shards’ scattered around the city that will increase your maximum power. InFAMOUS does have a couple unique features that separate it from the standard open world game.
One of these is its morality system which allows you to unlock specific good or evil powers by doing good or evil acts. You have specific points in the game where Cole much decide if he would rather be selfless or selfish and the outcome determines if Cole is the City’s protector or just another combatant vying for dominants over mortals. In addition to these character defining moments, you also have the ability to take good or bad missions which help define who you are in Empire City. These missions have a catch – taking either a good or bad mission will lock out the mission of the opposite moral choice.
Darke
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Great review, I preferred this game over [Prototype], it's buddy, but I still think both could have been a lot better. Oh well... |
RetiarySword
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Damn! Beat me to it. If I didn't have to play the game twice I would have finished it like a week ago! Nice review dude. |
deckard47
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I haven't even tried Prototype, but I'd like to throw a 3rd name into the ring here: Red Faction: Guerrilla. I think it's a good deal better than Infamous (a game I liked, despite it's annoying flaws), and it's destructible environments really should change the game for go anywhere-do anything adventure titles. Going back to Infamous afterward, it just felt bad, not being able to destroy the city with my amazing powers. I'm hoping Guerrilla does well (although there's already a price drop in some places!), because I'd rather see a sequel to it than to every other open-world game released this or last year. |
Tex8503
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I actually just finished Prototype last night - so Red Faction is next on my list to play (may take a minor break with Sam & Max). and RetiarySword - heh... I'm just doing a job - that's all  |
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