In case you’re wondering, there are two open-world super-powered original intellectual properties scheduled for a 2009 release. You’ve likely confused them at least one time before, and they are very different games. One, being developed by Radical Entertainment and slated for a multiplatform release is Prototype, which features a mutated Alex Mercer running around New York City. inFamous is not that game. inFamous, being developed by Sucker Punch and slated for a PlayStation 3 exclusive release, stars an electrocuted Cole McGrath running around Empire City. You might want to write this down.

During the New York Comic Con I had a chance to play both of these games for extended periods of time, learning how their gameplay works, what is similar, and what is different. Despite sounding nearly identical, these two open-world titles are extremely different, and it feels like inFamous gives a much more desperate look at the idea of an anti-hero. Whereas Alex is a killing machine, ripping apart tanks and running up walls, Cole plays more like Altaïr with a lightning gun. He’s extremely powerful when compared to a typical civilian, but needs to watch his back against a gun. He can still take a beating, and has the capability to grow in strength as the game progresses, but is far from The Incredible Hulk.



The demo began with Cole atop a large building, standing beside his lazy friend, Zeke. Being run through a typical tutorial gauntlet that teaches the basic mechanics of lightning, a plane flies overhead, and a highjacker takes control of Zeke’s television to inform the population of a food drop near the middle of the city. Sucker Punch has gone to great lengths to ensure that the city feels real and desperate, degrading after whatever event caused Empire City to be quarantined by the rest of the world. Trash litters the streets, people are starving, and mysterious Reapers show up from time to time, killing who they want and taking what they need. Rushing to the scene of the drop, I took some time to explore Cole’s parkour abilities, jumping from rooftop to rooftop and enjoying the game’s extremely polished movement. The graphics are twitchy and unfinished, I ran into several glitches in the build, but movement up and over buildings is seamless, and feels like it might be one of the game’s best aspects.

After a small detour to grab a gun for Zeke, I was able to climb a monument and drop the food crate down to the civilians, but not before the Reaper’s arrived. At this time, I was treated to a wonderfully animated sequence, one of many that will be shown from time to time. Cut scenes are all done with a comic book style, and really nail home the point of Cole’s super powered abilities and the goals of Sucker Punch in creating their own Super Hero…or Super Villain.

Jumping off the massive monument I landed near some of the Reapers and began fighting. After a few shocks of lightning they collapse, but they are not always down and out. For as strong as Cole is, he isn't unstoppable, and my first time playing this sequence I found myself on the bad end of their AK-47s. Trying again, I was able to find cover, take them down one at a time, and take advantage of Cole’s speed and melee attacks to finish them all off before being presented with a moral dilemma. See, Sucker Punch wants the player to feel the disparity of the situation, and Cole can decide whether or not to take the food or to give it to the civilians. Just as in Fallout 3 and Fable II, choices are important, and I remembered that as I ran through the streets shooting 9000 volts into anyone who came near my sandwiches.

inFamous is far from finished, and there were definitely some issues in the build at the Comic Con. Characters have unnecessary and distracting graphical twitches, as if there are lines being shot through their faces, and the graphics, on the whole, are far from impressive, especially for a PlayStation 3 exclusive . Similarly, there were a number of times where I had to run into an ally to bump them off a trash can or building to get them back on a path. Hopefully they are able to sort our the game's issues in time for a 2009 release, because there's definitely room in the calender for more than one open-world super-powered original intellectual properties.

Related Articles:

NYCC 09: Hands-On Prototype

NYCC 09: Hands-On Godfather 2

NYCC 09: Hands-On Wanted: Weapons of Fate