So it came out back in May, but with all the awesome games of 2009 everyone is late to the show on at least one of them.  Luckily what we have here is a game that will still be fun ten years from now.  InFamous on the Playstation 3 has a lot to offer.

The game feels like a comic book playing out on your TV.  You play as Cole McGrath, a bystander who is involuntarily tied up in a bioterrorist plot.  After surviving an explosion, Cole finds himself infected with something that basically makes him an electrified super hero.  Cole gains strength from anything in the city that is electric, from lamp posts to railroads.  Once juiced up, his powers allow him to use electrical equivalents of standard gaming fare…shotguns, rifles, and grenades.

InFamous is set in fictitious Empire City which is suffering from blackouts after the initial attack.  The military has quarantined the city leading to a collapse of social order.  Empire City is divided into three districts and Cole gains new powers as he restores electricity to the city.  The combination of an open-world action game and comic book superpowers is a recipe for an instant classic.  Also adding to the graphic novel feel is the freedom for the player to choose to be a villain or hero.  InFamous boasts a Karma system which allows you to be exalted or vilified by the people of the city. Which path you choose will affect which quests are available to you and what superpowers you can unlock as you go along.

The control is top-notch.  It almost feels as if the game already knows what you are trying to do.  With all of Cole’s powers and abilities, it seems like the controls should be more complicated than they are.  When jumping, grabbing ledges and any other generally death-defying maneuvers, Cole intuitively moves exactly like you want him to—a rare feat in 3D gaming.  The difficulty of the game comes from where it should, the enemies. 

Part of what makes the enemies challenging is that they often see you first.  Until Cole gets his sniper-like electric bolt, enemies will often get your attention with a bullet first.  As you progress in the game, new enemies with different strengths and weaknesses provide the challenge.  Also upping the ante is the need to explore areas in blackout, which can reduce Cole to a mere mortal.  Luckily generators and car batteries can help, but their scarcity provides more challenge than the plugged-in cityscape.  The combination of harder enemies and challenging circumstances ramp the difficulty up at just the right pace.

Like any good open world action game there are plenty of side quests and collectables to add to the length of the game.  Each side quest and collectable comes with its own rewards providing more incentive to explore every nook and cranny. 

It’s hard to find anything wrong with this game. Aside from very infrequent (and by infrequent, I  mean hardly worth mentioning) graphical bugs and slight drops in frame rate, this game is about as close to perfect as an action game can be.  You don’t have to be Nostradamus to see a sequel in the future.

InFamous is (barely) rated T for teen by the ESRB for blood, drug references, language, mild suggestive themes, and violence.  InFamous is available exclusively on PS3.

About the author:  Kevin “Mello Joe” Mercer is a former radio personality and a lifelong gamer. You can find him on Xbox Live and Playstation Network, Gamertag: Mellojoe. View the world as he sees it at www.youtube.com/user/mellojoe. www.myspace.com/charlesk