inFAMOUS ,got redemption code demo,first impressions/review

[blackwiggle]

SONY sent me a redemption code for the playable demo of inFAMOUS the other day.
Just thought I'd give you a unbiased opinion on this much hyped game before you run out and buy it.

I played the first level last night and it's still just another FPS , nothing really new here I'm afraid , a lot of stuff lifted and reimplemented from other games going back to early PSone titles.[Tomb Raider,Shadow man,Die Hard ]

Game instructions are basically non existent,they are of the type where as you progress you gain abilities ,there are two problems with the way they have gone about this,these are that you are simultaneously told by voice over/message what they are [but background music/effects are too loud to hear them properly] and a flash up of the control and what it does [doesn't last long enough for you to grasp what it is you just got as you are usually being shot at the time,and as soon as you move the flash up disappears]

The graphics are good,and so are the effects,I wouldn't say great,but then again this has a comic book feel to it and the cut scene the comic book look to them.

It's only when using the more powerful weapons where you can decimate hoards of enemies [and/or bystanders] that the visual effects show their stuff,but IMHO you need more than that to hold a gamers interest now days.

It's mission based,save what's his name,go find and talk to these people before time runs out sort off stuff.

The main/only characters movements are for the most part good ,but still have that idiosyncratic sort of [now generic] Tomb Raider movements [about as accurate as well,maybe a bit better than TR3 in this respect and not as well done as UNCHARTED],with a few other moves thrown in for good measure [again seen them before for the most part,Prince of Persia,Heavenly Sword rope slides etc]
Problems exist with getting your character to the edge of whatever they are standing on so that they can drop down,you can end up on the wrong side of a girder or facing the wrong way [NOT good when you are being shot at]
This also makes getting the pickup's that are placed in the center of a building,onto of a lamp post etc hard to get,frustrating.

Not a great game,and it's certainly not a bad game,it's not what you would call an original game, so that's left it right in the middle of better than average.

How it got such a high review score is a little bewildering [Payola prehaps?]

It's got the Hype Assassins Creed had ATM, and we all remember the eventual general consensus on that game.

Thankfully it's a fair bit more action packed than that .

I'd give it 7 rubber chickens

One thing.

I think even SONY know this is an average game,otherwise they would of waited till E3 to release even the redemption code so people can play the demo.

Or they like shooting themselves in the foot....looks at limping SCEE staff.

[Amorbis]

I got, well my brother got, a redemption code a few days ago. I wasn't too impressed on what the demo had to offer. It threw me into it with no instructions and it was a bit confusing at first, but once you get to know it a bit it fairs better.

I can't really say that I enjoyed it, though. If all the missions are 'Help the train!' and 'Clear the generic enemies that look like Jawas off the roof!' then I'm certainly not interested. The main charater isn't interesting either, with his bald genero-hero looks and lightning powers he's no different to the Apprectice from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, except the lack of lightsabre.

Maybe it's one of those games that requires a lot off play to get into it, like GTAIV or Fallout 3. Even if that is the case I won't be buying it any time soon.

[Lion]

I got invited too.
my initial impression was that it was too hard, possibly because I can't do shooters with a controlpad (I'm a PC guy) and it's third person btw blackwiggle, not first :P
once I got my head around the pretty damned complicated controls (on my 2nd or third playthrough) I started having a lot of fun. Incedentally you can see details of all your available powers in the pause menus.

Like a GTA game, the missions aren't nearly as much of a focus as tooling around in a large cityscape. even the demo allows you to go a REALLY long way off track. once the first mission is complete you have to go to a GPS location for your next mission, but I decided to jump on a train instead... you can ride it around the whole city.

the reason I found it too hard at first is pretty much that I tried to treat it like a brawler.. but cole is really meant to be a ranged character.

I don't think the complexity of the controls and lack of knowledge of your abilities will be such an issue in the final game. the demo starts you out fairly levelled up with a lot of your powers already purchased (bought with XP) to give you a good taste of what you can do with the game. the full product should have proper progression on these, so I don't think lack of instruction is a fair complaint.

If the demo gets made publicly available, definitely give it a shot. I started off disliking it but will now probably wind up buying it

[Zoth-Ommog]

Now this demo is downloadable in PS Store, i downloaded it and started playing.. but what the heck?? It's in french and there is no way to change it. Has this happened to anyone else or is it just me? some mess up with localization maybe..

EDIT: Changing system language to english did the trick, so it's some kind of mess up with localization.

[Cerbis]

I tried the demo yesterday, and I have to say I was very impressed! I didn't have any problems picking up the controls myself, they felt quite similar to
Assassin's Creed to me. I had read a very positive review before trying the demo which highlighted the game's focus on story and being a regular human
in a very strange and dangerous position.
The demo is a fantastic showcase of the gameplay, I'd wager, but less so of the story in the game. There are also many interesting details in the game,
like helping people hurt by the gang members, or healing the sick... and trying your best not to kill dozens of people when you fight.
Even something as simple as walking through a puddle can take lives.
Then again, maybe I get too immersed in my games? ;)

It's definetly on my purchase list, nonetheless and it certainly doesn't feel like a common game. It might be open-world, but it seems to be doing its own thing.

[Darkdrium777]

I tried the demo as well, I quite enjoyed it.
The draw distance for objects is quite terrible but it doesn't bother me that much. I only hope they've solved the framerate drops when the system has to draw many objects popping in at the same time in the final game, it doesn't happen much but it could become annoying if it does.

[Rapier Racer]

Got the demo on Thursday quite enjoyed it, been looking forward to this since I saw the first trailer a long time back. Personally I didn't find the controls hard to grasp nor did I find that instructions for new moves flashed up and off in an instant, they do, in fact stay on the screen far too long.

I'll be trotting along to buy it on Friday morning. :banzai

[infoxicated]

I played it last night and I thought it was fun. Was impressed by the graphics, appalled by the draw distance, and intrigued by the story. I had to go out before I'd completed it, but just before I did switch it off it was annoying me - the woman on the radio kept telling me to do something and that I was running out of time... over and over again, but I couldn't figure out what it was I was meant to be doing.

During the action it reminded me of playing God of War, in that it makes you look cool as hell when you're really not providing much input. That GoW reference might also come from using the right stick to make you dive and roll, just like you do with Kratos to get out of trouble.

The camera seemed really jerky for me, which I also found with the new Red Faction demo. Perhaps it's just kind of jarring playing games like this solely in third person view after being able to freely switch between the two in Fallout 3.

Like I said - fun, but I'm not sure if I'd actually pick it up when it comes out unless it's heavily discounted. In fact, if I'm picking up a 3rd person action game, then from the demo's it was red Red Faction that seemed to offer more immediate fun with a bigger array of weapons with which to amuse myself.

[OBH]

i found the demo really enjoyable. chucked it on a harder difficulty and was enjoying hopping between lamp posts and ledges and was chucking grenades around with joy :)

if the city is free roaming, i reckon id get it.

[Rubix42]

I picked this up yesterday. I'm really having a good time with it. The graphics are fine for me. Nothing spectacular, but they aren't last gen either.

I find the sound is very good running through my 7.1 setup. Keeps the action distinct from different areas which is nice.

The framerate is rock solid, and pretty impressive considering what it is sometimes asked to handle. Try dropping grenades onto about 5 or more cars all at once, and just watch the pretty explosions. No drops in framerate with that much chaos is impressive as all get out.

But the main draw for me is the gameplay. The simple controls make for a really fun free flowing combat that you don't see often. Zip across an electric line onto a roof, shock someone, blast them off the roof, jump off after them and then explode slam on them as they hit the ground is just too fun. The number of combo's you can create on the fly is pretty sweet. Blasting people off of roof's, shocking them on their way down. Or jumping on a light pole to use it as cover and shooting around the corner at them. Fun, fun stuff.

The missions are pretty cookie cutter stuff you would expect from a sandbox game. But the real draw for me here is really just the powers and the way the world reacts to you. Stand in a puddle and someone walks through, and they die. Little touches like that.

[Darkdrium777]

it was annoying me - the woman on the radio kept telling me to do something and that I was running out of time... over and over again, but I couldn't figure out what it was I was meant to be doing.Oh that's probably just the demo. If you let it sit for too long after you've completed the train part, it just teleports you and initiates dialogue with the person you're supposed to talk to.
If it's the train part, you've got to do three things for the train to advance, only when those three things are all done can the train move on:
-All the Reapers (the guys in red) in the area are dead.
-The capacitor box below the track (Grey box with a flashing red light, look for it) is charged at maximum (shoot lightning at it).
-You are standing on the front car.
Additionally, clear the cars in front of the train with the shockwave so it goes faster.