inFamous (2009): The Review
Overview
inFamous is an electrifying ride from start to finish, with Cole’s powers delivering pure chaos, graphic novel cutscenes that pop with style, and a story that pulls you deeper into a city that feels alive. Whether you’re obsessively chasing down the last Blast Shards, draining a foe’s bio-energy with twisted satisfaction, or catching the sly Sly Cooper references, the game never stops rewarding you. Sucker Punch crafted something truly remarkable here: inFamous is special.
Score: 8.5 out of 10
The Positives ✅
Infamous is the definition of a glow-up for the early superhero gaming era. Sucker Punch took the basic blueprint and supercharged it with raw electricity. The traversal system alone is a marvel. Cole isn’t just some guy with lightning powers, he’s a parkour machine. Climbing buildings, skimming across power lines, and chaining moves together feels effortless, and the game smartly avoids the precision headaches that usually plague platformers. By the time you’re rail-sliding through the city with Static Glide at your disposal, you feel like a force of nature cutting through the urban sprawl. It’s one of the most original and satisfying traversal mechanics of its generation, and it never gets old.
Empire City itself also deserves major praise. It isn’t just a backdrop; it’s a living, suffering organism. Citizens mourn their dead, beg for help, or lash out in anger depending on how you treat them. That human element elevates the game far beyond “zap bad guys, complete missions.” When people cheer your heroics or pelt you with rocks for your cruelty, you feel the weight of your choices. The morality system ties directly into the city’s atmosphere: posters change, the skyline reflects your actions, and even your powers morph with your alignment. Hero Cole with blue lightning and a city on the mend feels completely different from Infamous Cole with his red lightning and a crumbling wasteland. Few games at the time managed to integrate morality so deeply into both gameplay and world-building.
On top of that, Infamous has a story that hits harder than expected. Cole’s transformation from an everyman bike messenger to a superpowered pariah is driven by great comic book–style cutscenes, memorable villains, and strong side characters like Zeke and Trish. The Ray Sphere disaster sets up a narrative of guilt, responsibility, and survival, and the karma choices actually feel personal. Do you fry a desperate civilian for energy, or save them at the cost of convenience? Do you share resources with the masses, or hoard them for yourself? These aren’t cosmetic decisions, they resonate, especially when relationships strain under the weight of your choices. It makes Infamous not just fun to play, but compelling to roleplay.
The Negatives ⚠️
For all its brilliance, Infamous does stumble in a few key areas. The morality system, while ambitious, often paints choices in black-and-white strokes. Being “good” or “evil” is obvious most of the time, with little room for nuance. It’s satisfying to see the city respond to your choices, but sometimes the game nudges you too hard in one direction. In addition, some abilities are locked behind alignment, which can leave you feeling like you’re missing out unless you replay the entire game: a clever way to encourage multiple playthroughs, but a little restrictive in practice.
Enemy variety also lags behind the creativity of the rest of the game. The Reapers, Dustmen, and First Sons each bring their gimmicks, but the majority of encounters boil down to different flavors of gun-toting grunts. The Conduits add spice with their unique powers, yet across three islands you’ll start wishing for more diversity. When gangs fight each other it’s exciting, but otherwise combat can fall into predictable rhythms. Compared to the wild creativity of traversal and powers, the enemy roster feels a step behind.
Visually, Infamous shows its seams too. While the city’s design and atmosphere are strong, the in-game cutscenes often feel stiff, with wooden animations and voice performances that don’t always match the intended tone. Cole in particular speaks like he’s auditioning for a Snake impersonation contest, even when you’re playing him as a hopeful hero. Technical hiccups like texture pop-in, occasional framerate dips, and even rare bugs where you fall through the world also break immersion. They don’t ruin the game, but they’re enough to remind you you’re playing a game rather than living in one: especially with the jarring XP/mission complete screens snapping you out of the flow.
The Experience 🎮
Playing Infamous feels like strapping into a superhero origin story where the gloves are off. The moment-to-moment gameplay hooks you: one second you’re perched on a rooftop like a predator, the next you’re blasting a Shockwave that sends cars flying. Traversal keeps the adrenaline flowing, and unlocking new powers feels like plugging directly into a power grid, each ability meaningful, each upgrade transforming the way you approach combat and exploration. The sheer joy of skating power lines or summoning a lightning storm to obliterate enemies never fades, making even simple side missions exciting.
The moral weight of your actions gives the game a personal edge. Saving civilians, healing the sick, and being cheered in the streets makes the hero path feel uplifting and affirming. But draining civilians for energy or crushing protests with lightning pushes you into deeply uncomfortable territory, forcing you to face the consequences of your cruelty. Both sides are fun to play, but the emotional punch of the choices, reinforced by the fates of Trish, Zeke, and others, keeps the story from ever feeling shallow. This is a game where how you play changes how you feel, and that’s a rare accomplishment.
Above all, Infamous nails the fantasy of being a superhero in a city that desperately needs one. Empire City isn’t just a sandbox, it’s a place that reacts to your presence, challenges you, and constantly reminds you of the stakes. Every rooftop, every mission, every moral decision contributes to the sense that you’re shaping its destiny. Despite its flaws, the game makes you feel powerful, responsible, and sometimes disturbingly cruel. That emotional rollercoaster, paired with the sheer fun of the powers, makes Infamous an unforgettable experience and one of the standout titles of the PlayStation 3 era.
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