Daily Review
inFAMOUS
Status: Unfinished
Currently: Almost done with the Warrens
I am very mixed on this game so far. So many elements of it to me are rather fun, but it is very telling when you stop playing a game due to frustration rather than at natural stopping points.
Guess I should start with the good first, so I don't forget to mention them. So far, the game feels very realistic, and does a good job of pushing you to play smart rather than just rushing in to enemies. Your character is very susceptible to bullets despite being a superhero, and the game reminds you of this. The powers you get are rather varied, though to be fair are mostly just different methods of 'electrical death', and I do find myself using the new powers to compliment the old, but the game makes sure to give you situations where you don't forget them (in example, enemies behind fences or guardrails where its a good idea to use that new electrical rocket attack). The parkour aspect is different, and while it takes you a while to get anywhere unless you ride the trains (and get motion sick), it does let you naturally discover the little items the game wants you to collect, and makes the city feel more realized than just something you skim past.
However, all that said, the parkour aspect itself is the most frustrating aspect of the game. Your character will cling to -everything-, which is good at some points, but you can never anticipate what he will cling to. Do the same jump twice, and you'll stick to different parts of the building for no apparent reason. Ostensibly you can see the 'lines' where you can grab and the 'knobs' where you can hold on, but the graphic style is so gritty that often times you start scaling to get to a spot, and wonder why you can stick to this ledge, but not this other thing that looks like a ledge. In addition, the thing will just glitch out on occasion, and while you're under fire, your character will dance around for a bit like he's trying to find a place to stand...on a perfectly level roof. This does seem more prevalent on angles and slopes, but it really detracts from the game.
The entire reason I quit today was due to a sidequest where you race rooftop to rooftop, connecting uplinks on them. So far, these have been difficult, but fair, you find the right path and rush, barely finishing after a few tries. This one was complete and utter bullshit though. The first two are seperated by wires you glide on, all good. The third one for some reason is on the other side of a ladder and a jagged outcrop of building, which requires about five jumps to get him to stop sticking to everything and just touch it. The one after that is across a gap too far to jump, so you end up clinging to the building and taking forever to scale up. The one after -that- is the same deal...and there were at least two more after it. Most of these tend to be one or two links, three at the most. I do get the feeling I'm supposed to have the 'flying' power before I do this, but there's no indication in game of that, and I make a habit to complete everything as soon as possible.
The other gripes are more in general. I hate silly polar alignment choices, in this game you're either a serial killer or a true hero, nowhere in between if you want to get the good powers and the trophies for being good and evil. The open world aspect has been fun in other games, but beyond little blue shards and quests that are marked on your map, the world itself is devoid of -anything- to do. All the sidequests are variations on the same subset of missions, and the combat while realistic, gets very frustrating. The game is only difficult because of the wonky controls, the normal difficulty is offset by very forgiving waypoints, so forgiving sometimes it is just better to die so you get ported closer to your next goal.
Still, I'm going to finish it, hopefully soon, but thoughts of beating it again on evil are making my brain twitch.
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