When I first saw inFAMOUS at E3 2007, it didn't strike me as anything more than an average game. I am a big fan of SuckerPunch and loved Sly Cooper on the PS2, but something about this game just looked generic to me. However, the more footage I saw, the more the game began to appeal to me. Sucker Punch has put a lot of time and work into this title, and it shows in everything from the graphics to the gameplay.

When you first start the game, you'll find that it requires an install, but no need to worry as it isn't very long at all. The installation takes no more than a minute to do 20% and the rest is installed in the background during the opening cinematic. I don't want to go into too much detail regarding the story, as it is extremely well done and you'll want to experience it for yourself, but here are the basics: Cole, the protagonist of inFAMOUS, is your average guy, until he one day wakes up injured from a mysterious blast with everything around him destroyed. As you progress through the debris Cole realizes that something is wrong because he doesn't get hurt from electrical shocks. Towards the end of the level he collapses, and the game goes into a comic strip style movie. This really is a great way to tell the story—it is simple yet effective, and fits the superhero style of the game very well. It also means that there are almost no loading screens, because they are essentially covered up by these short cut scenes, much like Uncharted. This does lead to some pop-in, and some textures may appear blurry at first, but none of it is game breaking.

There are a few other graphical glitches, which is to be expected in a game of this size. Sometimes enemies will get stuck in places around the city—at one point I even managed to kick an enemy through a building—but for the most part this won't be much of a problem. Empire City is huge, the draw distance is very impressive, and you can literally go as far as the eye can see. Cole's electricity looks amazing, which is fortunate considering how much you'll be seeing it.

inFAMOUS is an open-world game with a basic karma system. You'll have to do a quick tutorial and one required mission, but after that you have free reign over Cole. Missions are started by getting to certain points on the map, and include story objectives as well as a whole load of side quests. Clicking the left analog stick brings up points of interest on your map, such as blast shards, electrical draining points, dead drops, etc. The basic objective of the game is to get electricity flowing to all of Empire City again, although there are story missions that are based around other problems in the city as well. In order to restore power, you must go into the sewers under an electricity-free area and bridge the connection between the transformers using your body. A new ability for Cole is unlocked each time you do this, quickly ramping up his initially limited set of powers.