A Quick Look at the inFamous demo

Okay, I realize I'm posting this the day the full game comes out, and I'm sure that whenever my local Blockbuster decides to stop hiding it (which usually takes a few weeks for some reason) I'll be getting the full game, but I'm going to put this up anyway.

I downloaded the inFamous demo earlier this week and finally got a chance to play it yesterday. Then I got a chance to hate it.

I realize it's only a demo and that they only want to give you a taste of what the full game is going to be like, but the full game is going to need to be a lot better than the demo if it's going to fly off the shelves like they're hoping. There's a handful of missions to complete, no chance to take advantage of the sandbox-style of the game, and a flurry of quirks all over the place.

Now, I get that they probably want you to play the missions to get a feel of the game, but when I finish a mission I wouldn't mind being able to go around town and wreak some havoc of my own, or at least explore the city I'm supposed to be saving. But no, they don't let you do that. Instead they give you a few minutes to go from one mission to the next before they simply force you into it. If you don't like it and try to walk away, they'll tell you that you abandoned the mission. And then throw you right back in it.

WTF‽ Seriously, if I don't want to do a mission right now, don't force me into it. That'll make me want to do it even less.

The best part about it, though, is that even if you're not doing a mission, just roaming around the city having some fun, and you die, guess what happens? You get to start a mission! Yes, as a congratulations for dying, they'll start you on a mission. What a great reward. For not doing something you didn't get to do, you get to do it anyway.

So, basically, you have to do as told and there's only 4 things you're told to do before the demo's over. Well that's just fucking great, isn't it?

Not to worry. There's other things in this game waiting to piss you off. Like the unnecessary weaknesses to things that don't make sense. Such as chain-link fences. You can't climb them, you can't shock them, and you can't shock through them. Then there's water, too. It's not like you're an electric eel and you don't kill yourself and everything else in the water. Instead you're both the source of the electricity and the one being killed by it. Not sure how that works, but whatever.

Other than that, though, it's a pretty good game. The regenerative health ensures you that if you're injured you can suck your thumb in a corner until you're feeling better, you have enough abilities from the start to satisfy most gamers, and I guess the graphics are decent enough that you won't think they accidentally made a PS2 game.