Just like the free climbing, the combat feels fluid and intuitive, negating the hassle of flicking through an armoury a la every other game in the genre. The game’s stunt system, meanwhile, actively encourages the player to string together different combinations, with bonus XP (which can be spent on weapon and health upgrades) accrued for particularly stylish takedowns. Flinging an opponent into the air with Cole’s Shockwave before sticking them with a Shock Grenade is both tremendously pleasurable and rewarding.

Such is Sucker Punch’s proficiency that even the usual afterthoughts of an open world product – the side-quests and item collection – don’t feel like meaningless superfluities, rather worthwhile additions. The collectibles themselves come in two flavours, Blast Shards and Dead Drops, the former being power-up items similar to Crackdown’s Orbs, while the latter act as a neat method of extending the game’s narrative, fleshing out the backdrop of a certain character with each one found. Though they’re not as plentiful as Liberty City’s pigeons (there are only 32 Dead Drops to be found, for example), they offer far more incentive.

Yet despite this overwhelming praise, inFamous unfortunately isn’t perfect. Behind their initial flair, some of the game’s primary missions can occasionally deviate into standard pop-and-shoot scenarios, while the tasks endured in side-quests can often repeat themselves in quick succession. The method by which Sucker Punch present some of the moral choices as well can also be lacking, often with little to no repercussion (or indeed, justification) for whichever choice you make. There’s no reward for moral ambiguity either, with the game choosing to keep the more powerful moves locked to either extreme of the moral compass. Whichever way you decide to play, you may as well go the whole hog. And while the game is refined in its mechanics, it’s not quite so sturdy on a technical front. inFamous certainly isn’t the prettiest game you’ll ever play, tarnished by spats of slowdown and pop-in, while some occasionally insane difficulty spikes come as a result of enemy-spamming rather than any boost in the game’s AI.

But you have to hand it to Sucker Punch. Irrespective of the game’s superb exploration and combat mechanics, it’s arguably the hardest part – the narrative – that’s the star of the show. inFamous is, after all, a comic book game first and foremost, and Sucker Punch has done a remarkable job in capturing the spirit and character required in both its hero and the world around him, beating even the ‘real’ comic book titles at their own game. It’s a euphoric example of tight, well-constructed narrative and strong game design, and ultimately a title that won’t only be remembered as the best superhero game to date, but also as one of the PS3’s finest moments.

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