Sucker Punch Productions

inFAMOUS Wins IGN's "Best Story" and GameSpot's "Best Original IP" Best of 2009 Awards

IGN Story Link

The sandbox genre has been aching for a decent superhero story, and in 2009, Sucker Punch delivered an outstanding one with inFAMOUS.  A bomb has gone off in Empire City; it's killed thousands, given you superpowers, and led to the island's quarantine. Do you save the day or rule what's left?

GameSpot Story Link

It's easy to forget that the sequels of today were born from unique intellectual properties that at one point were brand new. But as the game industry has matured, so have various game franchises, in some cases churning out sequel after sequel after sequel. Unfortunately, all these sequels makes it increasingly difficult for original games to stand out among the crowd. Luckily, 2009 happened to be a particularly strong year for original content, giving us five fantastic nominees.

inFamous, free of the shackles that an established brand often carries, was able to deliver a thoroughly compelling adventure without having to compromise any of its ideas to fit some preestablished identity. Playing as Cole MacGrath, you follow his transformation from everyman into anything-but as the game progresses, and you dictate his fate by the choices you make. It's this unique take that makes inFamous stand out. Your reactions to people in peril change how the world perceives and responds to you.

It's one thing to have an impressive premise, but it's another thing entirely for it to be enjoyable. Thankfully, inFamous completely delivers on this front because of its impeccable controls, perfect pace, and wonderful superpowers, which make navigating the world a breeze. In fact, moving through the city is so enjoyable that collecting the game's 350 hidden blast shards--a task that would be a chore in almost any other game--is thoroughly compelling to the extent that you can lose hours to this alone.

inFamous proves that it doesn't take an established IP to produce a fantastic adventure. In fact inFamous proves that starting from scratch may even be beneficial, opening up to a world of possibilities without being weighed down by established conventions.