Infamous (series)

Infamous (stylized as inFAMOUS) is a series of action-adventure platformer open world video games developed by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Computer Entertainment exclusively for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 video game consoles. The series follows the adventures of Cole MacGrath, Delsin Rowe and Abigail 'Fetch' Walker, superpowered 'Conduits' who must decide their own destinies of becoming either good or evil. The series includes Infamous, its sequel Infamous 2, the non-canon downloadable game called Infamous: Festival of Blood, the DC Comics comic book series of the same name, the third main entry for the PlayStation 4 called Infamous Second Son and the stand-alone expansion Infamous First Light.

Setting

The series takes place in the present-day United States with real and alternate versions of real cities; such as the setting of the first game, Empire City, which resembles New York City; and the setting of the second game, New Marais, which resembles New Orleans (Infamous: Festival of Blood also takes place in this city). Washington, D.C. is occasionally mentioned, and the third game takes place in real life Seattle. It also features real-life U.S. government agencies such as the FBI, NSA and DARPA,^[1] along with agencies fabricated for the series, such as the DUP (Department of Unified Protection), an agency with the sole purpose of stopping conduits, or "bio-terrorists", from causing mass destruction similar to what was caused by Cole MacGrath.

Gameplay

Gameplay in the Infamous series is primarily an action-adventure platformer open world type. In the first two games and the spin-offs, players control series protagonist, Cole MacGrath, and in the third game, Delsin Rowe, as they freely roam around the city, fighting crime or creating havoc along the way. Cole and Delsin can use their parkour skills to jump and climb buildings throughout the city, along with their powers to help them fight enemies. Their powers come from a gauge which depletes whenever they uses various attacks, and refills when they absorb electricity or smoke from nearby electrical objects, such as street lights, and nearby smoke sources, such as vents or burning cars.

Morality, or Karma, is a major factor in the gameplay and storyline. Players are able to control the course of the game by having Cole and Delsin use their powers for good or evil. The choice allows players to have a different mixture of abilities, as both good and evil have their own set of powers. The game also uses a Karma meter which changes based on the main character's actions throughout the game and determines whether he eventually becomes a good or evil character.^[2]

Games

Infamous (2009)

Infamous is the first game in the series, released in 2009 to rave reviews by the gaming press.^[13] The game explains the origins of Cole MacGrath, a bike courier, who gained his electrical-based powers after surviving a large explosion in Empire City caused by the package he was carrying containing the Ray Sphere. The Ray Sphere is an object of great power as it is able to consume the energy of the people around the user and transfer that energy to the user, making him immensely powerful at the cost of thousands of lives. After the explosion, the city was quarantined by the government causing organized crime groups within the city to seize control of Empire City from the local authorities. The game follows Cole's journey to obtain the Ray Sphere in order to escape from the quarantine as part of a deal he made with an FBI agent during his failed escape attempt at the start of the game. Cole eventually obtains the Ray Sphere and the player is given the choice to either destroy it or use it. Regardless of the choice, Cole will eventually come face to face with Kessler, the leader of The First Sons, the organized crime group in the city who had seized control of the city after the quarantine. Kessler duels Cole in a battle to the death and it is eventually revealed after Kessler is mortally wounded that he is in reality a version of Cole from the future of an alternate timeline. Kessler reveals his motive for the events throughout the game telling Cole that he was preparing Cole for an eventual battle against an entity known as "The Beast" who had destroyed Kessler's world. He had set the events of the game into motion by ordering the construction of the Ray Sphere as well as passing it to Cole for him to cause the explosion. The game ends when Kessler dies and Cole proclaims, "When the time comes, I will be ready."^[14]

Infamous 2 (2011)

Infamous 2 is the second game in the series, released in June 2011 as a followup to the first game's story, taking place a month afterwards. The game follows the adventure of Cole once again as he escapes to the city of New Marais after the events of the first game to prepare himself for the eventual battle with "The Beast" (a powerful being that obliterated Empire City and much of the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S). New Marais was the location for the construction of the Ray Sphere and where Cole believes he will find more answers to the events of the first game. However, the city has been taken over by the Militia, who are controlled by an influential industrialist, while the city is being rampaged by beings known as the corrupted who became mutated by the leader of the Militia. The Militia's goal is to keep anything mutated or with super powers out of the city which unfortunately includes Cole. Thus he must traverse the city fighting against both the Militia and the Corrupted to learn more about Kessler, the Ray Sphere and "The Beast".^[1][15]

Infamous: Festival of Blood (2011)

Infamous: Festival of Blood is a downloadable side story for Infamous 2. It takes place sometime during the story of the main game, but never tells the player exactly when. Zeke is telling the story of what happened to Cole MacGrath during Pyre Night to an attractive woman while sitting in a bar. Cole goes underneath St. Ignatius' Cathedral and is bitten by a vampire, and only has til morning to kill the vampire that bit him, Bloody Mary, or he'll be her slave forever. The game takes place all during the night, and introduces new elements, like flight, into the game. User generated content (UGC) remains, but UGC from Infamous 2 and vice versa cannot be accessed. The Karma System was replaced by a blood meter, which fills as Cole drinks blood from civilians or stake vampires. It was originally rated mature by the ESRB for its copious amounts of blood, which was eventually trimmed down to a minimum, giving it a teen rating. It came out on October 25, 2011 and was the best selling PlayStation Network game, until Journey launched.

Infamous Second Son (2014)

Infamous Second Son was released on March 21, 2014, based 7 years after the events of the second installment. This stars a new protagonist, Delsin Rowe, who is a graffiti artist and we follow him with his power of absorbing power from other prime conduits. After his initial meeting with Henry 'Hank' Daughtry early in the story, he absorbs Hank's power which is smoke and fire.

Infamous First Light (2014)

Infamous First Light is a prequel to Second Son. The game takes place two years before the events of Second Son and follows the story of Abigail "Fetch" Walker and her neon powers. Fetch had an accident with her powers that changed her life, hating drug dealer Shane for tricking her. Due to that, she was incarcerated in Curdun Cay Station and trained by Brooke Augustine so that she could "Learn how to control them". While practicing she escapes and ventures off, hunting Shane.

Web Browser games

Infamous: Precinct Assault (2009)

Infamous: Precinct Assault is a browser flash game. It was released in 2009 to promote the first game in the series, Infamous. The game is a 2D side-scrolling platform game and it uses a third person perspective. Unlike the main games, players must choose whether they want to use their powers for bad or for good before the game starts. The game only consists of three levels.^[16]

Infamous: Anarchy (2011)

Infamous: Anarchy is a spin-off game on Facebook, released along with Infamous 2. The game allows players to make a custom avatar, build their own city, help friends expand their cities, fight enemy players, and others. The game has since been updated with more features such as screenshot taking and competition among players. When players reach an unknown criteria, they are rewarded with a code that can be used to unlock additional items in Infamous 2.

Collection

Infamous Collection (2012)

Infamous Collection
Developer(s)	Sucker Punch Productions
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Series	Infamous
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3
Release date(s)	NA: August 28, 2012
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player

The Infamous Collection is a collection of Infamous, Infamous 2, and Infamous: Festival of Blood, bundled together as part of Sony's line of PlayStation Collections for the PlayStation 3. The collection, along with the God of War Saga and the Ratchet & Clank Collection, were the first releases in Sony's line, being released on August 28, 2012 in North America. The games feature the same features as their original releases. In addition to the games, the collection features bonus content, including extra missions, and additional character costumes, power ups and weapon styles.^[17][18]

Other media

Comics

The Infamous comic is a one-part comic released in March 2011 and was published by DC Comics in association with Sucker Punch to coincide with the release of the second game in 2011. The comics take place in between the events of the first and the second game showing how Cole escapes from Empire City to New Marais. The comic series was written by William Harms and drawn by Eric Nguyen, and also includes covers drawn by Doug Mahnke.^[19]

Film

On July 25, 2009 it was announced that Sony had chosen screenwriter Sheldon Turner to adapt Infamous into a feature film in a seven figure deal. Brothers Ari and Avi Arad will produce, and Sony executives Matt Tolmach and Jonathan Kadin are handling for the studio.^[20] Turner told The Hollywood Reporter he was excited that the game had a "big idea and a character arc," which he believed was "the future of gaming."^[20] He believed the game was essentially "a love ballad to the underachiever".

Graphic novels

Characters

Cole MacGrath

• Voice actor: Jason Cottle (Infamous), Eric Ladin (all other appearances)

The original protagonist of the Infamous series. Cole was a bike messenger who was delivering a package for someone to somewhere in the Historic District of Empire City. In the midst of his delivery however, his package exploded, destroying part of the island and killing thousands. However, this event resulted in Cole gaining power over electricity.

Cole has appeared in several other games outside the Infamous series, including a downloadable skin as part of the PlayStation Hero Pack for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves along with Zeke, as well as a costume for LittleBigPlanet. He is a playable character in the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita versions of Street Fighter X Tekken, and as both his good and evil forms in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.

Zeke Jedediah Dunbar

• Voice actor: Caleb Moody

Cole MacGrath's best friend, and his most trustworthy companion both before and after The Blast in Empire City. He helps Cole in various ways using his knowledge in electrical engineering, providing some back up with his pistol, and most importantly, providing spiritual support for Cole as his only friend after the Empire City Quarantine, for better or for worse.

Trish Dailey

• Voice actor: October Moore

Cole MacGrath's girlfriend, who lived and worked in Empire City as a nurse prior to The Blast. As she met with Cole there, the local pirate broadcaster, "Voice of Survival", began to blame Cole for being "the terrorist" and the cause of the Blast. Trish then immediately lost faith in Cole, believing him to be responsible for her sister's death, walking away and ended their relationship. Depending on the player's choices, Trish will either rekindle her romance with Cole or distance herself more. Trish is later killed by Cole's alternate future self to turn Cole into a weapon with nothing to lose.

Sasha

• Voice actor: Jessica Straus

The former lover of Kessler and the secondary antagonist in Infamous. She is the leader of the Reapers faction in Empire City and is one of the few people whose conduit powers had developed before the blast. Like Kessler, she was working with the First Sons, and was a specialist researching mind-control techniques. For a time John White was assigned to work with Sasha when he was undercover within the organization. In Post-Blast, she is the leader of the Reapers who dominate the Neon District.

Lucy Kuo

• Voice actor: Dawn Olivieri

An undercover agent working for the NSA to investigate the organization known as the First Sons, stationed at New Marais while working with an inside man, Dr. Sebastian Wolfe. Afterwards, experimentation performed on her turned Kuo into a Conduit, able to manipulate ice and fly. As all of them contemplate on a decision, Kuo, fearful of death, decides to side with John's plan, mentioning that it's the only way anyone will live through the plague. This leads Cole to say "I never thought Kuo would lose her nerve and become selfish." If one chooses to go through with the good ending (Cole decides to use the Ray Field Inhibitor), then will Kuo attempt to steal it before they can utilize it. Stopped on her attempt, Kuo angrily remarks that they will all regret their decision, right before leaving the area. She then meets up with John in order to assist him in his plan. At the end however, she admits that Cole made the right decision and she was just scared to die, and encourages Cole to use the Ray Field. If one chooses the evil ending, then Cole will work with Kuo to destroy the RFI.

Nix

• Voice actor: Nika Futterman

One of New Marais's native citizens, and is against the Militia due to Bertrand killing her family. She is described to be uncaring and cold, often preferring more destructive methods. She represents the evil side of Cole MacGrath's Karma and is a Conduit of oil/napalm and fire, able to manipulate the two elements to her will. She can be considered the opposite of Lucy Kuo. At the end Cole is given two choices for the ending: good and bad. If Cole chooses the evil ending at the end of the game, Nix steals the device so it can still be used. Cole then must hunt her down and kill Nix, her last words being if everyone is special then no one is. If he chooses the good ending, then, despite a subtle uproar among the team, Cole will decide to go through with the plan regarding the RFI, and asked Zeke if he could help fix it, right after he nearly smashed the device. After a failed attempt to steal the device, Kuo leaves the roof. After this, Nix listened to Zeke's plan for the Beast's advent. Nix sacrifices herself to delay the beast from reaching Cole so he can use the Ray Field

John White/The Beast

• Voice actor: Phil LaMarr

An undercover agent working for the National Security Agency, and was given the assignment to investigate the First Sons, along with Lucy Kuo and their inside associate, Sebastian Wolfe. Though, he was nearly successful in his time undercover, he was ripped apart and pulled into a vortex during a freak accident with one of the First Sons' inventions, namely the Ray Sphere. After some time, his sub-consciousness awoke, and was reborn as "The Beast", a Conduit with immense power, and becomes Infamous 2's primary antagonist. And according to the vision shown to Cole by Kessler at his moment of death, "The Beast" was responsible for the destruction of his timeline.

Kessler

• Voice actor: Sam A. Mowry

An alias used by Cole MacGrath when he returned to his past to save his former self from a desolate future. Usurping control of the mentalist faction known as the First Sons, Kessler would later use its assets to accelerate the chain of events that lead to his conception. Possessing double the power of his past self, Kessler was a very powerful Conduit, capable of manipulating electricity and several other abilities. Kessler is the primary antagonist in Infamous. A Kessler skin is available as downloadable content in Infamous 2.

Delsin Rowe

• Voice actor: Troy Baker (voice and motion/facial capture)

The main protagonist of Infamous Second Son. Similar to the original Infamous, Delsin starts-off as a regular 24-year-old human until a life-changing event happens. Having saved a bio-terrorist prisoner from a crashed armored transport, he gains his abilities by accidentally absorbing the powers of the prisoner. Since the DUP's main aim is to prevent events similar to the catastrophic rampage of the Beast from happening again, Delsin is one of their targets. However, he is willing to put up a fight.

Delsin is considered an extremely powerful Conduit, since he can absorb the powers of other Conduits. His arsenal of abilities begins with smoke, then expands to neon, video (virtual reality), and concrete. He picked up a chain that works like Cole's amp did in Infamous 2. Delsin is confident and believed he was destined for greatness, although that eluded him until he gained his powers.

Abigail "Fetch" Walker

• Voice actor: Laura Bailey

A side character in Infamous Second Son and the main protagonist of Infamous First Light. Fetch is a Conduit with a control over neon. A headstrong, independent girl, she first met Delsin when he tracked her down to a warehouse. She's traveled, fought, and in the end, helped defeat Brooke Augustine with him. She escaped Curdun Cay with Hank and Eugene on the day of the transport.

Fetch is a strong conduit, and the original user of the Neon power. She uses a series of long-range neon blasts and neon-charged punches and kicks to defeat her enemies. On a side note, she can focus her energy to leave a neon imprint on any surface, enabling the creation of Neon Graffiti.

References

External links

• Official website