inFamous is the best game I’ve played this year. Now that may be because there haven’t been a ton of great games released this year, or because I don’t play every game released, or because inFamous is awesome. It could be any one of those, but I’m leaning toward the later.

At first glance, inFamous looks nothing more than a basic open world game that has the main character (Cole) shooting lightning bolts from his arm (not his arse, although that should be in the sequel). After about a half hour into the game you start to realize that the game is more than Grand Theft Auto with lightning. From there the game builds on itself exponentially. Cole is given different moves all revolving around electricity, but not once do you feel like Sucker Punch has used the electricity theme to exhaustion. Each move you’re rewarded with feels new and fresh. I never got sick of sticking a lightning grenade to an enemy and watching him run away only to be blown 15 feet across the street into a light pole.

Getting around in inFamous is easy and quick. Climbing throughout the city overshadows the Assassin’s Creed wall climbing mechanic. The time between each climb animation feels much quicker then those in Assassin’s Creed. However, after seeing some videos of Prototype I wish that in later portions of the game I was given some type of wall run so I could quickly run up the side of a building, but maybe I am just jealous. Sliding along telephone wires and train tracks allows Cole to quickly move from one side of the city to another. Thank you Sucker Punch for not making me have to steal a car and drive from one side of Liberty Empire City.

The games moral choices aren’t like that of Fable II. The game basically pauses to ask you if you want to either do something good or something evil. If you do something good, you’re given good karma and vice versa for evil. The moral choices don’t have a ton of impact with the city’s inhabitants but you are granted different moves depending on if you go good or evil. I will say that after completing the game as a good character, I can’t wait to go back and play it as evil to unlock moves such as Arc Lightning. Doesn’t that sound badass? Arc Lightning. Yea, yea it does.

The best thing that inFamous does is that it toys with you. Just when you think the game is getting a bit stale they give you something completely awesome to keep your interest. It’s like a roller coaster ride, only it’s not a roller coaster ride… it’s video game, so maybe that was a bad simile. Shut up, you get the idea. Anyways, the game keeps doing this with you until the very last cut scene and I enjoyed every minute of it. There are a ton of other great things about inFamous, which is why you should go buy it right now. If you buy it, then Sucker Punch will make a sequel, which in turn makes me happy. So if you don’t buy it for you, buy it for me.