Sucker Punch invited us to step in the world of their new game inFAMOUS—and that we did. In the ever so trendy Capital Hill, we entered a venue full of TVs with playable demos, food and drinks. For a couple of minutes I was captivated by the concept art displayed on the walls, but then was reminded that there was work to be done. After some chatter, it was time to introduce the main attraction.

So what is inFAMOUS? inFAMOUS is an exclusive title for the PLAYSTATION 3 due out May 26th. The game follows Cole McGrath, a man affected by the massive explosion that left Empire City in complete devastation. Cole not only survived the catastrophe, but now has developed electricity-based powers that allow him to use electricity to his advantage. He can suck up energy from street lights or vehicles and even shoot bolts of lighting from his hands. How he uses that power, however, is up to you. But with great power, comes great responsibility. All of the actions your character takes have an impact on Empire City. You can either help restore the city or keep it in a state of chaos. Helping innocent people will increase your good karma, where as killing them or using their energy for power will increase your evil karma.

Sure, because some of its elements (including its open-world nature) it makes the comparison to Crackdown is pretty much unavoidable, but inFAMOUS is a whole lot darker, grittier and realistic. If I was able to climb buildings, hover in the air or heal innocent people—this is what it would be like. To test this, I was committed to get some 1-on-1 time with Cole in Empire City. Set up around the venue, where various stations with different stages of the game. You could play as evil or good, finish a boss fight or just wonder around the city. Of course, as awesome as I am, I said bring it on to the boss battle stage—Oh and I so brought it. After bolting down enemies, retracting energy from vehicles and hovering around this broken down bridge stage, I finally got to the boss. The boss battle required lots of cover, running around destroying cars he’s tossing at you and recharging your electricity with near by lights. Controls made is a pretty simple task as they seem to be natural. Just aim your target and bolt it down. Aiming is just what you can expect from a shooter—minus the guns. After bringing down the boss, it was time to continue on with the story.

inFAMOUS is a very comic book influenced game and it’s made obvious in its cutscenes. In a heavy dark, animated, comic book style, they develop their story and drop you right back into the game. As you can expect from a triple AAA title, the graphics are top-notch. The same goes for the physics of the game and how your character interacts with his environments. Small details like swinging of arms and shifting body to the direction you point it, give the game a deeper level of believability.

inFAMOUS was a lot of fun to play and I’m definitely looking forward to playing this again when it drops May 26th. Need more reason? inFAMOUS will be bundled in with a beta code to the multiplayer of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. DirtyDiva was nice enough to attend with me and take pictures of the event. Check them out here.