Preview: inFamous (PS3)

The story revolves around Cole, an every-day guy who sets out to deliver a package in the downtown area of Empire City. Present at the scene of a devastating explosion that rocks the city, he barely manages to survive the event. As riots erupt in the aftermath, the city collapses into chaos and becomes overrun by powerful criminals. Empire City is quarantined from the mainland, and television broadcasts link Cole to the scene of the crime. Cole is now a wanted man, but he's also wielding extraordinary powers as a result of the explosion. These powers are the true reason to get excited for this game.

As Peter Parker knows, with great power comes great responsibility, and with these powers you can either tow the line of justice or try to exact revenge on the people that caused the blast. So it seems Infamous is following what is becoming a mainstay in all open world games by letting you follow your own path. Whether your choices will affect the story and outcome is not quite clear, though we are promised Empire City's inhabitants will react to them. Whatever happens, your super powers look like they'll keep you entertained on their own.

You'll have a wide range of electricity-based powers; one of these quite innovatively lets you tap into a dead person's final moments, so you can find out what happened to them. Hopefully more clever uses like this become available, as opposed to the usual routine of firing lighting bolts out of your hands. And on top of all that, you can scale the cityscape to discover new vantage points and utilise a vertical combat system. Who needs Spider-Man? This does, however, all hinge on how interesting the city is to navigate, but the screenshots released so far do suggest the city is a living, breathing world with plenty of tall buildings to test out your climbing skills.

Infamous, then, has quickly managed to jump onto our radar. It may be a new genre for the developers to try their hands at, but on past form, you'll be silly not to get a little bit excited for what this game holds.

Words by Adam Gulliver