Character Arc - inFamous

Cole McGrath is the protagonist of inFamous, pictured left. I've only just played through the game; courtesy of my roommate lending me his PS3 and game. During my play through I found that Cole goes through one of the most interesting character arcs I've seen in a video game.

Cole's character is pretty straightforward. The everyman with a great event thrown in his lap that pushes him into the extraordinary. Basic comic book structure, which isn't to say it's bad but standard for this kind of thing. What was interesting to me was that in the early game Cole is very vulnerable. For a guy who can shoot lightning he can't take much punishment.

After a few hours though I started acquiring new powers and increased my health. This led to Cole being somewhat more versatile but I still relied heavily on the cover based shooting system. It isn't until much later in the game that Cole gets his defensive powers. What struck me as interesting is that the more creative powers appearing later in the game characterized Cole.

This isn't unusual in video games. The more fun and effective powers being held off till later makes for a better difficulty curve. There's just something about the way the upgrades were implemented in conjunction with Cole's low starting health.

Low health at the beginning meant that enemy attacks were always something to be feared. The player has to be careful with their fledgling hero. This seemed to reinforce the fact that Cole was inexperienced and that his powers were maturing. As the game progresses Cole gains more power and learns new abilities. Eventually I ended up playing how I originally envisioned: running around heedless of bullets and attacking at will.

The progression was more engaging than my usual game experience because of this. The gameplay corresponded with what was happening in the game world. With this addition to inFamous' already immersive game I could really lose myself to the game for hours at a time. If any of my readers are on the fence about giving one of last year's top games a shot; do it.

I'm Mad, and this is what I've gotten into today.