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| example of Bad Karma |
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| This is an example of good karma |
infamous is an open world game where the player is thrown into the role of Cole MacGrath. the back ground on Cole is not very detailed but the game does give you information that builds the character. Cole is a bike messenger in Empire City (fictional city though does bare some resemblance to Chicago and New York City morphed together). Game starts with Cole delivering a package to an unknown person, where e then recieves a phone call from someone name Kessler who instructs Cole to open the package. COle opens the package and pulls out a device known as the ray-sphere. COle closes the sphere causing an explosion and imbueing himself with new electrical powers.
Karma System
All of Cole's karma is solely based on how he uses his powers through out empire city. Good actions such as helping injured citzens or using Cole's powers to live capture enemies grants you good karma. Evil actions such as draining an enemies life force or using Cole's powers to kill civilians grants you bad karma. Also as you progress through the story there will be points where it requires the player to make a choice one way or the other that grants the respect good or bad karma. The end of Infamous is based on the Cole's karma level at the end. If it was good then Empire City praises Cole as a hero and rebuilds. However, if Cole's karma is bad Empire City falls into chaos.
Karma levels:
Good
- Guardian
- Champion
- Hero
- Thug
- Outlaw
- Infamous (which is also the game title)
- Infamous (video game). Wikipedia. Retrieved October 10, 2011. from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infamous_(video_game)
- Bad Karma Picture from http://i2.ytimg.com/vi/yIrxfaahPto/0.jpg
- Good Karma picture from http://www.cheatcc.com/imagesps3/infamous_000c.jpg
Ah, Infamous: Sucker Punch's best intellectual property for the Playstation 3. I've probably poured more hours into this game than I care to admit.
ReplyDeleteWhat I would like to point that I believe you missed in your argument are the karma-specific side-quests. At certain points of the game, good or evil side-quests open up, making Cole decide between 'escorting the bad guys to the police station' or 'freeing the bad guys and wreaking havoc.' Completing these side quests as a hero adds positive karma and locks the negative option out of play, and vice versa.
Also, do you feel the game was meant to be played as a hero or as a villain? The title suggests the darker side, but in my opinion the game was more meaningful when played as a hero.
I did enjoy your discussion, and look forward to other systems. May I suggest the Mass Effect series by Bioware? Wonderful system that doesn't change the main character's main goals.