Today is the tenth anniversary of inFAMOUS, the first game in the franchise making its debut on May 26th, 2009. To celebrate such an auspicious occasion, Sucker Punch decided to tweet out an informative thread on the history of the original title. The results are bursting with development facts and videos.
- Originally the game was to be called True Hero, although Sucker Punch had many other names.
- You could change between superhero and civilian clothes
- You could customize buildings to revamp neighborhoods and make civilians happy
- The protagonist was originally called Gearwolf
- Characters spoke in a gibberish language and NPCs emoted
- Light customization features, such as hairstyles and costumes, were to be included
- The hero could use telekinetic powers to bring throwable objects to him, which he could then wield as weapons
- There was going to be vehicle tricks such as motorcycle parkour
- The dev team experimented with an ability to “skate” using an invisible energy shield
- As a bonus, Zeke’s voice is still used as the Sucker Punch outgoing voicemail
It’s always so fascinating seeing a game’s early development process and what features were introduced, then subsequently tossed as the developmental process moves on. It’s interesting to note how inFAMOUS was originally meant to be a straightforward heroic game, before the dev team decided to create the more morally ambiguous Karma system.
Although I can’t help but feel cheated that we never got our awesome motorcycle parkour — it definitely would have added to the narrative in my opinion. I would highly suggest checking out the full Twitter thread posted below, so you can see all the neat assets for yourself.
1) The original working title for inFAMOUS was True Hero. We tried out many titles, and even at the E3 2007 reveal we were awaiting legal clearance for “inFAMOUS.” We had a backup trailer ready with an alternate title just in case, but luckily inFAMOUS was approved in time. pic.twitter.com/mqTHhh2jo3
— Sucker Punch (@SuckerPunchProd) May 26, 2019
3) Early on, the pitch included super-heroic actions like customizing buildings to give a neighborhood new types of shops to keep citizens happy. pic.twitter.com/8NGG11nGKv
— Sucker Punch (@SuckerPunchProd) May 26, 2019
5) Characters once spoke in a gibberish language and interactions included emotes instead of full dialogue. pic.twitter.com/4zFeBri5jY
— Sucker Punch (@SuckerPunchProd) May 26, 2019
7) During development, the hero could use telekinetic powers to draw “throwable” metal objects like license plates, hubcaps, stop signs and bicycle sprockets into his hands to use them as weapons. pic.twitter.com/nyEbORvAEY
— Sucker Punch (@SuckerPunchProd) May 26, 2019
9) We also experimented with the ability to “skate” through the city using an invisible energy field. pic.twitter.com/ukHNWF3gkv
— Sucker Punch (@SuckerPunchProd) May 26, 2019
10) To this day, Zeke’s voice is still Sucker Punch’s outgoing voicemail message. pic.twitter.com/r4xPIMNY8d
— Sucker Punch (@SuckerPunchProd) May 26, 2019
Sucker Punch’s current project is a PS4 exclusive title called Ghost of Tsushima, which was revealed during Sony’s Paris Games Week press conference and received more information during Sony’s 2018 E3 conference. There’s tons of rich historic detail behind the title and Sucker Punch is even working with real Kenjutsu masters to make it as authentic as possible. You can preorder the game here.
The post inFAMOUS Turns 10 Years Old, Sucker Punch Celebrates With Early Development Facts and Videos by Allisa James appeared first on DualShockers.