Infamous Dev Sucker Punch: Gamers 'Want A Vacation' Out Of Games

Author: by Staff

Nate Fox, game director of Infamous 2, explains in a new Gamasutra feature interview that the setting of the game changed to a New Orleans-like city because gamers want to be transported. "Going to New Marais was great, because it allowed us to open the doors and make this really vibrant, diverse city that feels real," says Fox, of the city where Infamous 2 is set. The first game was in a typical grey, gritty, urban environment. "We're drawing from all the best kind of architectural styles and stuff, right? And all of the foliage and decorations of these towns, it's just a more interesting place to be than kind of a dirty, very standard urban place. And I love Infamous 1, I really do. But I love New Marais a lot more," Fox says. "Not everything has to be brown and grey. Something that has bugged me a lot about the last several years of games is that people feel like everything has to be so gritty and real. That's not exciting to me. I want things to be vibrant and interesting." Fox looks to Ubisoft's work in the open world genre as an example of the way things should go. "Did you play Assassin's Creed II? At one point you get to go to Venice, right? It kind of feels like you're going on vacation in Venice. They made this beautiful recreation of the city and it transports you, and that's exactly what we try and do. "When you turn on video games, man, you kind of want to go on vacation," he says. The full interview, which goes into depth on the differences between the two Infamous games -- and the reasons behind those differences -- is live now on Gamasutra. Infamous 2 releases this week.