Sucker Punch

It will be inFamous... for beating Prototype to shelves

HIGH Knocking waves of enemies for a loop with giant shock blasts.

LOW The story and characters are the weakest the studio's ever turned out.

WTF Some of the goofy, unnatural climbing animations.

We're back! With Brad's and Tim's new sons safely extracted, the team reunites to discuss all the games they've been playing during the break: InFamous, Broken Steel, UFC Undisputed, Dead Space, Trino, CaveIn, Mithra and the Project Trico teaser. With Chi Kong "North/South" Lui, Brad Gallaway, Mike Bracken, and Tim Spaeth.

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Topic and Game References:

• Project Trico Trailer
• InFamous
• Prototype
• Crackdown
• Fallout 3: Broken Steel DLC
• UFC 2009: Undisputed
• Dead Space
• XBL Community Games: Trino
• XBL Community Games: CaveIn
• XBL Community Games: Mithra

Please send feedback and mailbag questions to podcast (at) gamecritics (dot) com.

So, I told myself I wasn't going to plunk the money down after playing the InFamous demo on the PlayStation Network, but I did. It's just that I've been playing so many RPGs lately that I was starting to burn out of gaming altogether, and I definitely needed something action-oriented to get the juices flowing again. I was weak, I admit it.

Sly has evolved from his platforming roots. There are still plenty of props to smash which bestow the destruction-minded gamer with coins to collect, but it hardly seems worthwhile when careful pickpocketing is more viable. The various thief moves make a return (including my favorite, Paraglider) and navigating the levels as Sly is as joyous as ever.

According to the ESRB, this game contains: Violence, Comic Mischief

Game Description: In Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves you'll become a master thief and a master of disguise, as you preapre for an impossible robbery. Sly may be the best thief around, but even he can't pull this one off alone. Recruit five returning as well as new members of the thieving gang to take down the maniacal Dr. M. With the pursuant Carmelita Fox and the mad professor on his tail, Sly learns of his family's thieving heritage and the one great secret his father kept from him for years. It'll take all of his team's abilities to take on this last great heist!

Sly and the gang must trot the globe to hunt down the anthropomorphic mafia. Each combination of location and villain is an "episode." The development team stated that their goal was to realize places they'd like to visit. They did an excellent job of capturing international flavor while making levels that were great fun to navigate. The game started in Paris, where the Eiffel Tower in the distance pointed at the moon and jazzy background music inspired my sneaky efforts.

According to the ESRB, this game contains: Cartoon Violence

Game Description: Sly 2: Band of Thieves is a comic crime caper that continues the story of Sly Cooper, master thief and hero! Sly's worst enemy, the powerful robot called Clockwerk, was shut down permanently, but its parts have gone missing. To make sure Clockwerk never turns up again, he and his partners in crime will go around the world to pull off a series of daring heists.