Sony has announced a new list of $29.99 PS3 Greatest Hits and it does not disappoint:

• Infamous
• Killzone 2
• Little Big Planet – Game of The Year Edition
• God of War Collection (GOW 1&2 remastered)
• Resident Evil 5
• Dead Space
• Resistance 2
• Soul Calibur 4
• UFC Undisputed 2009

These are all good games and some of them are relatively new. Once again, your ninja-like discipline/unavoidable poverty have saved you from paying $60 for a couple kick-ass titles.

inFAMOUS is a swell game. We scored it an 8.5 in our review, and bestowed it with the Editor’s Choice award for Playstation 3 as well. One reason that inFAMOUS worked well was the story; Marc left the description of the story intentionally vague in his review, so that players could experience it for themselves. Today we sit down with the man who worked on the story for inFAMOUS, Bill Harms.

BLAST: What did you do for inFamous? What was it like working on this game?

BILL HARMS: I wrote all of the dialogue for the game, and also worked with the designers in plotting out some of the story’s finer details. For example, the player originally didn’t meet Kessler until much later in the game, and that was something that we moved up to an earlier point in the game. I also directed all of the voice actors.

Working on inFamous was a blast. Things were pretty crazy from the get-go because the writing was running late when they brought me in, so there were a lot of late nights and weekends. That said, it was important to everyone working on the game that it had a good story, so I got a lot of support.

BLAST: What other games have you worked on in the past?

BH: InFamous is the fifth game that I’ve worked on. The very first was writing the script for Rise & Fall (developed by Stainless Steel Studios and published by Midway), and then I worked at Gas Powered Games for two and half years or so. While there, I basically managed all of the writing for the company and got to work on both of the Supreme Commander games (the original game and its expansion pack), Space Siege, and some early work on Demigod.

BLAST: What were your goals with inFamous? How has it turned out?

BH: The primary goal was to give the player the sensation that they’re a realistic super hero. In the world of inFamous, there are no masks, no secret identities, etc. Cole is just Cole, he’s not “Lightning Man”. The same goes with the villains, they just go by their names. It was a lot of fun exploring that idea in terms if not only how Cole reacts to getting powers, but also how the people around him react. If super heroes were real, I think they’d be miserable “" everyone would want a piece of them.

The critical reception to inFamous has been overwhelmingly positive. (Right now we’re in the mid-80s on Metacritic.) Sony did some great marketing for the game, including running commercials during the NBA playoffs and in movie theaters. It’s certainly the biggest launch I’ve ever been a part of.

BLAST: Tell me about your comic book projects!

BH: Right now I’m writing “Impaler,” an ongoing horror series that’s published by Top Cow. There’s a trade out for the first story arc, and we’re currently half way through the second arc. The art is by ‚ British artist Matt Timson, and “Impaler’s” basic conceit is that Vlad Tepes, the “historical” Dracula is actually a vampire hunter. In fact, as vampires threaten to destroy our world, he’s the only chance we’ve got. “Impaler” was a finalist for the International Horror Guild Award, and the reviews have been great. Even if someone loves horror but doesn’t read comics, they’ll be able to get into Impaler.

I’m also in the early stages of writing a second book for Top Cow, and I also wrote a Wolverine one-shot that came out right before the movie.

Be sure to check out Bill Harms’ other work if you enjoyed inFAMOUS, and if you haven’t tried inFAMOUS yet, then go experience that as well.

It’s fitting that I’m torn about my feelings for inFAMOUS, given the dual-nature of the storyline. While Cole, the protagonist of inFAMOUS, has the choice between actions that represent both good and bad, there were times when I could not get over how good inFAMOUS was, and other times “" albeit fewer of them than good “" where I was shocked at how poorly crafted certain aspects of the game were. What we end up with, to put it succinctly, is a flawed, but very rewarding sandbox superhero game.

Cole is a courier sent to deliver a package that ends up exploding in his hands as he brings it to where it needs to go. The blast blows a crater into one of the three islands of Empire City and knocks out the power over the entirety of the metropolis. Cole discovers that because of the blast, and the object that exploded “" something we later learn is called a Ray Sphere “" he has gained dominion over electricity (and though it isn’t mentioned, electromagnetism as well, based on some of the powers he possesses). These new powers allow him to blast bolts of lightning out of his hands, throw electric grenades, shoot exploding electric rockets, grind rails and wires, and float, among many other electricity-based skills.

The FBI takes notice of Cole’s new-found abilities, and tasks him with recovering the Ray Sphere before it falls into the wrong hands “" since he did cause the explosion, he doesn’t have much of a choice, especially since the alternative is for the entire city to be turned into the military’s personal playground. You are also sent to restore power to the city to make your life easier, as well as improve Empire City’s situation “" each section restored earns you a new power for use in your battle to recover the Ray Sphere.

That’s the story in a nutshell, as I’m not about to divulge spoilers for you in this review, but you do get a say in how the story progresses, to a degree. That’s because you can play as Evil Cole or Heroic Cole, based on your actions. Important NPC’s will treat you differently, depending on which direction you take “" Cole is trying to repair his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Trish, and she is going to have a hard time respecting you if you’re killing innocent people because it makes you giggle. The citizenry will also act differently towards you, depending on your alignment; if you’re good and have helped them, they come to your aid in battle, punching, kicking and chucking rocks at enemies that are focused on you. But if you’ve been a naughty Cole, they’re just as likely to toss those rocks at your face.

The Karma system has its issues, but overall it works. You can’t be neutral in this game and still be powerful, as there are powers specific to good and evil “" the good ones are easily controlled, so that you don’t cause needless destruction, while the bad ones are more likely to level everyone in a city block, regardless of who they are or if they needed to be wiped out. Of more concern to me is the fact that when you get to a certain level of good or evil, you can just make whatever choices you want, because you’ve got enough leeway in your Karma to allow for it. This is helpful in particularly difficult battles when you just want to rattle off a stream of explosive electrical rockets, but makes Cole look like a sellout if you choose an evil path after playing 80% of the story as a champion of the people “" especially since your Karma level is still high enough that people will treat you as they did prior to your most recent decision. It’s not that the system is broken, it’s just that the penalties for going against your alignment should be much more severe, in order to make you work for the side you want to fight for. It doesn’t help either that the incentive to be bad just isn’t there “" the game is more difficult if you play as a good Cole, and most of the moral choices are pretty cut and dry: should I help these people, or should I act like an old-school, stereotypical cartoon villain and do evil things just because? I mean, why else would I have grown this clearly evil facial hair? That’s not to say that all of the moral choices are like this, but as I said, the game does not usually provide you with choices that actually make you sit and think on the decision any longer than it takes you to read the options.

Being famous, well that’s great, but being infamous?‚  That’s a whole different beast-with emphasis on the beast.

The PlayStation 3 exclusive is ambitious to say the least.‚  A man, Cole, is framed for the total destruction of Empire City and as a result of the annihilation is left with residual electrifying super powers he can use to either exact revenge or help innocent citizens.‚  Oh moral decisions, how we love you!

From Sucker Punch Productions the creators of the Sly Cooper series, and published by Sony, inFamous is an dynamic and open world experience that aims to simulate what becoming a “modern-day-hero” feels like.

Interestingly, inFamous presents cutscenes in comic-book style adding a truly unique story telling method imaged below.

Furthermore, the demo will be made available on the PlayStation Network May 21, unless you’ve pre-ordered the title and you’re already playing it. For now, enjoy these new screens.

inFamous hits shelves exclusively for PS3 on May 26.