Updated June 2026 · data via IGDB
Infamous (2009) earns its following by nailing a specific fantasy: an ordinary person thrust into extraordinary circumstances, handed escalating superpowers, and dropped into a living open city to decide what kind of hero — or monster — to become. The third-person traversal, the electricity-powered combat that rewards chaining abilities together, and the binary karma system that actually reshapes cutscenes and upgrades make it feel personal in a way generic open-world games don't.
When players look for games like Infamous, they're usually chasing one or more of its three pillars: a superhero power set that grows over time, a dense urban open world built for vertical traversal, and some form of moral choice that makes the playthrough feel authored. The best recommendations here hit at least two of those pillars; the closest hits all three.
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95%The direct sequel keeps Cole McGrath's electricity-powered open-world formula intact, adding new powers and a larger city to traverse. The moral choice system returns with branching karma paths that reshape the story's ending.
95%Prototype is the closest analog to Infamous ever made: open-world Manhattan, a protagonist who wakes up with terrifying shapeshifting powers after a viral catastrophe, and a karma-adjacent web of moral decisions about how to use them. Released the same month as Infamous in 2009.
90%Marvel's Spider-Man puts you in an open urban map with superhero traversal — web-swinging stands in for Cole's electrical gliding — and a third-person combat system built around abilities and gadgets. Like Infamous, the city itself is the playground.
87%Batman: Arkham City is an open urban sandbox where you play a superhero with a traversal toolkit — grappling and gliding replace electricity — and a rich combat system built around unlockable gadgets and abilities. The tone is similarly gritty and the world dense with side content.
85%Arkham Knight expands the Arkham formula to a massive open-world Gotham with the same superhero traversal and gadget-driven combat Infamous fans appreciate. Powers feel similarly kinetic and visually spectacular.
83%Control gives you a protagonist who discovers supernatural telekinetic and levitation powers in a brutalist government building, fighting through a world unraveling around her. The third-person power fantasy loop — throw objects, float, blast enemies — mirrors Infamous's kinetic feel closely.
80%Arkham Asylum is semi-open with a superhero moveset and a stealth-plus-brawl combat system. Like Infamous, you are a powered individual in a deteriorating urban environment uncovering a conspiracy.
78%Saints Row IV gives the entire open world a superpowers overhaul: you sprint at super-speed, leap over buildings, and blast enemies with telekinesis in a full open-world city. It is the most chaotic take on the Infamous power fantasy.
77%Arkham Origins brings the same open-city Arkham formula to a snowy Gotham with the same traversal and gadget-combat loop. Younger Batman means a character still discovering his limits, echoing Cole's arc.
75%Dishonored hands you a suite of supernatural powers — teleportation, time-stop, possession — in a crumbling city and asks whether you use them lethally or not. The moral choice system and power-set progression echo Infamous's karma mechanics directly.
72%Shadow of Mordor puts you in an open world where you gradually accumulate supernatural powers and combat abilities, using them against a hierarchical enemy faction. The power progression and open traversal rhyme with Infamous's arc from ordinary to extraordinary.
72%Crackdown hands you a super-agent in an open city and has you grow stronger by collecting glowing orbs scattered across rooftops, rewarding exploration with escalating strength, agility, and firepower. The loop of becoming gradually superhuman mirrors Infamous closely.
70%💎 GemThe Darkness puts you in the shoes of a mob hitman who acquires demonic tentacle powers, letting you tear through enemies in dark urban corridors. The tone is gritty and cinematic, and the supernatural power set scratches a similar itch to Cole's electricity.
67%Assassin's Creed II shares Infamous's open Renaissance city sandbox and fluid vertical traversal — parkour replaces electricity-powered climbing. Both games task you with moving through a detailed cityscape while uncovering a larger conspiracy.
60%Days Gone is a third-person open-world action game in a post-apocalyptic Pacific Northwest where you upgrade skills and fight large enemy groups. The single-player open-world loop and gradual ability unlock parallel Infamous at a structural level.
58%GTA V is the gold standard open-world urban sandbox — like Infamous it gives you a dense city to traverse freely and a third-person action framework. The DLC even adds superpowers (Gunrunning, Rockstar story missions).
57%Cyberpunk 2077 is a dense urban open world where V acquires cybernetic abilities that function like powers — hacking, sandevistan slow-mo, mantis blades — echoing the fantasy of an ordinary person becoming extraordinary.
| Game | Match | Shared DNA | Biggest difference | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infamous 2 | 95% | Adventure, Action | Higher stakes story with a new city and two possible power sets. | PlayStation |
| Prototype | 95% | — | More visceral, gory power fantasy; less nuanced moral system. | PC |
| Marvel's Spider-Man | 90% | Adventure, Action | No moral choice system; story is fixed as a hero narrative. | PlayStation |
| Batman: Arkham City | 87% | Adventure, Action | Combat is melee-focused brawling rather than ranged powers. | PlayStation, PC, Xbox, Nintendo |
| Batman: Arkham Knight | 85% | Adventure, Action | Adds a divisive Batmobile that dominates many missions. | PlayStation, PC, Xbox, Nintendo |
| Control | 83% | Shooter, Adventure | Contained setting rather than an open city; more Metroidvania in structure. | Xbox, PlayStation, PC |
| Batman: Arkham Asylum | 80% | Adventure, Action | More linear, contained map versus a full open city. | PlayStation, PC, Xbox, Nintendo |
| Saints Row IV | 78% | Shooter, Adventure | Absurdist comedy tone; much less serious than Infamous. | PlayStation, PC, Xbox |
| Batman: Arkham Origins | 77% | Adventure, Action | Lower production polish; side content thinner than Arkham City. | PlayStation, PC, Nintendo, Xbox |
| Dishonored | 75% | Adventure, Action | Semi-open hub levels rather than a continuous open world; first-person. | PlayStation, PC, Xbox |
| Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor | 72% | Adventure, Action | Fantasy setting; Nemesis system is the core hook, not moral choice. | PlayStation, PC, Xbox |
| Crackdown | 72% | Shooter, Adventure | Older, rougher game; progression tied to collectibles rather than narrative choices. | Xbox |
| The Darkness | 70% | Shooter, Action | Linear levels, not open world; horror-adjacent tone. | PlayStation, Xbox |
| Assassin's Creed II | 67% | Platform, Adventure | No superpowers; stealth-assassin design instead of action-shooter combat. | PlayStation, PC, Xbox |
| Days Gone | 60% | Shooter, Adventure | Survival horror with a motorcycle, not a superhero with powers. | PlayStation, PC |
The Infamous formula rests on three interlocking elements: an open urban world designed for vertical movement, a protagonist whose power set expands as you play, and a moral axis that changes the experience. Marvel's Spider-Man and the Batman: Arkham series (particularly Arkham City and Arkham Knight) nail the first two — both give you a superhero moveset, a dense city to glide across, and a combat system that rewards mastering your abilities. Control captures the third-person powers fantasy in a tighter, stranger space if you want something more surreal.
For the moral choice element specifically, Dishonored is the best alternative: its lethal/non-lethal power usage meaningfully branches the world around you in ways that closely mirror Infamous's good/evil karma paths, even if it wraps that system in first-person stealth rather than open-world action.
Released the same week as Infamous in June 2009, Prototype (not in this pool but listed in our additional picks) is the closest game ever made to Infamous's formula: Alex Mercer wakes up in quarantined Manhattan with shapeshifting powers after a viral catastrophe, and you spend the game deciding how brutally to wield them against both military forces and infected. Where Infamous is slick and morally earnest, Prototype is messier and more gleefully violent — but the core open-world superpowers loop is virtually identical.
If you've already played Prototype, Control and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor from the candidate pool are the hidden-depth picks: Control for its telekinetic TPS action in a supernatural setting, and Shadow of Mordor for its satisfying open-world power progression and domination fantasy, even if both stray from the urban superhero aesthetic.
Not every Infamous fan is there purely for Cole's electricity — some love the dense, mission-rich open city and the sense of being a one-man force of consequence in a crumbling urban environment. For those players, Grand Theft Auto V remains the benchmark open-world sandbox, offering a vast, reactive Los Angeles analogue with strong mission writing and enormous freedom. Cyberpunk 2077, meanwhile, provides the closest thematic echo — an ordinary person becoming extraordinary overnight in a dense neon city — even if its RPG and first-person structure diverge from Infamous's third-person action platforming.
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