The Hidden Blade Assassin's Creed in Depth

I haven't been here in a while, but I got a PS3, so I've been beating the inFamous series and Shadow of the Colossus to death. But I also remembered that PSN has downloadable games, so I went and downloaded a game that I'd heard about a while back: I Am Alive. Originally, it had been set in the aftermath of a 10.3 earthquake on Chicago. The game would portray how the city and civilization fell into anarchy and disrepair. Water and food would become as valuable as gold and people would betray and kill one another to get them. The story would center around a white-collar office worker attempting to find his girlfriend.

I Am Alive went through some changes during development, which led to it being centered around a nameless protagonist searching for his wife and daughter a year after "The Event." Not much is known about The Event other than its effects: Floods, earthquakes and toxic dust storms. The protagonist had been on a trip at the time of The Event and spent a year making his way across the country to get back to Haventon, his home town. Gameplay heavily focuses on resource management, and a stamina system. When climbing (a huge part of gameplay), running or fighting, stamina is used up. When your stamina runs out, you can put in an "extra effort" and drain your stamina meter, which lowers the amount of stamina you'll have when it recharges. You can only recover your stamina meter by using resources, which are really rare in the game.

It's a great game with great atmospheres and plot, bookended with decent graphics and gameplay. I highly recommend it.