Infamous : Second Son (PS4)
A few years after the PS3 launched, Sony gamers were introduced to Cole McGrath and the first Infamous title. A couple years later it was followed up with a sequel that continued Cole's story. Now, on the PS4, the franchise continues...but without Cole. In a series that was already amazing, can changing the face of that game be what destroys it? Or will it do as Sucker Punch intended and pass on the torch while breathing new life in a new direction?
Infamous Second Son
Developed By : Sucker Punch Studios
The game does a swift job of introducing you to the world, the conflict, and Delsin's powers. Seattle is wide open for your exploration right off the bat, but the heavy DUP force will make it tough to get around until you master what you can do. The city is broken up into a number of districts, which don't need to be cleared, but if they are it makes life a lot easier.
I thoroughly enjoyed every moment I spent in Infamous : Second Son. The game as a whole just looks extremely beautiful. The city is breath-taking, the character models are all crisp and clean. I hardly ran into any issues while playing. In fact, the few issues I did run into were focused in the platforming area, and it was really chalked up to how well the edges of the buildings were done up. While scaling the side of a building, some of the rooftop edges would jut out a bit, and it took some tricky working to get around it and on top.
A Little Bit of Extra
Yup! A new section. This won't be with every review but if I include it, it's a way to share some fun stuff about the game that isn't so easy to include in the main review itself.
- While there are some references to the earlier games and their stories, Second Son doesn't continue off of them, and is absolutely playable without experiencing the first two games.
- One of the conduits Delsin meets has their own spin-off game that is available as a download only title on Playstation 4.
- A lot of the specific locations featured in the game are actual locations in Seattle. One of my best friends lives out there and I learned through a few texts that some of the places you can visit in the game can be visited in real life too!
- Sucker Punch Studios, the dev team behind Infamous also helmed the Sly Cooper series. There are numerous easter eggs strewn about the city that are heavy references to both these franchises. Cole McGrath's name can be found on a few small business, such as an electronics store, and you can even find Sly's name and logo around the city as well.
Infamous Second Son
Playstation 4
Developed By : Sucker Punch Studios
Published By : Sony Interactive Entertainment
Released : March 21, 2014
Story
Second Son focuses on a brand new face to the world of Infamous, Delsin Rowe. His older brother, Reggie, catches him in the act of vandalizing a building side and is on the way to bringing him in when a bus crashes in front of them. The bus was carrying Conduit prisoners, two of which escape, but Reggie and Delsin are able to save the third one. While pulling him out, Delsin manages to absorb the mans Conduit abilities. So when the man runs, naturally Delsin follows him to try and figure out what's going on.
This leads to a confrontation on a small Native American reservation outside the city of Seattle, with Brooke Augustine. She's in search of the escaped conduits from the bus Here, you can choose one of two options : either reveal what you know (albeit little) about your powers and the Conduits, or keep the information for yourself. Either way, Delsin is knocked unconscious and wakes up a week later. Augustine has used her ability to manipulate concrete, to inject members of the reservation causing them to die slowly. Delsin realizes he can absorb Conduit powers, and vows to confront Augustine, absorb her ability and save those on the reservation.
Gameplay
If you've played either of the first two games, you pretty much know how this one works. But, there are some new fancy things to come along for the ride with the new hardware. One thing I would like to first point out, though, is that the game does once again make use of a karma central system. On my playthrough, I decided to go the route of good karma, so everything from here to the end of this review will reflect that.
The game does a swift job of introducing you to the world, the conflict, and Delsin's powers. Seattle is wide open for your exploration right off the bat, but the heavy DUP force will make it tough to get around until you master what you can do. The city is broken up into a number of districts, which don't need to be cleared, but if they are it makes life a lot easier.
Within these districts, you'll find a number of side missions to keep you occupied outside of the main story. The biggest one of these is a mobile command center for the DUP which can prove to be the biggest hurdle in your run. There's hidden cameras to locate and destroy, drones to shoot down, secret agents to hunt, and a number of other things.
The most unique side missions, however, are the tagging ones. As you learn in the beginning of the game, Delsin likes to vandalize the sides of buildings with his art. You can do this throughout the game, and each "canvas" presents you with a good or bad karma option to adapt to how you're playing the game. What makes these so fun is how you do it, by actually mimicking spray painting with the controller. You'll need to turn it on it's side, shake it (to mix up the paint) and spray with one of the triggers, using the motion sensor tracking inside the controller to complete your project.
A lot of the side missions can reward you with Shards. These are absolutely key if you wish to expand Delsin's abilities. You'll have access to a handful of skill trees, and these shards can help you either learn completely new moves, or make your current ones faster and stronger. You'll gain additional powers other than the smoke ones, and they all have the same basic move set : you can throw grenades, shoot bullet-like shots, a strong missile-like attack, all of which can be improved through the use of shards.
The story itself carries you all over the city. You'll witness firsthand the DUP's mission and choose which side of it you stand on. The escaped conduits are running rampant through the city, who you'll get to meet and learn your additional powers from. You'll come across numerous enemies who are hell bent on stopping you, from your basic ground-pounding military men to ability-wielding baddies that will test your limits.
Impressions
I thoroughly enjoyed every moment I spent in Infamous : Second Son. The game as a whole just looks extremely beautiful. The city is breath-taking, the character models are all crisp and clean. I hardly ran into any issues while playing. In fact, the few issues I did run into were focused in the platforming area, and it was really chalked up to how well the edges of the buildings were done up. While scaling the side of a building, some of the rooftop edges would jut out a bit, and it took some tricky working to get around it and on top.
Combat is a lot of fun, but it does take some getting used to. Regardless of which power you have equipped (you can only have one at a time and it's a matter of which power source you drain from), you'll have a bar of energy that depletes as you use anything that relies on projectiles. Delsin carries some melee abilities as well, but I found these to be sluggish and unappealing, and instead relied on attacking from a distance when fighting larger and stronger groups.
Overall
Despite introducing a new character, a new city, new powers, and some new gameplay features, Infamous : Second Son doesn't feel a whole lot different from the Cole games. That being said, it is still a lot of fun. If you're focusing on just the story, you won't be spending a lot of time in this game cuz it can go pretty fast. You can expand your gameplay with the side missions and collectibles, but unless you're OCD and need to have all these done, they're going to get stale and repetitive real fast. These are more than worth grinding out though to help out Delsin's powers.
The novelty of all the new stuff wears off after a couple of hours of playing, and it ends up feeling like just another Infamous title, but it still manages to be a great addition to the series. Just like its predecessors, this game is exclusive to Sony and only available on the Playstation 4. If you own the console and have played the previous titles then this is more than worth checking out. If you're on the outside looking in for an exclusive as a reason to purchase a Playstation 4, don't weigh your decision on this title though. It's fun in the moments while you're playing, but it may not leave the longest of impressions after you're done.
Rating : 7.5/10
A Little Bit of Extra
Yup! A new section. This won't be with every review but if I include it, it's a way to share some fun stuff about the game that isn't so easy to include in the main review itself.
- While there are some references to the earlier games and their stories, Second Son doesn't continue off of them, and is absolutely playable without experiencing the first two games.
- One of the conduits Delsin meets has their own spin-off game that is available as a download only title on Playstation 4.
- A lot of the specific locations featured in the game are actual locations in Seattle. One of my best friends lives out there and I learned through a few texts that some of the places you can visit in the game can be visited in real life too!
- Sucker Punch Studios, the dev team behind Infamous also helmed the Sly Cooper series. There are numerous easter eggs strewn about the city that are heavy references to both these franchises. Cole McGrath's name can be found on a few small business, such as an electronics store, and you can even find Sly's name and logo around the city as well.
