Video Game Tuesday: InFAMOUS Second Son [Spoilers for InFAMOUS 2]

 

For this week I wanted to review the first next-gen title I’ve played so far, InFAMOUS Second Son. Spoilers for InFAMOUS 2 directly after the jump.

Plot Synopsis:  Second Son takes place in 2013, seven years after the events in New Marais, and the death of hero Conduit, Cole MacGrath. In the events after Cole’s death, the Department of Unified Protection is formed to hunt down and capture the remaining Conduits, now dubbed “Bio-terrorists,” by any means necessary.

Delsin Rowe is an Akomish Native American living in Washington, who is also a graffiti artist as well as his tribe’s local delinquent. His brother, Reggie, is the local sheriff and often ends up having to arrest Delsin multiple times due to his acts of vandalism.

 

Plot: I played through the Good side of the story, as of this writing I haven’t gotten farther than reaching Seattle in my Evil playthrough. That said I have thoroughly enjoyed playing through as Good, and the way the story played out was satisfying to me.

Gameplay: Of the four powers you get in the game I enjoyed using Neon the most, with Smoke being my second favorite and Power X (The third one) and Power Y (the fourth one) being third and fourth respectively. Power Y comes in very very late into the game and seems like it was an afterthought, I wish they had given us another power like Paper or Steam instead of giving us Power Y. I enjoyed the mobility of Neon and it’s precision much more than any other ones, although Power X has better mobility it can’t be upgraded to dash forever.  Power X was an interesting power but like Power Y I wish it was something like Paper or Steam or even Glass. Smoke was good for gaining Karma quickly for Karma bombs, which when used as Neon is super overpowered and a little game breaking on Normal difficulty. The way the touchpad on the PS4 controller is used is intriguing and well done in my opinion as it’s not very gimmicky and isn’t awkward to use in heated combat.  The use of the Six Axis motion controls however was awkward until I realized that I was holding it wrong when Spray Painting, afterwards it became less frustrating to use.

Combat: Well done and while it can get repetitive the differences between playing as Good and Evil is nice, Good favors precision over Speed, whereas Evil has you chaining kills together quickly to build up your Karma bombs. Good Karma bomb progress will reset after doing something evil, such as shooting someone in the head instead of their legs to disable them with Neon. Evil just requires you to kill quickly without much time in between kills.

Art: The real power of a next gen game comes into play here and in the music, this game looks and feels amazing. As a Pacific Northwesterner I felt right at home in the streets of Seattle, which were often damp from a recent rain and boy did I enjoy running around Seattle as Delsin. Everything is gorgeously rendered and the only gripe I had is that certain missions, which have you trying to find an undercover DUP officer were the most annoying thing I did, since it seemed like I passed 4 people who looked just like him.

Music: The music and sounds of this game were amazing, from the soundtrack to the sound of you draining a power fading from your TV to your controller as if you are really draining it yourself. It all immersed you into the game and made the game much better for it.

Characters: Delsin as a hero was interesting to play as and it was nice to see him grow up over the course of the game. I haven’t played enough of the Evil side of the story to see the differences, but I really enjoyed Delsin’s interactions with the other characters as Good.

Overall: If you want a true next-gen game play this game and enjoy it thoroughly.

For those who like: Sandbox games, Superheros (or Villains if you choose to be one), Pretty standard plotlines.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above, or a game that takes you 35+ hours, I finished everything in a Good playthrough except the Paper Trail stuff in less than 16 hours.