The first thing that comes to mind when you are playing inFamous is how beautiful the game looks. The ripples in the water, the facial expressions and the amazingly realized city of Seattle. Regradless when you are hanging from the Space Needle or you are standing on top of a skyscraper enjoying the vista, or using your super-powers (there are 4 different types) everything looks amazingly beautiful in inFamous Second Son.
Story
The game is about Delsin Rowe. A conduit (basically a mutant) who can absorb different powers from other conduits (think Rogue from X-Men, only cooler). Without giving anything away, the story involves Delsin coming to Seattle and going up against the D.U.P (Department of Unified Protection) a government funded unit which is supposed to capture and neutralize conduits (think X-men Last Stand). The story is not the strong suit of the game and barely provides a premise for the actual events. It does however provide some really good moments between Delsin and his normal but elder brother Reggie; the patient and collected thoughts of Reggie compliment the impulsive and headstrong outlook of Delsin perfectly. Story board wise, any cut-scene that involved the 2 brothers is worth watching. It doesn’t tie up heavily into the last 2 games either, while this might upset the long term fans of the series, its a perfect starting point for any new fans getting into the series.
(6/10)
Graphics + Sound
As a long term gamer, I really don’t get swayed by visuals as much as other people, quite simply because I have seen amazing games delivered in much lower quality (the 8 Bit days). But if I had to pick a game that looked visually stunning, or had to show my friends how far video games have come, or just simply showcase the power of the PlayStation 4, I would whip out inFamous Second Son in an instant. I am playing Assassin’s Creed Black Flag right now, (that game look amazing too) and it feels like a downgrade. Its the details that get you, the facial expression when Delsin is angry, the ripples in the water when you look out to the sea, the color bleed over the city when there is a sunrise. Its a treat for the eyes. And its not just the visuals, the sounds of Seattle are also well captured, and so is the essence of climbing high buildings. The game often put you into places, where you could feel a bit of vertigo. The sound of the wind howling, Delsin a bit unsteady as he hangs on for dear life, and then the dialogue by Delsin himself, reminding you that even when someone has powers, scaling the Space Needle from the outside is not an easy task.
(10/10)
Gameplay
inFamous Second Son is not just a pretty game though. Sucker Punch has delivered a knockout superhero open world experience. The point to point gameplay is amazing. There is always something happening nearby. You are either fighting DUP agents, saving innocents, collecting shards or shooting out cameras. I really don’t think there is a single spot on that map, where you don’t have anything to do in your immediate visible area. The only bone, if I had to pick one was the fact that playing the bad guy was just too much fun as when I was trying to play a by the book whiter than white superhero.
The game itself is not so difficult as is the case with most adventure games and the expert mode can easily be beaten if you focus on your power ups. Yet, whenever you will finish a mission or destroy a D.U.P. mobile center (play the game to find out what that is) you would feel a sense of achievement. Its because none of the powers, make you feel too overpowered. You can almost fly, and yet you would find yourself climbing buildings. You can bring angels and demons down from the sky, and yet you would sometimes have to retreat. What your enemies lack in awesome super-powers they make up for in sheer numbers. The game never gives you too much power, and yet whatever you have is awesome enough to keep things interesting.
There are 4 super-powers to enjoy, each one feeling like an upgrade to the earlier one as and when you get them, and yet you would find switching between powers (more out of fun than necessity). You can only use one power at a time, which puts in a bit of strategy of what to use when (especially for the earlier part of the game). You are able to power up these powers by collecting shards spread across the city. The gameplay in itself is very smooth, with minimal or no loading time, and it didn’t stutter even once during my 2 separate playthroughs.
(9/10)
MOJO
The trophies too, are easily collectible, and you can easily do a Platinum on the game, if you just put in a bit more effort. You can check out a walkthrough for rare trophy in inFamous Second Son below (BTW that’s the first gameplay video that IndianNoob has ever done). There is another trophy walkthrough, which can be found here (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152406017758128)
The Double Smoke Stack Attack Trophy Walkthrough:
There is also the inFamous Paper Trail. A series of weekly updated missions (read Spartan Ops Halo 4), which involves some pretty good puzzle solving skills, not only on the console, but on your laptop as well. While to core gamers this might sound like a hindrance switching between your PC and console, once again it showcases how far video games have come.
Where the game does fall behind is its Karma branching. Choosing the nice guy way over the bad one hardly makes a different to the actual flow of the game, apart from the actual ending. Also, playing the good guy is way more hard than playing the villian, as I really had to reign myself in and plan my attack lest I get penalized for killing a citizen or even an enemy with a tray shot. I had so much more fun when I was playing as the bad-guy that I almost resented my first playthrough of good choices. inFamous has long been trying to create relevant branching storyline based on a gamer’s decision, sadly Second Son does not deliver on that front.
(8/10)
VERDICT
The game proved to be a console seller for me; as it should for you if you are reading this review. I cannot stress enough how much I recommend inFamous Second Son. Especially if this will be the first time you will be playing the inFamous series. If you don’t have a PS4, the console is definitely worth buying for the game alone. If you already own the console, you have no excuses for buying this game.
IndianNoob Recommends you play inFamous Second Son RIGHT NOW!!
