In 2009 Sucker Punch released a game on the Sony Playstation 3 called inFamous. At the time it did not grab my attention, sand box games are common place, however this one did something different. It let you be a Hero or Villain, with morale choice, that gave you unique powers.
Fast forward today, inFAMOUS 2 builds on many aspects of the first, and improved on many things.
Cole his destiny revealed, that he must face and beat the monster known only as the Beast, has finally showed up in Empire City. Facing off with the beast, he only can briefly stop it, and escapes to the south, in search of creator of the Ray Sphere, the object that gave Cole his powers. Together with the creator, Cole hopes to develop his powers to new levels, in order to vanquish the Beast.
inFAMOUS 2's story is interesting and motivates players to keep going forward to see what happens next. Zeke is back, who is Cole's best friend, he works to make up for his betrayal in the first. Outside of Zeke, except a few audio tapes you find, the entire cast is new in inFAMOUS 2.
The gameplay is more or less unchanged from it's predecessor, you make morale decision's, but unlike the first, inFAMOUS 2's decision are more black and white, good and evil. With the decisions you get good and evil points, this unlocks certain powers for either path you go down, and gives incentive to go back and replay the game after you clear it. You will also gain EXP points as you do just about anything in the game, they are used to purchase new powers, however these powers must be first unlocked, by completing a challenge.
Zeke in order to make up for past deeds, creates a weapon for Cole named the Amp. This gives increased melee capabilities, but due to Cole being so fragile, and how he constantly gets thrown around like a rag doll, Sucker Punch still needs to work on this area of game play.
Despite the melee shortcomings, overall the game play is excellent in inFAMOUS 2, with the goal of the game being to power up an already powerful hero. However you never really truly feel like you are super powerful until the very end. The reason for this is like mentioned before, Cole can only take a few hits before he either must run away and wait for health to regenerate, or find an outlet in which he can draw electricity from. This can lead to some very frustrating experiences, as at times, the game wants to make you feel like you can take on armies at once, but a couple of hits, you find yourself running away from all the action.
Another issue is the climbing aspect of the game, when you jump or climb, you "auto cling" to the nearest ledge, this can sometimes be a troublesome aspect, but it rarely happens. The AI in inFAMOUS 2, has some serious issues, frequently during escort missions, the AI would walk into cars, people, and other obstacles, fall down, and take it's time getting up. Enemies would run the other way or hide in open areas, overall the AI is not that great, but except able.
The environment sandbox is greatly detailed, and feels like a real city. People cheer or criticize Cole as he runs through the streets, protests happen, police fight monsters and bad guys, bad guys also fight each other and monsters, for sometimes huge 3-way battles. Variety of areas in the game keeps everything fresh, from swamps, towns, industrial areas, the game keeps you moving along so no area over stays it's welcome.
inFAMOUS 2 features rich audio, voice acting is top notch, unfortunately Cole has a new voice, while still good, continuity would have been better. The music score is enjoyable and really draws you into the game, making you feel heroic and powerful. The city sounds like a city, people talk, cheer, shout, busy and bustling. Animations and effects were also improved on, motion is smoother and effects bigger and better, more detailed.
General missions are setup like standard sandbox games, you travel to the point on the map to start the mission, then continue on to the next point it sends you. The story missions offer a lot of variety, and never keep you bored or doing the same thing for long. Like the first game, you must make hard choices during these missions, this plays into the overall theme of inFAMOUS. Your choices effecting the 2 female characters, which seem to represent Hero and Villain sides of Cole, and finally the 2 epic endings.
In between missions you find opportunities to increase your Hero or Villain points, by taking the selective side missions. Doing these side missions also allows you to free the area of bad guys, and essentially clean the streets.
New to inFAMOUS, is the User Generated Content (UGC), any user can create special missions and share them with others on the PSN, they can also download and play other created content. In theory, with UGC, inFAMOUS 2 can feature unlimited replay value, as content is always being added to the game.
What is best about inFAMOUS 2, is continuing the story forward. inFamous 2 imports your data from the first game, and let's you develop your own personal Cole further. You see him grow from nothing, developing his powers, seeing his struggles, to a super powered hero or villain, until his destiny is fulfilled.
GamingCX gives inFAMOUS 2 an 8.5 out of 10.
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