INFAMOUS: SECOND SON (PS4)
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Publisher: Sony.
Developer: Sucker Punch. Released: March 2014. Genre: Sandbox. Posted 25th February 2015. By Shane Battams © 2015 |
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One of the PlayStation 3’s flagship series, many were stoked when, along with the PS4 itself, a third inFamous was announced for next-gen hardware in the form of Second Son. While the sandbox genre has become increasingly crowded in recent years, inFAMOUS has remained relevant through airtight combat, exciting cities to explore and a well-implemented morality system. Second Son definitely features many of the series’ strengths, and with the power of the PS4, it makes for a stunning showpiece for the new system. And while it plays it pretty safe with the formula, it still works.
Seven years after the events of inFAMOUS 2, the world is controlled by the D.U.P. Organisation, which hunts down and kills any remaining Conduits, dubbing them Bio-Terrorists to keep them oppressed. Meanwhile, a rebellious youth called Delsin is the terror of his own town, a vandal who frequently lands himself into hot water with his cop brother. But when a police escort crashes, Delsin comes into contact with a Conduit and accidentally gains his power, the ability to control smoke. This attracts the attention of the D.U.P.’s bigwig, Augustine, who ensnares the local village in rock and threatens their life. Delsin makes it his mission to take her powers and free his people. Delsin’s personality is pretty brash, and certainly won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. But his reaction to gaining superpowers – like a kid in a candy store – is more relatable than your standard hero. The plot itself is pretty standard stuff, with generic superhero themes such as oppression and control.
inFAMOUS: Second Son certainly doesn’t buck the trends established in the first two games, but it does add a couple of tweaks which change things a bit. Small touches to gameplay, such as being able to shoot without going into aim mode, refine the core mechanics. And rather than a sole electricity power, Delsin is able to absorb multiple elements. Starting off with Smoke, you eventually gain three more powers, each with their own upgrades and attributes. Neon, for example, allows you to run incredibly fast and up walls, as well as the ability to target enemy’s legs or heads (depending on which karma you align with). Digital lets you shoot out of satellites for extra air, and Smoke allows you to do the same but with fans. And each power feels different, changing fire rate and more. While the new powers aren’t an absolute game-changer, they do help SS stand out from its predecessors.
Seven years after the events of inFAMOUS 2, the world is controlled by the D.U.P. Organisation, which hunts down and kills any remaining Conduits, dubbing them Bio-Terrorists to keep them oppressed. Meanwhile, a rebellious youth called Delsin is the terror of his own town, a vandal who frequently lands himself into hot water with his cop brother. But when a police escort crashes, Delsin comes into contact with a Conduit and accidentally gains his power, the ability to control smoke. This attracts the attention of the D.U.P.’s bigwig, Augustine, who ensnares the local village in rock and threatens their life. Delsin makes it his mission to take her powers and free his people. Delsin’s personality is pretty brash, and certainly won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. But his reaction to gaining superpowers – like a kid in a candy store – is more relatable than your standard hero. The plot itself is pretty standard stuff, with generic superhero themes such as oppression and control.
inFAMOUS: Second Son certainly doesn’t buck the trends established in the first two games, but it does add a couple of tweaks which change things a bit. Small touches to gameplay, such as being able to shoot without going into aim mode, refine the core mechanics. And rather than a sole electricity power, Delsin is able to absorb multiple elements. Starting off with Smoke, you eventually gain three more powers, each with their own upgrades and attributes. Neon, for example, allows you to run incredibly fast and up walls, as well as the ability to target enemy’s legs or heads (depending on which karma you align with). Digital lets you shoot out of satellites for extra air, and Smoke allows you to do the same but with fans. And each power feels different, changing fire rate and more. While the new powers aren’t an absolute game-changer, they do help SS stand out from its predecessors.
Delsin reacts to news The Order 1886 might be shorter than hoped
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Delsin was amazed by just how many UB40 CDs you can stash in one car
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As before, Karma is a big factor in Second Son. It boils down to being good or being evil: save civilians, subdue enemies and free prisoners, and your Good Karma will increase. On the other hand, murdering civilians and policemen while disrupting civilian activities will increase your Negative Karma. On top of that, pivotal choices crop up and ask you to pick a side, increasing your karma and somewhat changing the next few missions. And you get an assortment of powers which are exclusive to each Karma state. It’s not quite as dramatic as the previous games, where moral alignment would outright change the tone of the story, but nonetheless, it encourages another playthrough, especially to experience the dramatically altered endings.
One area where inFAMOUS has always struggled is in its technical features, never setting the world on fire with its graphics. That changes with Second Son, which is one of the best-looking titles of 2014. Taking full advantage of powerful hardware, inFAMOUS: Second Son re-creates Seattle with huge amounts of detail. Every sign is readable, every landmark feels realistic and the city is filled with civilians. Little things, like how people carry umbrellas with them on rainy days, bring the world to life. Delsin himself is impressively modelled and fluidly animated, while the selection of powers looks great. The only downer is the frame rate, which can slow down during only the most intense of segments. It’s not enough to spoil the visual splendour of the game, though.
The audio, while mostly solid, doesn’t quite compare. The voice work is pretty good, and when combined with the excellent mocap cut-scenes, does a good job of engaging you into the story. The music is mostly mute, though the sound effects do somewhat pick up the slack. Each power sounds different enough, and there are some cool sounds like the sirens of D.U.P. trucks.
One area where inFAMOUS has always struggled is in its technical features, never setting the world on fire with its graphics. That changes with Second Son, which is one of the best-looking titles of 2014. Taking full advantage of powerful hardware, inFAMOUS: Second Son re-creates Seattle with huge amounts of detail. Every sign is readable, every landmark feels realistic and the city is filled with civilians. Little things, like how people carry umbrellas with them on rainy days, bring the world to life. Delsin himself is impressively modelled and fluidly animated, while the selection of powers looks great. The only downer is the frame rate, which can slow down during only the most intense of segments. It’s not enough to spoil the visual splendour of the game, though.
The audio, while mostly solid, doesn’t quite compare. The voice work is pretty good, and when combined with the excellent mocap cut-scenes, does a good job of engaging you into the story. The music is mostly mute, though the sound effects do somewhat pick up the slack. Each power sounds different enough, and there are some cool sounds like the sirens of D.U.P. trucks.
Things were going great until that second bottle of Lucozade
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Delsin enjoys a standard night out in Manchester
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The only real negative you can point to is the lack of replay value. Second Son’s campaign is rather brief, clocking in at a meagre six or seven hours. Though you’ll come back for seconds through each Karma playthrough, the side activities don’t really feel exciting. The list of ancillary activities includes spray painting, hunting down secret agents, clearing D.U.P. headquarters and finding Shards to upgrade Delsin. Once you’ve cleared enough D.U.P. presence from an area, you unlock a final showdown, where defeating the D.U.P. one last time will remove them from an area entirely and allow you to fast travel. But all in all, these activities feel menial, and can be mopped up in a couple of hours entirely.
So, what should be the best inFAMOUS game to date merely ends up being a great new chapter in the series. The gameplay feels tighter, the visuals are absolutely stunning, and the story is a bit more engaging than previous games. It should be a winner, but it feels too thin to ultimately be a long-term success. It’s a shame there weren’t more story missions and better side activities to go around, as an otherwise enjoyable experience could be in the top tier. That being said, inFAMOUS fans will be thrilled with this new chapter, and even if you haven’t touched the series before and want something to show off your new system, you’d be good starting here too.
So, what should be the best inFAMOUS game to date merely ends up being a great new chapter in the series. The gameplay feels tighter, the visuals are absolutely stunning, and the story is a bit more engaging than previous games. It should be a winner, but it feels too thin to ultimately be a long-term success. It’s a shame there weren’t more story missions and better side activities to go around, as an otherwise enjoyable experience could be in the top tier. That being said, inFAMOUS fans will be thrilled with this new chapter, and even if you haven’t touched the series before and want something to show off your new system, you’d be good starting here too.
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VERDICT
Visual: 10/10
Audio: 7/10 Gameplay: 8/10 Longevity: 6/10 OVERALL: 8/10 |
PIXEL SECONDS: INFAMOUS SECOND SON (PS4)
One of Sony's most underrated PS3 exclusives, the original inFAMOUS made for a fantastic fusion of open-world platforming, shooting and superhero abilities where, for once, a sandbox was rendered exciting and approachable by its game's fun mechanics. Following a solid if unspectacular sequel, the series' first venture on the PlayStation 4 sees inFAMOUS back to somewhere near its best, as predictable elemental attacks have been cast aside in favour of smoke, neon, video and concrete powers which are as unlikely as they are welcome. Remarkably, such a divergent array of superpowers gel in superb fashion. Set in Seattle, Washington, Second Son is the best-looking inFAMOUS title by some distance. Sucker Punch's apparent mastery of the hardware sees a vibrant, detailed and sharp city brought to life by busy, animated streets and a wealth of small details (including street musicians, protest rallies and Sly Cooper graffiti). Whilst the game isn't especially long, it's built for two complete playthroughs and will hold the player to this with ease, thanks to a distinct, black and white karma system that's ideally suited to its gaming form. Choosing to play as a hero or to go the route of infamy affects both the bigger picture and the smaller details, as depending on your choices, you'll see changes to the story, as well as uncovering mutually-exclusive missions and powers. Combat is satisfying and carries enough weight to make Delsin's bone-crunching powers feel entirely satisfying to use. The storyline and performances are much-improved and, overlooking some curiously slapdash subtitling, this is a fantastically high-quality effort that PS4 players owe it to themselves to enjoy. [8] – Tom Clare © 2017
One of Sony's most underrated PS3 exclusives, the original inFAMOUS made for a fantastic fusion of open-world platforming, shooting and superhero abilities where, for once, a sandbox was rendered exciting and approachable by its game's fun mechanics. Following a solid if unspectacular sequel, the series' first venture on the PlayStation 4 sees inFAMOUS back to somewhere near its best, as predictable elemental attacks have been cast aside in favour of smoke, neon, video and concrete powers which are as unlikely as they are welcome. Remarkably, such a divergent array of superpowers gel in superb fashion. Set in Seattle, Washington, Second Son is the best-looking inFAMOUS title by some distance. Sucker Punch's apparent mastery of the hardware sees a vibrant, detailed and sharp city brought to life by busy, animated streets and a wealth of small details (including street musicians, protest rallies and Sly Cooper graffiti). Whilst the game isn't especially long, it's built for two complete playthroughs and will hold the player to this with ease, thanks to a distinct, black and white karma system that's ideally suited to its gaming form. Choosing to play as a hero or to go the route of infamy affects both the bigger picture and the smaller details, as depending on your choices, you'll see changes to the story, as well as uncovering mutually-exclusive missions and powers. Combat is satisfying and carries enough weight to make Delsin's bone-crunching powers feel entirely satisfying to use. The storyline and performances are much-improved and, overlooking some curiously slapdash subtitling, this is a fantastically high-quality effort that PS4 players owe it to themselves to enjoy. [8] – Tom Clare © 2017