Note: This is a very outdated review of Infamous 2. The following review does not reflect the standards we have set for NGR, and because of this the review may be revamped at a future date.
InFamous
was a game that came out a few years ago for the PS3, and it was a one that a
lot of people saw as a rival to Prototype. Although both games have some things in common,
they are both completely different games, and they both have their strong
points. Despite there being quite a few major differences, inFamous is
still seen by some as a "rip off." If you're one of them people,
hopefully this review will change your mind.
InFamous starts out
with a man named Cole MacGrath who is sent out to deliver a package to
someone. Yep, that's actually all Cole knows, I'm not just summing it
up. Anyway as Cole was bringing this package to whoever ordered it
something strange happened. The package went off.
Turns out the
package was a type of bomb that ended up destroying a huge part of
Empire City (a city based off of NY) and kills millions. As for Cole?
Well the game starts with Cole waking up in the middle of a crater when
he quickly notices something strange. It appears that the "bomb" gave
Cole superhuman electric powers and it's now up to Cole to decide how to
use them.
After the bomb went off the city went into lock down,
Cole fully recovered and learned how to use his new found powers, and a
plague began to spread like wild fire. Cole and his best friend Zeke try
their best to survive in the city, as well as escape, but all of this
was just the start of their adventure.
Cole ends up being
contacted by an FBI agent who tells Cole that she'll get him out of the
city if he'd help her find her missing husband and the secret project he
was investgating, the bomb that started everything, the Ray Sphere.
Throughout
the game players are able to decided just what kind of person Cole will
be come. Will he become a hero? Or will he become everyone's greatest
fear? Everything is controled by a karma system which also ends up
effecting just what type of powers you will gain, how the people in the
city will treat you, what type of missions open up, and even how the
game ends.
As you play through the game you'll learn about the
group that created the Ray Sphere, how it turns anyone with a special
gene into a "super powered freak," and about the man who put the whole
plan into action, Kessler.
InFamous
2 opens up with a flash back explaining the major events that happened
during inFamous 1. The opening uses a comic book style that was also
used for just about EVERY cutscene from the original game. Even though a
lot of people loved this style and thought it really made the game
stand out, inFamous 2 decides to pretty much do away with it and go down
the normal animated cutscene route like most games (however there are a
few exceptions).
Before
I go any farther I'll tell you right now that inFamous 2 DOES spoil
just about everything inFamous 1 had to offer, however because they
cover the past so well it also makes it an easy game for new fans to
pick up and play. You really do NOT have to play the original, but I do
recommend that you at least try it out before you play this game. I
would also like to take a moment to warn you guys about spoilers. Yes
for once one of my reviews will have some spoilers, however I will try
to keep them minor and they will mostly cover the first game.
InFamous
2 actually starts out not too long after the end of inFamous 1 and it
shows the moment this massive conduit, known as "The Beast," appears in
the city. At the end of inFamous 1 Kessler shows Cole the future and
finally shows his true colors. Apparently Cole is the only one who can
stop this conduit, and if he doesn't the world will be destroyed. Yeah
it can sound a bit stupid, but it's actually a really good way to start
out both the game and the story.
In inFamous 2 you start out with
pretty much ALL of your main powers and you'll find yourself fighting
this massive boss right from the get go. The game will use the boss
fight to teach you the bascis of attacking, and then you'll find
yourself learning basic platforming skills. The game really helps you
get used to the controls, and it really makes sure that you know
everything you need to know. The training in this game is actually fun,
it's related to the story, and it's very easy to go through. Even though
you cannot skip the training (which a lot of people like to do during
their second + playthrough of a game) it doesn't really matter. There's a
pretty good chance that you'll actually WANT to do it again!
Just
like the last game, inFamous 2 is a fully open world sandbox style
game. You're free to run around the city, climb up buildings, beat up
random people, do random side jobs that pop up (such as stop someone
from being mugged), access side quests, blow up cars, and do just about
whatever else you can think of.
In
inFamous 1 the city based on NY seemed pretty plain and you would end
up seeing the same type of areas over and over again. There just really
wasn't much of a verity to make any single area stand out, it just all
blended together. Well inFamous 2 changed all of that! InFamous 2's city
is based on New Orleans, and it really does show.
When you first
get to New Marais you'll find yourself in a city with a lot to see.
There's your normal smaller housing areas, bigger city areas, parks,
swamps, vacation/hotel areas, and just about whatever else you'd expect
to see in a city or in New Orleans. As you get farther into the game
however, you will be able to access other areas included a flooded town.
Really the game may bring back some bad memories for some, but it is
nice to see that they included their own version of real life into the
game.
Although inFamous 2 does have a lot in common with the
original, there have been some core changes to the gameplay, and a lot
of changes made to the overall story set up.
Besides having the
game's graphics updated, Cole's design changed, and the new Voice Actor,
powers work a little bit differently than they did in the past game.
Some of the powers have been tweeked to either be faster, slower, or
stronger, and some have been 100% redone. Really this could be seen as a
good thing or a bad thing, but it actually depends on the person. I
myself see these changes as an improvement, and I really love the new
power switching ability.
In the original game powers mostly were
just upgraded, or they'd end up replacing old powers, but that just
isn't the case with 2. Now when you get new powers you actually keep the
old version of it as well! Yep thats right, you can freely switch
between every power have had at any point in time. Got the slower long
range upgrade for your normal sock? Well dont worry because you're
shorter range faster version is still there as well! Some fans actually
didn't like the idea of being able to switch powers like this, but it
did allow the devs to add more powers to the game. That's a plus in my
book.
This
time around Cole has a lot of powers and abilities. As I said before,
Cole is free to climb up just about any ledge, he has basic jump
abilities, and he can also dodge roll. However since this is a super
hero game, Cole also is able to use his powers to pull off a few little
tricks.
By using your electric power you'll be able to slow your
fall/glide after you have jumped. This is one of the main, and first,
powers in the game and players must put it to good use. You won't be
able to make most jumps without it, so it's a very good idea to practice
using it and it'll most likely be one of your main ways to travel.
Besides
flying off of buildings, Cole will also be able to make use of power
lines to get from point to point. By stepping on any type of rope/bar
that's powered by an electric current, you'll be able to grind across it
at high speeds! It's a pretty creative idea, and it's also one of them
things that's just fun to do!
Right now you might be saying to
yourself "all of that is cool and all, but what about attacks?" Well
dont worry, Cole packs quite a punch this time around! Besides being
given a melee weapon that you can pull off combos with, Cole also sports
his different shocking powers. Electric powered sniping, shooting,
electrid nades, and even electric powered tornados that rip through the
city! Cole's just got about everything you'd ever need to take down the
bad guys that get in your way!
You do start out with only a few
powers, but you quickly gain access to more by unlocking them with XP
points that you earn for clearing missions/taking out enemies. Now this
XP system is pretty cool but currently there's one small problem with
it. By entering a User Generated Content mission and opening the upgrade
list, you can spend XP without actually spending it. Yep say you have
5000 XP and you bought a power that costs 1000 XP, you still have you're
5000. Right now it's hard to say if the glitch will be fixed, but I'm
sure Sucker Punch knows about it by now so we'll just have to wait in
see.
Really this glitch doesn't ruin the game at all, but it can
make the game a lot easier than it should be, so it can really take away
from the fun of unlocking them powers.
Although
Cole has always had his best friend Zeke, who adds comedy to the game,
by his side, I always felt that Cole was missing something. However that
something has finally been added to the game!
In inFamous 2
you'll come across two main female characters with super powers as well.
One of them is the "hero" while the other is the "infamous" type
character. Both of these characters pretty much become like a sidekick
to Cole and they both have their own types of powers that Cole is able
to use to his advantage.
Throughout the game both female
characters will have missions of their own and it'll be up to the player
to pick who they want to side with. Really these missions mostly have
the same outcome no matter who you side with, but they will effect your
karma and how the world sees you. One character may come up with a plan
to free a group of cops to help break into a building, while the other
has the plan to crash into the building with a burning buss. It's up to
you to decide which plan is the "better plan."
About half way
through the game a few events end up changing Cole's life forever and
you're able to take on some new powers. If you decide to side with the
hero you'll gain ice powers, while siding with the infamous side will
get you fire powers. Sure electric powers are STILL the main focus, but
with the new powers added in you'll be able to change things up a bit. I
really don't want to spoil just what all these new powers can do, but
they are a VERY VERY nice addition to the game, and it really helps
change things up. As an added bonus, if you complete the game and get
both the Hero and Infamous ending, you will be able to unlock both fire
and ice for post game fun.
As
you play through the game you will be able to do a lot of different
side quests. Sometimes you'll be walking along and you'll see a cry for
help, sometimes you'll find a way to cause chaos, and other times you
can just simply agree to take on normal side quests. Although most of
these quests dont effect the story, you will gain control over different
parts of the city by doing them and they can also unlock new powers for
you.
When you start out the game the enemies have full control
over the city and they'll be pretty much running wild in the streets. By
beating side quests you'll be able to chase them out of the area, make
it safer for you to travel, and you'll also gain quite a lot of XP.
Although there are only so many types of side quests to do, the game
does keep it pretty spread out so you shouldn't get tired of doing
something too soon. I will say that I felt that WAS a problem in the
original game, but 2 took care of it.
As for the story missions,
they are also very spread out. There are a few missions where you have
to protect a target/a car that you're rinding on the back of (which I
HATED doing in the original game), take down huge bosses, or simply make
your way to a new area. Even though you do end up doing different
versions of the same type of mission, things do stay pretty well
ballanced out so once again you shouldn't get tired of doing the same
thing.
Besides all of these extra side missions and story missions
to do, there are also items to collect hidden allover the city which
are also important to the game. Really I'm not a huge fan of collection
quests, but thanks to your radar things shouldn't be too much of a
problem. Blast Shards are objects that will actually let you store more
energy, and Dead Drops will show you parts of the story that happened
behind the scenes. Both of these objects are pretty important, but they
mostly end up becoming items you go after only when you see them. Sure
it's recommended that you get them all, but you shouldn't feel pressured
into doing so.
(Picture from the suckerpunch forums)
www.suckerpunch.com/index.php/images/sto...
User
Generated Content is another feature that was added into inFamous 2 and
it might be one of the biggest parts of the game. By using the UGC
feature players are able to create just about ANYTHING they can think
of! Just think of it as Little Big Planet inFamous.
Besides having
the ability to create normal missions, players can also create mini
games, npcs to talk to, little cutscenes, and new styles of gameplay.
What happens if you combind all of these features? Well you might just
be able to make your own inFamous game!
The UGC does have a limit,
but don't let it stop you. With a little bit of creativity, you can
make just about anything and that alone can add a LOT of replay value to
this game.
As for the hero and infamous playthroughs, things
actually tend to be the same when it comes to the story. Sure people
might like/hate you, but nothing really changes all that much until the
very end. Unlike in inFamous 1, this game actually has two completely
different endings based on what path you decided to go down. So yeah,
the main game might stay the same but the ending changes a LOT!
InFamous
2 also has an easy and hard mode, but I'll be honest. They're all a
joke. Even though the game wasn't that hard to start with, I did find
that an easy/normal hero playthrough is a LOT harder than a infamous
hard playthrough. It may be because of all the explosions and crazy
strong powers you get for being infamous, but it still doesn't change
the fact that it was a LOT easier.
If you're looking for a very
hard/challenging game, stick to the UGC or make some levels of your own.
InFamous 2 does have some challenges here and there, but overall the
game isn't that hard but it is still fun to play.
So what would I
rate this game? Well it's now one of my favorite games out there, but a
fair rating would have to be around a 7.5/10. On my personal list I've
given this game a 10/10 but there are still some problems with it. Some
fans hate the new voice actor/core gameplay changes, the cam angle can
be a bit funny at times, sometimes Cole doesn't want to climb right, and
he locks onto whatever the nearest platform is. Really it isn't that
big of a problem, but it can be a pain when you're trying to jump over a
fence and find yourself landing right on top of it.
Still dont
let these small problems stop you from playing the game. There's a
pretty long demo up on PSN for download, and there's a lot of gameplay
videos online. I'd say check them out and see if this is the kind of
game you'd like. Even if you do buy the game and end up not liking it,
at least it comes with the Uncharted 3 Beta. So that's a plus right
there!
Either way, I hope they make inFamous 3, and if they do I really can't wait!