inFAMOUS 2 Review

May Contain Spoilers

It’s been about a month since I got inFAMOUS 2, played both karma routes, gotten the complete story and got all trophies. Now here’s the review.

Story

inFAMOUS 2 begins with Cole narrating over a comic panel style cutscene how he dropped out of college and become a bike messenger delivering packages and how he was the kind of guy that people would never really notice and then he talks about the package that found him (The Ray Sphere) then he outlines the events that took place in inFAMOUS from his powers being awaken by the Blast to his confrontation with Kessler and then learning about the Beast and the destruction it will cause in the near future.

Then about a month after the events of inFAMOUS, Cole meets an NSA agent named Lucy Kuo who reveals that she knows all about the Beast and she has come to help him prepare for its arrival and tells him about a scientist called Dr. Sebastian Wolfe who worked on the Ray Sphere prototype and that he knows how to augment his powers further.

All Cole needs to do is go with Kuo to Wolfe’s residence down in New Marais so Kuo makes arrangements for Cole and Zeke to be on the first available boat heading towards New Marais.

While on deck waiting for the ship to depart Zeke talks to Cole about Kuo having connections then Cole replies saying  that it was only going to be a short trip to New Marais and after Wolfe amps up his powers they would come straight back to Empire City and wait for the Beast to appear.

Kuo says that he will be ready to face the Beast but they would have work to do first and Zeke replies with when they get to New Marais they are going to be about the three Bs: beer, boobs and mechanical bulls. Kuo then states that Cole and Zeke don’t know the magnitude of the situation when suddenly a roar and explosion rips though the Neon district.

A large fiery vortex then appears in Archer Square disintegrating citizens and creating debris and Cole runs to investigate and he sees a large humanoid figure tearing through the city and he fires some bolts at it which it reacts by throwing the upper torso of the Archer Square statue at him which knocks him out for a moment.

Cole then gets up just as the large humanoid pushes the Archer Square statue into the water below the dock and Cole turns round and the large humanoid is then revealed as the Beast.

Cole then begins to fight against the Beast blasting it with a barrage of bolts and the Beast fights back with huge fireballs then the Beast rips up the dock where Cole is standing and throws him into the air and reveals that it has the ability to distort gravity and tries to kill Cole with a black hole which Cole counters with his Static Thrusters and continues the fight.

 Cole manages to inflict major damage to the Beast and the fight resumes back on the ground and the Beast starts to tear up what remains of the pier while Cole continues to blast it with bolts which results in the Beast trying to lift the whole pier and Cole seizes the moment and hits the Beast with his Lightning Storm ability which destroys half of the Beast’s head seemingly killing it.

Cole then heads back to the boat while the rest of the pier is breaking up around him, Cole then jumps off the pier back to the boat only to float backwards and wind up in the clutches of the reformed Beast.

Cole proceeds to barrage the Beast with bolts and another Lightning Storm which destroys the rest of the Beast’s head and Cole falls into the water below and explains in a cutscene that the Beast has drained him and essentially broken his powers. Cole is then brought onto the boat and placed in the infirmary to heal from his battle with the Beast and when he wakes up with Zeke at his bedside they both see a news report on TV showing that the Beast has fully regenerated itself and has annihilated Empire City.

As the boat makes its way to New Marais, Cole wanders around the deck alone, as people try to keep their distance from him either because of fear or respect. While Zeke, Kuo, and the other individuals are trying to continue their routines, the Beast begins to move down south destroying everything in its path.

Disappointed in his failure to defeat the Beast and prevent the destruction of Empire City, Cole decides to further his strength while he was on the boat and starts to work with Zeke to create a new weapon that focuses his powers when in use. As they arrive closer to New Marais, Kuo uses one of her contacts to get a smaller boat, because they have to sneak in the rest of the way because New Marais was in lock-down. Upon reaching a Militia Checkpoint, Cole decides to go meet the Militia and handle them accordingly. After being given the Amp by Zeke, Cole gets out of the boat and deals with the hostiles ahead. Cole then makes his way into the city with Kuo and Zeke's boat in tow.

After docking the boat in the harbour Kuo contacts Wolfe to tell him that she is back in New Marais and Cole is with her. While Wolfe delighted to hear this, however he also has some bad news, as the Militia had stormed into one of his labs and took the Blast Core he was keeping hidden.

Kuo leads Cole through the streets in order to get to Wolfe’s location while being attacked by members of the Militia, Wolfe contacts Kuo to tell her that the Militia had come back to his lab and are knocking down the door. Kuo goes off to help Wolfe while Cole goes to recover the Blast Core which he finds in a case on a rooftop then he calls Wolfe to tell him that the Blast Core is safe.

Seconds after Wolfe answers Cole, a powerful explosion erupts at a far off building, sending several shards flying all over the city. Cole went to the site immediately while dealing with Militia members and he finds Wolfe's lab in ruins, with Wolfe still pinned down by some debris. After Cole helps him to his feet, Wolfe comments on how much Cole looks like Kessler and then Cole admits to his failure to stop the Beast.

Wolfe then presents to him the RFI (Ray Field Inhibitor) which works as an Anti Ray Sphere which can take the Beast’s powers away and gives it to him and says to keep it safe. Cole shows Wolfe the recovered Blast Core and Wolfe explains how Blast Cores power the RFI and by passing an electrical current through it would release its power into the nearest Conduit and increase their powers and also grant them new abilities.

Wasting no time, Cole activates the Blast Core which results in a powerful sudden surge of power through his body, causing him to black out. Cole then wakes to the sight of Zeke shooting some Militia soldiers. After the slight disturbance, Zeke asked Cole what happened to him. After Cole replied that he has received a new power, Zeke told Cole to see what he can do. After using his new power Kinetic Pulse to dispatch some Militia members, Cole is now on a mission to rescue Wolfe from the Militia and find the six remaining Blast Cores and before the Beast arrives in New Marais.

Gameplay

Like the first game inFAMOUS 2 is a sandbox or open world game that combines elements of platforming, shooting, role-playing and puzzle solving. You again play as Cole in a third person view and changes into a third-person, over-the-shoulder perspective when using powers such as any of your Bolt, Blast or Missile abilities.

Most of the mechanics from inFAMOUS have been reused for inFAMOUS 2, but they are more fluid than before and elements from the first game like Blast Shards and Dead Drops are also back, however the Blast Shards are only available to collect after the mission Lost & Found and the Dead Drops are carried by pigeons which have to be shot down instead of being kept inside satellite dishes and the power doesn’t need to be restored in order to find them like in the previous game.

The Karma system also makes a return in inFAMOUS 2 which also brings back the Good/Bad choices that determines Cole’s appearance, the way that the residents of New Marais will treat him and the powers that Cole will have and in this game changes in the plot and dialogue.

Cole’s affinity is represented by two characters the first being Kuo who is Cole’s good karma and Nix who is Cole’s evil karma. Later Cole gains extra powers from Kuo (Ice) or Nix (Fire & Napalm) depending on who is chosen at Fort Philippe using the Power Transfer Device.

One more new element that has been added in this game is while with Kuo or Nix, Cole can combine his powers with theirs. Kuo blasts enemies with ice shots and this creates a mist and when Cole hits this with a bolt the enemies turn into big icicles while Nix traps enemies with napalm and when Cole blasts this, the napalm explodes and kills the trapped enemies.

There are plenty of opportunities to get your Karma level up from defusing bombs that contain Blast Shards to killing protesters.

The targeting system has been changed slightly with a rotating reticle that makes aiming and locking onto an enemy easier than in the previous game and this is not the only changes that have been made.

Another change is the melee system in the game before Cole used his fists and feet whereas in this game, Cole uses a new weapon made by Zeke called the Amp which focuses his powers into it when in use and this does add a new dimension to the game like from a hack n’ slash game where you build up an power bar by hitting enemies with weak attacks and then using a heavy attack to finish them off.

Also there are three factions of enemies in New Marais, the first and primary group is the Militia which are lead by a new antagonist called Joseph Bertrand III who is the local dictator of New Marais and was once a member of the First Sons.

The next faction is The Corrupted who are unfortunate citizens of New Marais that have been mutated into biological abominations that is mostly seen in the swamps of New Marais and unlike most enemies they will attack anything other than their own kind.

The last group is Vermaak 88 or the Ice Gang as they are often referred to in the game. The Vermaak 88 are soldiers from a large South African based private military company who were used by Bertrand as human test subjects in his experiments in making Forced Conduits which he use for warfare proposes. Since the Vermaak 88 are not normal Conduits their minds and bodies are deteriorating due to maintaining their powers.

Presentation

The graphics of inFAMOUS 2 have also been improved from the first game by using 50-60% of the cell processer apposed of the 30% used in inFAMOUS.

The city of New Marais is more detailed and interactive than Empire City ever was and the environment reacts to Cole’s powers more like baloneys can be destroyed or cars and other objects can be used as projectiles.

New Marais has a real diversity of locations from the colourful Red Light District to the Gas Works. While most of New Marais is more alive than Empire City ever was, areas such as the Gas Works however do have a similar feel to them just like in Empire City.

The in-game cutscenes have also been changed from the original which were made with only computer animation whereas in inFAMOUS 2 motion capture has been used and this makes the characters more realistic and this can help the player to become more engrossed into the story of the game.

Music

The soundtrack for inFAMOUS 2 was composed by Jim Dooley and JD Mayer who both worked on the soundtrack for the first game in collaboration with New Orleans based band Galactic and percussionist/composer Brain (Primus, Tom Waits) to craft the score. This gives inFAMOUS 2 a collaboration of four hours of music that combine elements of orchestral, jazz, rock and funk styles that make an epic original score.

Like with the last game, the music really complements the story and sets the mood for what is happening nicely.

The soundtrack itself was split into two releases;

 The Blue Soundtrack and the Red Soundtrack and this duality reflects the character Cole and the theme of the game. The Red Soundtrack which was included in the Hero Edition via the Super Voucher to download from the Playstation Store while the Blue Soundtrack is available to download from iTunes.

However both of these soundtracks are available to download here on Nero’s Lair:

The Blue Soundtrack: http://nero-kiva.blogspot.com/2011/06/infamous-2-blue-soundtrack.html

The Red Soundtrack: http://nero-kiva.blogspot.com/2011/06/infamous-2-red-soundtrack.html

Final Thoughts

As much as I liked the first game I absolutely loved this game, however there are a few things to be aware of like the expectation that the player is familiar with the events of the previous game as the developers wanted to process the story from the start of inFAMOUS 2.

inFAMOUS 2 seems to run much smoother than its predecessor and the free running auto correct seems to have been fixed so Cole does not keep catching random edges of buildings and the enemies are not so much the sharp shooters they were before.

One change that I'm sure is quite welcome with fans is the new power Blast Shard Sense which as it sounds pinpointing the locations of Blast Shards even those outside the area that Cole is in, however you need to complete 60 side missions first to gain this ability.

One thing that did bother me was that the game seems to favour the evil karma route more than the good karma route.

Here’s a list of what can be done to boost your Karma level:

How to gain Good Karma apart from making major game decisions.

·         Heal innocents and the sick

·         Restrain enemies

·         Save hostages

·         Freezing enemies with ice powers

·         Diffuse bombs

·         Complete Good Karma Side Quests

And here’s what can be done to gain Evil Karma apart from making major game decisions.

·         Kill or harm innocents

·         Bio leech anyone, even enemies

·         Killing anybody who is arc restrained

·         Complete Bad Karma Side Quests

·         Kill groups of cops

·         Silence street performers

·         Silence protesters

·         Causing Blast Shard bombs to explode by shooting them.

·         Steal Blast Shards

From looking at this list I think that this does defeat the duality a bit by seemingly favouring a route apposed to another.

A plus for inFAMOUS 2 is the new range of powers that you can use such as Kinetic Pulse and the Ionic powers, but I do miss the Arc Lighting power from inFAMOUS along with a few others, however I think that some of the powers in inFAMOUS 2 come a bit late like the Lightning Tether and the Megawatt Hammer.

There was no shortage of surprises in this game for me like the Beast itself judging from what I saw in inFAMOUS I thought that it was going to be human-sized like Cole and Kessler and not something big enough to use a building like a backscratcher.

There was also the surprising addition of hidden easter eggs such as the names of films on the lineup outside the cinemas in the Red Light District or the first area of the game and in some parts of Flood Town there is graffti on some of the buildings one of which can be looked at as a nod to Team Fortress 2 and the Beast itself kind of reminds me of Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen.

One aspect I haven't talked about yet is the UGC (User Generated Content) which expands the game's playtime greatly and this is a good thing.

There are so many options in the editor that it can be daunting at first, but with it, you can create plenty of different quests that can match just about anything you find in the main game. The very core of mission design are at your fingertips. You can quickly set objects down and come up with a few goals, but things get a lot more complex for the eager designer.  

The editor also allows you to change the behavior of every character, add dialogue, add an event and even change the music at any given point and coming up with ridiculous scenarios and that is a large part of the fun. You can share your missions when you're finished, and it's easy for players to jump right in and rate on what you've created.

User-created missions appear on the map while you're playing through the story mode which become available after the mission Evolution. These are clearly marked in green, so you can avoid them if you just want to play through the story, or make a beeline toward them if you're curious what the community is up to. Whether you're an aspiring creator or you just want to play others' work, this is a great addition to the franchise.

Overall inFAMOUS 2 was a great game and the story didn’t disappoint in anyway while the musical score only enriched the experience. While it seems that the story has drawn to a close there maybe a third inFAMOUS game on the cards which I read in an article which had an interview with Eric Ladin who was the voice actor for Cole and here’s what was said:

Interviewer: "Are there any particular projects in the video game industry you would like to be a part of? Call of Duty, Resident Evil, etc?"

Eric Ladin: "I’ve actually gotten a few games from Sony so far, and when I started playing them almost every title seemed to surpass the next and hopefully Infamous 2 is as amazing. I will be extremely busy with Infamous 3 in the future, but all of the Uncharted games look amazing and I would love to work on them. Just about anything that Sucker Punch does is great and I would love to be a part of it."

I’m hoping that this is for real but my biggest concern is where are Sucker Punch taking the story and how will they do it.