InFAMOUS: Second Son Review (PS4)

Infamous is one of Sony’s better first party exclusive titles. Since coming on the scene in 2009, Infamous has been to Empire City and New Marais–both of which are fictional cities–and the person leading the charge for good (or evil) has been Cole McGrath. Infamous: Second Son is looking to change all that in a big way. Not only is Infamous on a new next gen console but it’s getting a new location and hero to go along with it.

In Infamous: Second Son you play as Delsin Rowe. Delsin is a member of the Akomish tribe living in Washington and a petty criminal. Delsin also happens to be graffiti artist and pain in the ass to the local sheriff’s department where his brother Reggie happens to be the sheriff. Delsin apparently tends to get arrested a lot by his brother but all that is about to change after Delsin’s most recent run in with Reggie where things go from bad to worse for him.

While Delsin lives in Washington the game itself takes place in Seattle, the first real world location Infamous has ever occupied. Seattle is known for many things including it’s normally wet weather and the Space Needle both of which have been fantastically recreated for Infamous: Second Son. In fact a large portion of Seattle has been recreated by Sucker Punch who is actually based there with some slight variances to make it better suited for gameplay. Some of Seattle’s most iconic places are here to explore, play in and gawk at.

If you are new to the Infamous series, it’s all about super powers and choices. Delsin is like a sponge for super powers. If he comes into contact with a conduit or bio-terrorist depending which side of the fence you fall on he can gain their powers to use for himself. As we all know by now though “With great power comes great responsibility”. Choices you make throughout the game will define who you really are. Do you want to be the conduit who fights for freedom or the bio-terrorist who’s only out to help himself?

Infamous: Second Son has some great gameplay. From beginning to end you will never get tired of zipping around the city with your super powers. I won’t ruin the surprise for you by telling you what all of them are but most of them are pretty cool. With your smoke ability for example you can turn into a cloud of smoke and move through the city using the vents on buildings and your natural climbing ability to get almost anywhere, but traveling the city is only half the fun. The other half comes in the form of your enemy, the D.U.P, who you will be constantly destroying with a whole range of powers and the different ways you can use them.

Smoke wont just be used for moving around the city but to fight the D.U.P as well. You can shoot smoke balls and cinder missiles to name a few plus your physical attack which in this case uses a chain. Unlike previous Infamous games you don’t get all your powers at the same time. Each power is drained from a specific source like a burning car or chimney and only changes once you’ve drained a new power from a new source.

Delsin has his reasons for going toe to toe with the D.U.P and the story is great but its execution is a bit flawed. There is a strong beginning, middle and end but the in between is where things start falling apart. Your main goal from the onset of Infamous is to get strong enough to fight the big bad guy of the game by gaining new powers.

Unfortunately the story seems to focus more on that then why Delsin is doing it. Its a circle of go find this conduit and get their power then make that power stronger over and over with a little of the overall story thrown in. It gets rather repetitive when about 50% of your story missions are all based on getting and bulking up your new powers but when that isn’t the case the story really is thrilling.

Graphically there are very few games that can stand up next to Infamous: Second Son. Seattle looks amazing no matter what time of day it is. Bright neon signs light the streets and make the city really pop. Water pools up and splashes as you run through it and when the fog sets in it looks real. Delsin looks fantastic too. The way his jean vest and hair moves as you jump around looks completely authentic and when you turn into a puff of smoke all the particles burning look insane.

This being a game about choices there are going to be a lot of different emotions flying around and Infamous makes them all look and sound great. The voice acting is done perfectly then combine that with the facial expressions you’ll see and you end up with a game that can really make you invest in the characters. When Delsin gets mad or scared it comes through in his voice so well a deaf person could hear it.

Infamous: Second Son takes the franchise to a whole new level in most regards. While some of the main missions do get a little repetitive there are plenty of things to do and find through out the game. Second Son’s story will keep you wondering what will happen next and leave you wanting more which you wont have to wait long for since there are going to be a bunch of free episodic content releasing in the weeks after the games release that focuses on why the D.U.P are in Seattle. If you have a PlayStation 4 Infamous: Second Son should be on the top of your list of games to get for it.