Review: InFamous 2

Cole McGrath is back with new powers and a slightly new look in InFamous 2. 

Developer: Sucker Punch 
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment 
Platforms:  PS3

InFamous 2 is the open world video game sequel to the 2009 PS3 exclusive hit, InFamous developed by Sucker Punch Productions. It once again follows the journey of Cole McGrath, the protagonist from the first game. Cole is on a mission to enhance and increase his powers so that he will be strong enough to face “The Beast”; the main antagonist of InFamous 2 that’s coming was predicted at the end of the first game. This is the narrative’s driving force, and it starts off with a bang, as The Beast shows up much earlier than expected. Cole barely survives this encounter, and it effectively wipes out most of the powers you gained in the original game.

Cole travels to the “New Orleans” inspired city of New Marais in order to escape the Beast and strengthen his powers. He strengthens his powers by collecting and absorbing Blast Cores, each core gives him a new power. However with each on the Beast gets a bit closer to New Marais. I found that the update on the Beast’s position gave the narrative a sense of urgency and drive, which made things more interesting. Keep in mind though, not all the powers will be new, and the Ice & Fire powers are instead tied to the other two super powered individuals, Kuo and Nix respectively. Kuo is far more interesting of a character than Nix, and I prefer her Ice powers and her reluctant Conduit status to Nix’s attitude.

In terms of gameplay, InFamous 2 is solid. They’ve really tried to refine and evolve every system in the game, and the new powers each have their uses, none of them feel tacked on and all of them have some tactical use. I will say out of the two power trees, I prefer the Ice powers myself, I love freezing a whole squad of enemies in ice. One sore spot for me is still the platforming, even though it’s been refined I still find Cole getting stuck on surfaces I don’t want him climbing on, and going places I didn’t intend him to go. In free roam this isn’t even an issue, but on missions where you have to follow someone and stay pretty close to them, this can get frustrating and quite annoying. Make no mistake though; Cole is a force to be reckoned with and Ionic Vortex is the best power ever.

I only wish the narrative was as solid as the gameplay, and that’s not to say it doesn’t have its moments. For the first half of the game, it’s pretty good and has some surprising little twists and turns. However at the half way mark the games narrative begins to crumble, and by the end it’s completely fallen apart. Anyone who read my last review, I mentioned the frustrating element of being saintly or eating babies in RPG’s, well sadly it’s here in InFamous 2. The “Evil” side missions are poorly handled with one in particular where Cole throws car’s around to see how far they can go which I found to be especially ridiculous in my mind. I don’t mind duality; I just wish it had been better written when it comes to motivation.

The “Good” missions make sense at least, stop gang wars, follow criminals to their hide outs, etc. However these are the same types in InFamous, and I wish there had been a bit more variety and innovation in the morality tied side missions. There are sixty side missions in all but they do end up repeating eventually, and while that’s expected the amount of repeat is a little disheartening.

The characters and voice acting are pretty well realized, my favorite is Cole though I have to say. I’m also not just saying that because he’s Eric Ladin, the same man who voices Ellis from “Left 4 Dead 2” but rather I find this Cole’s voice more fitting of both the hero and evil versions respectively, he helps make Cole a character I empathize with. Zeke is also pretty well realized and he’s my second favorite in the game as a result, the rest of the cast doesn’t have that much in the way of stand outs. Even with the advanced graphics of today, I really appreciated the artistry and look of the comic book cut scenes over the ones done in the in game engine.

The city itself is pretty, that is in the New Marais section. It’s a great realization of New Orleans, and it was by far my favorite place to stomp around. Especially with the porches you could destroy right out from under unsuspecting enemies; that was good fun. Sadly the other two sections aren’t as well realized, though “Flood Town” as it’s called will keep you on your toes with all that nasty water around.

However this isn’t to say that InFamous 2 is a bad game. Far from it, it’s quite a lot of fun to play, as I stated previously the game play itself is solid. Running around the city taking down gangs and the larger enemies feels pretty awesome. I do wish there was more variety in terms and some seriously challenging enemies down the road, but overall it’s a fun game world to mess around and I look forward to playing it a couple more times. That’s it for now; tune in next time true believers.

Galaxy Minute

- The gameplay is solid, lots of fun you can tell they really worked hard to make you feel like a true force of nature, and the new powers really stand out as fun.

- Fun platforming when you work the bugs out of it, cruising through the city on the rooftops is a joy in itself.

- Good story through the first half, second half of the game gets a bit weak and by the end it’s kind of fallen apart and becomes predictable.

- The main city New Marais is vibrant and alive, great representations of New Orleans, the other sections sadly don’t hold a candle to it.

- Good voice work from Eric Ladin, he put all my doubts to rest about a new voice for Cole McGrath, Zeke is as entertaining and helpful as the last game, perhaps even more so.

By: Cameron Ellis

Purchase: inFAMOUS 2 from Amazon