Story
Taking place a month after the events of Infamous, Cole is dealing with the knowledge that he has a huge obstacle he’s going to need to overcome and is battling with the concern of whether he’ll be ready or not; we find out in the opening moments of Infamous 2 that he is not.
Empire City, Cole’s home, has been destroyed, and he has taken refuge in the deep south to better prepare for the battle he is destined to fight.
The story is simple, a man must make choices to prepare for an event, he can make choices that are virtuous or choices that are dastardly, but he must do whatever it takes to prepare himself for what’s coming. It’s your typical overcoming adversity tale, so that isn’t anything new, but the presentation makes this tried and true plot one hell of a ride from start to finish.
Gameplay
If you’ve played Infamous, then Infamous 2 won’t be tricky for you. The sequel has stayed true to its senior’s gameplay mechanics, a few extra abilities that Cole learns has made the gameplay a little more complex, but not in a bad way. The controls are fluid and smooth and getting around town or in combat is not difficult at al once you get into the swing of things; within moments any player will be dashing and leaping from rooftops and powerlines in seconds.
The game is a fairly straightforward open world adventure that could likely be blazed through in a matter of hours, but the game has so much to do and so many side quests and distractions and collectibles for the player to partake in that the game quickly can turn from a multiple hour adventure into a multiple day adventure. There is a lot to do in this game, I logged in roughly 13 hours the first day I played this game (yes I tell people these things) and had only pumped out about 25% of the main story because I would spend so much time adventuring the city taking part in side distractions that would make my character more heroic.
Speaking of being heroic.
The morality system in this game is very clever and unique in how it’s done. Usually games that allow the player to be good or evil have watered down morality systems with very minor perks going to which path you choose to take. Infamous upped it a bit by allotting new super powers specific only to whether the player went heroic or villianous; a cool feature but nothing new since Knights of the Old Republic did that almost a decade ago. So to change it up a bit the morality system is now divided by two women, and the choices you make effect which one will become a romantic interest, having influence over choices the player will make down the road… hey let’s face it, most of what we do is to impress women so this is a clever way to present the scales of good and evil. The choices alter the flow of the story, who will and will not be allies in Cole’s quest, and again ultimately will hold some weight over the decisions Cole makes. Oh yeah and the minute detail of whole new powers!
Cole isn’t only limited to electricity this time around. The choices Cole makes and the woman he ends up with will teach him new elemental abilities. Go heroic and you will inherit ice capabilities, which are strategic and status-effecting more than anything rather than lethal, as these are powers linked to the humane and big-hearted Kuo, these powers are a little tougher to get used to and find optimal uses for, but that’s part of being a hero, sometimes you can’t just take the easy way out… that and I’ve always been a sucker for Asian ladies.
If you go the less wholesome route, you will align yourself with the destructive Nix, an angry woman with a big chip on her shoulder (for understandable reasons as the story will reveal) who would rather demolish and destroy rather than think things through. Cole will learn fire-based abilities if he aligns himself with her, and these powers are very appealing. The abilities and fast, easy to use and get results quickly, they are devastating and lethal and at times border on the sadistic, Cole will not find it easy to remain heroic in the eyes of the people if he uses these abilities.
Graphics
Infamous 2 isn’t the most realistic looking game on PS3 this year, but it doesn’t need to be. The characters and environments still look wonderful and only once did I experience a slight frame rate drop as a result, and it was during a huge battle with tonnes of characters running around.
The characters look good and the environments are dead on for what one would expect of a southern U.S. New Orleans style town. The use of lighting and shading is very nice during the day missions while admittedly the night atmosphere is a little bland. Character models are done well for the most part, they’re realistic enough to help immerse the player into the story, but just stylized enough to keep the gamer knowing they’re basically playing a comic book; and Cole is still one handsome devil if I do say so myself (the joke is that I look like Cole according to some friends; remember kids: inside jokes in your reviews usually aren’t as funny as you hope they’ll be)
The game’s cutscenes for narration are done in the comic book format that the original boasted; this is such a nice presentation style as it pulls you back in to remind you “hey, you are playing a superhero game, even without tights and a cape”. I’m glad to see this game is getting a full comic contract because the graphical presentation this game delivers has proven that this can be a captivating comic experience.
Sound
The soundtrack is alright, but nothing memorable for me; I wasn’t humming any of the melodies once I turned the game off. The voice-acting and atmospheric sounds, however, are great.
The strongest feature is the voice acting by far, as the characters are all situated in stereotypes, but not dominated by them. There’s the southern extremist who sounds like a baptist pastor, and the hillbilly rednecks and the snarky New York-sounding hero, but they are just small vehicles the characters use to reach the destination that is their character.
One of the most noticeable changes between Infamous to Infamous 2 is the different voice actor used for Cole. Infamous Cole had a gruff tone that pretty much stayed on “angry” but now and then would change gears momentarily to “pissed off”. He didn’t do a bad job but it was a very one dimensional character whose voice at times bordered on Christian Bale’s Batman; I can appreciate the character being stuck in angry mode for what he was going through, but the lack of personality was the only downside for me in the first game. Infamous 2 Cole is a more lively sounding voice… which seems reversed because the Cole in Infamous 2 is a man who has literally lost everything and yet he’s less angry… oh sorry, spoiler alert.
Cole’s voice actor has given the character a lot more life and has made him a more believable character as he’s more like a real guy than an angry guy with super powers. Sometimes it does feel a bit inconsistent as he’ll be serious one moment, then acting a bit like an immature douchebag the next; a case in point of this is during a rescue mission, Cole’s partnered up with a government agent who is briefing him on the severity of the situation while also tell him the guidelines and procedures that the penal code of the secret service demands. After a very serious exchange once the agent is done, Cole chuckles and says “heh… penal code…” I’m sure this was meant to be comic relief in the writing as it likely meant Cole wasn’t listening to a word this woman said after “penal code”, but it was just out of nowhere; the previous game proved that Cole is dedicated to his duties and takes them incredibly seriously, so to throw out a fratboy moment was very out of character for him; yes he’s a young man and young men have jocular moments of immaturity, but the character has been built that he would wait until a time that was more suitable for being immature… heh… duty…
What I liked
With the exception of a forgettable soundtrack and occasionally confusing script writing, there’s little to dislike about this game. the new combat system is great and feels like something Prince of Persia or Batman: Arkham Asylum would be proud of. Cole’s new powers really spice the game up and add a lot of new elements to how a gamer can approach the missions.
This is a very clever game and references a lot of aspects of the current gaming world. An adult theatre in downtown New Marais has a large billboard of naughty movie titles all referencing other games such as “Hey, low reach!”, “No Need for Speed” and “Assassin’s Need (Love Too)”. As you travel downtown a little further you’ll come across a chain of electronic stores called “Red Ring Electronics” who are never open and make no claims of their products working, a clear reference to the stereotype of Xbox 360s never working and always having the “red ring of death”, hell even the store’s banner is a red X in a red circle, not very subtle and as a gamer who primarily uses the 360 over anything else I should maybe be offended, but it’s ballsy and funny so I think it’s a welcome addition.
Oh and there are random Subway restaurants littered around as well, you can’t go in and get a footlong pizza sub with two M&M cookies but it’s still funny seeing my favourite fast food place in a game; sponsor placement for the win.
Oh and I got the hero edition that came with the backpack, it’s awesome… because, you know, I needed to look even more like Cole.
What I would change
The game needs a better soundtrack and better pacing of when to bust out juvenile comedic moments.
Final Thoughts
This is my PS3 exclusive. I’ll pop in Little Big Planet now and again or play a little Uncharted, but Infamous has been my PS3 game from the moment I played it, and Infamous 2 is more than a worthy successor. Every PS3 owner needs this game in their library.
