Infamous 2 Review: A song of ice and fire
Infamous 2 is a sandbox game through and through, but it also continues the surprisingly strong story of its predecessor and attempts to improve many aspects of the game mechanics. As a major PS3 exclusive franchise and a sandbox trying to tell a linear story Infamous 2 does remarkably well in marrying clashing game designs. Its a really solid game with a strong narrative, but it does have some niggling issues.
The story of Infamous 2 picks up directly from where the first game left you. Cole is preparing to face the prophesised Beast, but prior to Cole being ready the Beast appears and attacks Empire City. This is a thrilling opening to the game as you fight the Beast at the very start of the game in an incredible visual display ripe with set pieces and pumping music. Since this is the beginning of the game, Cole is defeated by the Beast and is forced to flee to New Marais, a New Orleans like city, to regain his lost powers and prepare for the Beast there. It was fantastic to see the location you spent all the previous game in fall to the enemy, and Infamous 2 has a more character driven and powerful story. The games main villain Bertrand is not very interesting, but Cole gets allies during the game that are more compelling. The game builds solid motives for being either good or evil, and both feel equally viable and pragmatic, unlike the first game where there was no real reason to be evil. The end game is powerful, and the ending is really satisfying and provides a proper end to the story arch. The story is very dependent on the first game, but it does a great job of building up an air of intimidation and fear around the ultimate enemy and it is an enjoyable story even if you have not played the first game though it loses a lot of impact.
The visuals of Infamous 2 are very good and similar to the original, but everything looks cleaner and a bit more detailed. The animations are fluid and natural, which is great as there is a lot of terrain traversal in this game. New Marais is a much more attractive and diverse city visually than Empire City was in the first game. There's real diversity in New Marais from the neon-lit red light district to the Katrina-like devastation of Floodtown. Its a much more colourful game, with brighter clothing and powers and smart use of environments like the sun and water. Enemies look good, with new opponents like swamp dwelling monsters and ice based soldiers being added to the roster. There is some minor pop in and the skin of characters can look a bit odd, but it is a visually good game with a subtle style that makes it distinct from other games. The comic book like cutscenes are back again and as good as beofre, adding even more style and strength to the art direction of the game.
The voice acting in Infamous 2 is strong, with the accent of the area being captured well and the new cast being well voiced. The new actor for Cole took some getting used to, but the voice work for Cole is actually very good and suits the character after the adjustment period. The music in the game is also excellent, but there is a lack of sound in many areas of the game. Quite commonly you will be traversing the game without any music at all for a long time. Its an unusual omission that is noticeable during the game.
Infamous 2 plays nearly identically to how the original played but it has some evolutionary adjustments that do not radically change the game in anyway but do improve multiple parts of the game that make it more refined and accessible. New powers have been added to Cole's repoitoire that allow you to move around the city even more quickly and easily, which is key to a free roaming game world. The good powers and bad powers are now karma locked meaning that you cannot get both as you are locked out of powers depending on your karma choices. Some really impressive abilities have been added, including fire and ice powers and ionic storm which allows Cole to rip up entire streets and clear them of scores of enemies. Melee has also been improved and refined via the addition of a weapon called the amp. This allows you to string together more combos while looking really impressive due to the incredible choreography for the close quarters combat.
The game has some branching decision points, adding replayability to the campaign and strengthening the character relationships. Infamous 2 also has a huge amount of missions, both story and side missions. Main missions advance the story, and completing side quests will eliminate hostile threats from a small section of New Marais. As you work to complete both types of quests, the city will become progressively safer, and you'll work further and further through the main story. Infamous 2 has really slick and responsive controls that make it a pleasure to play. Some of the enemies are still bullet sponges and the annoying rocket launching enemies as well as shotgun wielding foes can quite easily overwhelm Cole. However the game does give a great sense of progression that really makes you feel you are growing more formidable as the game progresses. There are fewer boss fights than the last game but what is here is polished and exciting to experience. To increase Cole's power meter, you can find hundreds of Blast Shards strewn around the city. Like Blast Shards, audio diaries called Dead Drops make their return, though you'll find them on pigeons this time around. Sucker Punch have also added user generated content, and while the quality of this is iffy its an interesting thing for them to integrate into the game and it takes nothing away from the content of the core game.
Infamous 2 is a long game, taking about 20 hours on my first playthrough. It has some small issues but all aspects of the game are smartly connected in a way that enriches the experience. If you do side missions you will make the city more safe and therefore easier to carry out the main missions. If you collect blast shards you increase Cole's powers, and if you collect dead drops the story is more engrossing and detailed. Its such a fun and playable game, but it could have used a bit more polish in its audio and certain enemy designs. While Infamous 2 is not the leap that Uncharted or Assassin's Creed made with there second iterations it is still a remarkably well designed and executed game that does exactly what fans of the franchise wanted. It is admirable that Sucker Punch completed the story arch in this game, providing a fully satisfying ending that is rare in the modern trilogy-plus ridden game culture. If you did not like the first game then you will not like this game, but Infamous 2 is a great sandbox 3rd person adventure that has a strong story and great game mechanics.
Pros:
- New Marais is a much more lively and colourful setting than Empire City
- Improved Melee combat and power structure
- Very easy to change between powers
- Character driven story with a powerful conclusion
- Intimidating atmosphere around the villain makes the game more exciting
- Traversing the city is easy and fun
- Responsive and intuitive controls
- Long campaign with great variety of main and side missions
- High replaybility thanks to branching decisions and 2 endings
- User generated content is a nice addition
- Resolves the storyline of the series, which is a brave move
- Great at giving a sense of progression to the player
Cons:
- Some odd audio issues revolving around absence of sound in many areas
- Completely derived from the last game
- Few boss fights
- Bullet sponge enemies make a return
- Lacking in polish in some small areas
Wtf:
- Zeke didn't make me want to kill him this time
Score:
- 8/10
