A year of Playstation 4 has done little to deteriorate this game's substantial quality.
I remember the fun gameplay of inFamous, as well as the awesome ending twist; I barely remember playing inFamous 2 at all beyond a boring final boss; so, I hope that in a few years, I'll remember all of inFamous Second Son, from the engaging gameplay, to the terrific characters, to just how damn good the game looks. Second Son isn't just worth playing, it's worth remembering.
In the inFamous series, you control characters who have obtained amazing superpowers and are willing to use them for good - or evil, whichever you see fit. They are known as Conduits. The character this time is Delsin Rowe, member of fictional First Nations tribe, the Akomish. The power? Smoke (and cinder and small explosions, depending).
After a short few tutorial levels, you are thrown out into the world; for the first time in the series, you explore a real life city in Seattle, Washington, and what a city it is. Shortly after being dropped into Seattle, you earn the ability to "air dash" as smoke, as well as glide in the air. Later, you gain the other powers of Neon and Video, which respectively let you run up walls or simply fly high above. These make traversing the city an absolute delight as you soar between buildings and streets before dropping down onto some enemies for a surprise attack.
So, it's a good thing that the game gives you no lack of motivation to do so. Your enemies are the oppressive government agency D.U.P., and their leader is fellow Conduit Brooke Augustine. Now, let me say something about Augustine. She is a villain, and one I think no-one will have a problem hating. I don't think it's very often a fiction really nails an antagonist properly, so Second Son's tremendously used villain is worthy of note. Whether you wish to expose the D.U.P. and its leader or simply destroy them for revenge, I doubt you'll have to look far for a reason to pound them into the ground.
Speaking of which, lets talk combat. Whether you play "good" Hero or "evil" Infamous, the game accommodates your decision in its gameplay. Nailing a headshot on an enemy stuns him, opening him up for you to detain or execute him. Eventually, you gain an upgrade on your respective path for headshots to immediately incapacitate or kill your target, which gives some credence to the claim that "your choice matters". Throwing grenades, launching missiles and even an all-encompassing super attack, all of these attacks from all three powers have a Hero and Infamous version to utilize. Combined with the fact that combat is just straight up fun - running around, launching into the air, blowing up annoying turret vehicles, beating dudes with your melee "smoke chain" before launching away again - and you have a recipe for a truly impressive combat experience.
Of course, the visuals are no slouch either. No joke, this game looks drop dead gorgeous. Climbing atop a building and gazing at the city-scape is an amazing sight - and I'm playing this a full year after its release. And it's not only the environment that looks incredible, the character models are terrifically crafted as well. Of particular mention are the face models, which represent an industry rarity: Delsin (played by Troy Baker), his brother Reggie (Travis Willingham) and former drug addict and Conduit Fetch Walker (Laura Bailey) all have their faces modeled after their respective actors/actresses. It isn't just those three, but they are certainly the most prominent.
It is appropriate then, that the voice-acting is delivered tremendously as well. Nowadays, the aforementioned Baker and Bailey are practically video game standards in game acting. But they reached that level because they earned it with performances like these. Troy Baker plays the rebellious - and a little cocky - Delsin with appropriate smarminess mixed with genuine compassion... if you play the Hero path, that is. Bailey goes a little outside her typical casting and plays a street-talking tough girl. Her performance comes across as charming as often as it does funny, and makes for a good foil to Delsin.
Now there are detriments in the game's design which I could nitpick. Such as the repetitive side mission where you hunt down an enemy Conduit who's in disguise, which boils down to running around like crazy until someone runs from you and you give chase; or the overused "find the audiolog" mission where you follow a waypoint and then listen to a journal (from a guy who I swear is also voiced by Troy Baker) for a minute and a half. But the former is short enough and the latter has interesting enough info and these are such small blotches on an otherwise terrific presentation that I excused them rather quickly.
The inFamous games have been a rather bumpy and unsure path for me, ranging from impressive to forgettable. But this is precisely why I would say Second Son is so worth playing. Easily the best of the trilogy, with great visuals, engaging combat and interesting characters, Second Son is well worth playing in spite of - or perhaps because of - how late the player decides to take the opportunity.
