The first inFamous is one of the PS3's definitive titles. You play as Cole Magrath, a man caught in an explosion that rips apart his city, and gives him electrokinesis. A TPS / Sandbox game, inFamous had a great story, amazing gameplay, it was just AWESOME. Now, Sucker Punch has given us the sequel to their smash hit. Can it rise above the expectations the first inFamous created? I've played and beaten it, and here is my review.
Keep in mind that this is MY review of my copy of the game. Your copy may not have the same issues mine did.
Story
inFamous 2 takes place about a month after the first one ended. You once again control Cole, who recieved a vision of the future of a monster called The Beast that would tear apart humanity unless he was strong enough to take it down. However, the Beast arrives far earlier than it should have, and Cole barely escapes with his life, and is forced to watch his home of Empire City being obliterated. Cole, best friend Zeke, and government agent Lucy Kuo make it to New Marais, a city that supposedly holds the key to increasing Cole's powers. However, he must get stronger quickly, as with each passing moment, the Beast draws nearer to New Marais.
I honestly liked the story in inFamous 2 more than I did in the first game, as it doesn't have to spend so much time exploring Cole's history and how he gets his powers. Yeah, gaining new powers is a large part of the game, but it's not like you can't hold your own from square one, unlike the first, where you really only had 2 powers from the getgo.
The big draw for inFamous was the Karma system. Depending on your actions, you could be good or bad, which changes what powers you get and how people react to you. It's very much the same as it was back then, but it feels like your choices have more of an impact on the overall game than they did before. For instance, the game does have multiple endings, depending on your karma when you make it to the last mission, and they steer the game in two completely different directions.
Gameplay
Of course, what makes a game is NOT its story, but its gameplay. And inFamous 2 plays very well. The best part is that you get to keep most of your powers that you had from the first game right from the beginning, save for a couple. If you don't have them, you will probably get them back fairly quickly. If you beat inFamous 1, you can start off the second game with good or evil karma depending on how you beat it. It will also scan your trophy data and give you extra bonuses. It's nothing deep like Mass Effect 2, but it's a cool addition.
Most of the side missions in the first inFamous were fairly repetitive, and most of them were the exact same (Counter-Surveilance, anyone?). inFamous 2's side missions can get repetitive at times, but a good portion of them are pretty varied. A new addition to the game is UGC, or User-Generated Content, allowing you to play and share custom levels via PSN. The default ones made by Sucker Punch are pretty cut and dry, but the actual user made ones I'm sure will be fantastic.
Melee combat is given a highlight in inFamous 2, with the new weapon called the Amp. It feels pretty satisfying to smash around enemies in slow mo, but it can occasionally cause issues with the camera. Actually, the camera is the game's weakest point, sometimes going crazy and leading to a couple unfair deaths. It's not game breaking, but it's frustrating.
Presentation
You should immediately notice the improvement between inFamous 1 and 2. Gameplay is smoother, character animations are better, and the graphics are more detailed. Visually, it is simply better in every way from the first inFamous.
Along with these visuals comes a pretty surprisingly kickass soundtrack. The music in the first game, I almost never noticed. But here, especially the song that plays when you meet the Beast for the first time, every song is memorable, and I'm glad they stepped it up.
Verdict
So I give inFamous 2 for the Playstation 3 a:
9.5 / 10
This is exactly what a sequel should be: it keeps what was so great about the first game, and adds on to it with much more content. There's a lot of replay value here: dead drops, blash shards, and the only way for you to see everything is if you beat the game at least twice. Add on to that reasonable difficulty, great gameplay, great story, and great presentation, and you've got yourself a winner. The camera can be an issue at times, but that's hardly something that should keep you from playing this game. If you have a PS3, buy it.
So, have you played inFamous 2 for the PS3? What did you think of it? Was I too harsh or too leniant? Did I miss anything? Let me know.
The first inFamous is one of the PS3's definitive titles. You play as Cole Magrath, a man caught in an explosion that rips apart his city, and gives him electrokinesis. A TPS / Sandbox game, inFamous had a great story, amazing gameplay, it was just AWESOME. Now, Sucker Punch has given us the sequel to their smash hit. Can it rise above the expectations the first inFamous created? I've played and beaten it, and here is my review.
Keep in mind that this is MY review of my copy of the game. Your copy may not have the same issues mine did.
Story
inFamous 2 takes place about a month after the first one ended. You once again control Cole, who recieved a vision of the future of a monster called The Beast that would tear apart humanity unless he was strong enough to take it down. However, the Beast arrives far earlier than it should have, and Cole barely escapes with his life, and is forced to watch his home of Empire City being obliterated. Cole, best friend Zeke, and government agent Lucy Kuo make it to New Marais, a city that supposedly holds the key to increasing Cole's powers. However, he must get stronger quickly, as with each passing moment, the Beast draws nearer to New Marais.
I honestly liked the story in inFamous 2 more than I did in the first game, as it doesn't have to spend so much time exploring Cole's history and how he gets his powers. Yeah, gaining new powers is a large part of the game, but it's not like you can't hold your own from square one, unlike the first, where you really only had 2 powers from the getgo.
The big draw for inFamous was the Karma system. Depending on your actions, you could be good or bad, which changes what powers you get and how people react to you. It's very much the same as it was back then, but it feels like your choices have more of an impact on the overall game than they did before. For instance, the game does have multiple endings, depending on your karma when you make it to the last mission, and they steer the game in two completely different directions.
Gameplay
Of course, what makes a game is NOT its story, but its gameplay. And inFamous 2 plays very well. The best part is that you get to keep most of your powers that you had from the first game right from the beginning, save for a couple. If you don't have them, you will probably get them back fairly quickly. If you beat inFamous 1, you can start off the second game with good or evil karma depending on how you beat it. It will also scan your trophy data and give you extra bonuses. It's nothing deep like Mass Effect 2, but it's a cool addition.
Most of the side missions in the first inFamous were fairly repetitive, and most of them were the exact same (Counter-Surveilance, anyone?). inFamous 2's side missions can get repetitive at times, but a good portion of them are pretty varied. A new addition to the game is UGC, or User-Generated Content, allowing you to play and share custom levels via PSN. The default ones made by Sucker Punch are pretty cut and dry, but the actual user made ones I'm sure will be fantastic.
Melee combat is given a highlight in inFamous 2, with the new weapon called the Amp. It feels pretty satisfying to smash around enemies in slow mo, but it can occasionally cause issues with the camera. Actually, the camera is the game's weakest point, sometimes going crazy and leading to a couple unfair deaths. It's not game breaking, but it's frustrating.
Presentation
You should immediately notice the improvement between inFamous 1 and 2. Gameplay is smoother, character animations are better, and the graphics are more detailed. Visually, it is simply better in every way from the first inFamous.
Along with these visuals comes a pretty surprisingly kickass soundtrack. The music in the first game, I almost never noticed. But here, especially the song that plays when you meet the Beast for the first time, every song is memorable, and I'm glad they stepped it up.
Verdict
So I give inFamous 2 for the Playstation 3 a:
9.5 / 10
This is exactly what a sequel should be: it keeps what was so great about the first game, and adds on to it with much more content. There's a lot of replay value here: dead drops, blash shards, and the only way for you to see everything is if you beat the game at least twice. Add on to that reasonable difficulty, great gameplay, great story, and great presentation, and you've got yourself a winner. The camera can be an issue at times, but that's hardly something that should keep you from playing this game. If you have a PS3, buy it.
So, have you played inFamous 2 for the PS3? What did you think of it? Was I too harsh or too leniant? Did I miss anything? Let me know.
baylaust out.