Infamous 2
Mutant ninja circles
Review When it comes to superhero videogame sequels, it pays to be honest about your expectations. With the most compelling elements exhausted in the original – namely the collection and mastering of superpowers – all you can realistically hope from a sequel is one of two clichés. Will it go for the cheap shot and rob you of your powers, forcing you to rebuild your toolset from scratch? Or will it leave them untouched, presenting you instead with fresh challenges and more powerful foes?
"Are we clear?" Crystal mate
Infamous 2 settles for the latter. And it's a decision that has mixed results. Starting out with most of Cole MacGrath's electric superpowers intact, the game relies on a change of scenery and a new, seemingly invincible nemesis called The Beast to drive interest.
After failing to prevent The Beast from destroying Empire City – the New York-alike setting for Infamous – Cole flees south to New Marais (New Orleans) to prepare for a final showdown. As The Beast rampages down the Eastern seaboard, you begin a desperate race to augment Cole's powers sufficiently to master the Ray Field Inhibitor, a device that will weaken The Beast and provide you with a chance to defeat it.
Who said white men can't jump?
Complicating matters – while providing the foundations of the sandbox gameplay – New Marais is a raging battlefield in which you're caught in a bewildering triangular crossfire. On one side are grotesque mutant freaks risen from the surrounding swamplands. On another, the Conduits, a mysterious super-powered army. And finally, there's the Militia, a group of well-armed locals hell-bent on purging the earth of all mutants.
Next page: Mission creep
COMMENTS
level backwards
Wouldn't a superhero sequel be the perfect setting to try out reverse levelling?
You start out a master of all your powers but each battle takes its toll, you slowly start to lose strength and stamina over time as your exhaustion from battle wrecks your physique. With that you lose grip on your more powerful attacks as you're simply not in shape to perform them.
This then ever increases the challenge throughout the game, instead of becoming a near unstoppable behemoth by the mid-point, battling tanks away as if they were flies, you have to become more tactical in your engagements - should I risk fighting that horde or work my way around, conserving strength for those unavoidable confrontations..
I suppose adding a dimension of realism to a man who can shoot lighting from his bare hands (not bear hands as I initially wrote, he would be too awesome for one game) might not gel that well though :)
Screenshot query
Bottom of page 2 - isn't that one of the early missions from the first game? When you're still being introduced to climb+shoot they have you get that food drop down, and then you can choose whether or not to slaughter the crowd that comes looking. That square is definitely Empire City.
Not sure about this one
I've only played the demo of Infamous 2 whereas I had played the original through a couple of times (good and evil) but my immediate feeling was that the controls felt like they had been overcomplicated. I didn't like the way that at least a couple of the buttons now seem to have dual functions (L3 I think is one - depending if you are in range of a power source or not?), and they seem to have done away with the standard attack lightning "bolt" and gone for some sort of ball of electricity.
I was going to buy the new version, but based upon the experience of the demo I decided to wait until I can get it cheaply, probably as a preowned copy.
original game is fun
And pretty good for free
thanks Sony
Tempted to buy this for the Uncharted 3 multiplayer beta code
@Greg J Preece
Yes it is - Cole doesn't have his big thwacky prongs in it, which is another thing the reviewer failed to mention.
The melee combat is much improved, making it more fun to get right into the middle of the group and start beating them with your electrified metal tuning fork!
And your powers DO get taken away from you. I still don't have my shield or missile attacks back yet - sure they're given back quite quickly, but I'd say it's more the way the game works now that makes things easier, rather than the full arsenal of Cole's powers.
Also, no mention of the different choices? The good/evil missions are far better than last time around.
I remember when game reviews actually talked about the features of the game, rather than just a select few of them heavily layered with the reviewers opinion.
Score's probably about right, but I'd add another 10% just for the joy of moving around the city on its own.
It's fun. That's all the qualifier I need.
