Cole MacGrath returns to
action in the 2011 sequel to Sucker Punch's “Infamous” franchise.
If you haven't read my review of the first game you can do so here.
We start off with a recap
of what happened in the last game, and immediately the first thing
you will notice is that we have a different voice playing Cole. This
time we have Eric Ladin, best known for his role as January Jones'
brother in “Mad Men.” Sucker Punch brought him in because they
felt they needed someone who could perform Cole's physical reactions
while doing his voice to best utilize the new motion capture
technology.
Cole tells us that the
reason he was given these powers to begin with was so that he could
stop a great and powerful beast that's coming to destroy the world
through visions provided by a man named Kessler, who initially gave
him the package that wiped out five city blocks of Empire City in
the first place. Kessler is a dick. Kessler is also an alternative
version of Cole from the future.
A month later Cole was
approached by a woman named Lucy Kuo, and as luck would have it she
knows all about “The Beast,” but don't be suspicious or anything.
We wouldn't want that. She's tell Cole about a friend named Dr.
Wolfe who worked on the “Ray Sphere” prototype (the device that
gave Cole his powers) and that he was capable of amplifying his
powers to prepare for the Beast, but they have to travel to New
Marais, the setting for “Infamous 2.”
Cole, “I have to stop
the Beast.”
Zeke, “That's a stupid
name.”
Cole, “Yes it is.”
Zeke, “How are we
still friends again?”
Cole, “No idea.”
Lucy, “I happen to
know all about the Beast.”
Cole, “I don't find
this the least bit suspicious.”
Zeke, “Hey, Cole, you
gonna hit that?”
Cole, “Shut up, Zeke.”
Not
actual game dialog
Before
they could ship out however, everything suddenly goes to hell in a
hand basket, and the Beast himself makes an appearance!
No,
not that one.
That
one.
The
city is set on fire and we get our first taste of gameplay. Nothing
new to report with the controls; everything is exactly as they were
in the first game. Cole's lightning zap is a bit more impressive
this time around, as well as the shockwave. There's a lot of hand
holding at the beginning. You'll be told to press the L1 button
even when you're watching a clip unfold and can't do anything.
“Infamous 2” takes another cue from RPGs by having Cole too weak
to face the big bad and he gets his ass kicked with Empire City
being destroyed. The rest of the game puts emphasis on the fact that
“the Beast” is coming.
I
can happily report that “Infamous 2” does away with all the
repetitiveness of its predecessor; the difficulty hasn't gone down
an inch even on the easiest setting, but what are you going to do?
Cole's core abilities you earned from the first game such as gliding,
healing the wounded, and draining people of their life force carry
over. Trophies you earned from the first game can also be carried
over giving you a bonus of good or evil karma depending on how you
played the previous installment; this will affect how some people
will interact with you once you make it to New Marais. New abilities
include, but are not limited to, Arc Restraints that can be
used to hold down criminals to give you good karma, and cars you can throw at people.
Zeke
invents a new melee weapon called the “Amp” that Cole can channel
his powers through making it easier to take down enemies at close
quarters. With each new swing of the “Amp” builds up a meter and
then you can finish them off with a special move. The Amp will change
appearance depending on whether or not you perform good or evil
deeds. In other words, it will look pretty when you're good because
evil people can't have nice things. Cole's clothes will also change
when you max out either karma.
Karma
hasn't changed much from the first game either; you still have
moments where you'll get to do something good or evil and can find
chances to perform either deed waiting around the city: muggings,
objects about to explode, healing civilians, killing enemies or
restraining them for police. It's all black and white (blue and red
in this case) with little to no middle ground and at best you'll
want to play the game twice to see both outcomes.
Dammit,
Cole! Stop making the lights blink!
Climbing
is the same “press X repeatedly” chore that it was in the first
game, only this time you can zip across power lines from rooftop to
rooftop. Power lines make it easier to catch up to certain people
during chases.
Not
long after arriving at New Marais will the game pester you about
logging into the PlayStation Network. The online play comes with
“User-Generated Content” that allows players to create their own
missions from scratch, and all the ones available online are by
“Sucker Punch.” It's a clever way to allow the developers to add
more content to the game without going through the work of DLC, but
due to the limitations of the feature it isn't worth it in the long
run. You don't have to log into your PSN account, but the
game is just going to keep bugging you until you do.
“Infamous 2” retains
the comic book inspired narrative they introduced in the first game.
They kept the same artistic designs for the characters and
locations, but it is immensely improved upon. It's amazing what a
two years difference can do. Ladin keeps a trace of Cottle's
performance, except not as grungy.
The voice acting has
been improved upon this time around too: Cole, Zeke, Lucy, all your
main characters give good performances this time around and I'm not
left feeling like it's missing something.
Glitches this time
around aren't as “in your face” as they were in the first game.
The only one that comes to mind is when an enemy got stuck in the
table after I laid him out on the floor. I'm actually proud of that
one.
Conclusion: “Infamous
2” improves upon many aspects of “Infamous” while unfortunately
carrying over some of the problems. If you were
a fan of the first game then you won't care about those. If you
didn't like “Infamous” then “Infamous 2” offers a better
gaming experience all around.
ToriJ
says: Try it.
Note: I'll be moving to Wednesdays starting next week.
Note: I'll be moving to Wednesdays starting next week.
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