Hands On: inFamous 2
In the Nix.
Published: 8:30, 07/02/2011 by Alex C [nofi].
8If inFamous was purposefully monochromatic then the sequel is a veritable explosion of colour, the city of New Marais awash with greens and reds rarely found in Cole’s last comic book adventure. Indeed, this is a dazzlingly vivid change of aesthetic, and it’s one that suits the renewed vigor that the game now seems to possess – inFamous 2 seems alive with energy and character, something I thought the first seemed to lack.
It’s not just the graphics, either (which have been improved throughout, with new effects and a lovely draw distance) – Sucker Punch have upped the pacing somewhat and, if our hands on demonstration level is anything to go by, players can expect a more structured, cinematic and engaging storyline too. inFamous had stacks of potential, but never really seemed to live up to expectations – at least from what we’ve played so far, that’s all about to change.
For starters, the split morality paths of the first game are returning, but this time they’re also echoed in the alternative paths you can take through some of the missions. It’s not emergent, evolving gameplay by any stretch but at least you’ve now got options, and in our demo we were tasked with saving a fellow agent via one of two completely different routes: take Zeke’s shooting-heavy approach, or go the way of new character Nix and her appetite for wanton destruction.
And sure, it boils down to either a red or blue blip on your radar, but once your mind is made up the mechanics change completely – I quickly ran through both scenarios and althought they ended up with the same result if this is carried through to the entire game with some semblance of plot development depending on your decisions it’ll push it way above the slightly shallow good/evil aspect of the first. And to Sucker Punch’s credit, both options were great fun.
Also improved is the melee combat – Cole now feels like a superhero and whilst his electrical powers are present and correct, it’s in jumping into a moving truck full of the enemy that the game comes alive – he’s handy with his fists and feet and the visual impact of landing some of the combos is fantastic. Later in the level, when there’s help from the local police, inFamous 2 really ramped up a notch, and the various sub-missions all fitted together nicely.
I’m impressed. The game looks and plays fabulously even at this stage, and most of my qualms over what the developers would fix and what they would leave for the sequel have been eased. The AI co-operative play is smart enough to make a difference, Cole (after a few tweaks) is a fine figure of a man and his improved combat and manoeuvrability is a blessing – you should see him climb buildings now.
Oh, and he’s got some wicked new powers…
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07/02/2011 at 08:53
Member since: Sep 2008
The most important question is: were there blast shards?
07/02/2011 at 08:58
Member since: Jul 2009
Please god, no!
07/02/2011 at 09:00
Member since: Sep 2008
One blast shard. thats all that stands between me and the plat. played the whole game through 5-6 times to try and find it. nope. grrr.
07/02/2011 at 10:45
Member since: Dec 2009
I have the 300 blast shards. The only way to get them is to download maps of the three districts and literally go through every single location marking them off as you go. It’s a few hours work but, if you really want that plat, it’s your best chance. Good luck!
07/02/2011 at 10:48
Member since: Jun 2009
have you tried a blast shard map I think I know which one it will be but not sure if you want a spoiler!
07/02/2011 at 11:07
Member since: May 2009
I too only have 1 left 8( and i used a shard map, so i got pretty bummed out when there were none left and i was still missing one 8(
07/02/2011 at 11:10
Member since: Jul 2009
My one and only platinum. Will I be trying for a second when the sequel is released? Hell no. What a waste of time that was! Far prefer to just enjoy the game itself. :-)
07/02/2011 at 11:19
Member since: Jun 2009
I can pretty much guarantee I know where it may be – Ok, that sounds a bit ‘too’ confident & cocky, but I know the one that I had trouble with was close to the blast site on top of a reasonably large skyscraper & the reason why I had issues with it is because it is that high up, it doesn’t show up when you do the ‘ping’ (with the R3 or L3 – I forget now).
I am still looking forward to this though, blast shards or no blast shards!
07/02/2011 at 11:25
Member since: Apr 2010
There are a couple that don’t show up when you ping, there is one on a wooden stump in the sea as well as the skyscraper one. Look them up online just to check it isn’t one of them! I had about 10 left to find when I finished the game, most of them I found by following the border of the map and the train lines pinging. The rest were all next to eachother next to the park in the first area of the game, I had obviously just missed that section.
07/02/2011 at 11:38
Member since: Jul 2010
I pinged from the top of every single building, the whole train track, all the parks, and all the roads and I still missed 2, which were the ones that were out at sea and thus weren’t obvious against the blue map.
07/02/2011 at 11:50
Member since: Jun 2009
I did all the blast shards without a map. In fact there were no maps available when I got the trophy.
07/02/2011 at 12:20
Member since: Nov 2009
blast shards, those words make me shudder :/
my most celebrated plat trophy, just behind Fallout 3
07/02/2011 at 12:40
Member since: Sep 2008
Ta for all the suggestions lads, I have literally gone through with maps, playing the game from start to finish marking them off as I go, looking in all the tricky places, using video and text guides. It just eludes me and the trophy level sits there at 98% and will do forever more.
07/02/2011 at 14:40
Member since: Dec 2009
Don’t give up! Seriously. If you go through with the RIGHT maps (there are blast shard maps out there that are not complete), ticking them off as you go, you WILL find them all. There is the REALLY high one on top of the tilted skyscraper near the blast site and a couple out in the middle of the sea but the rest are literally just there ready for picking.
07/02/2011 at 17:37
Member since: Apr 2009
yeah as kovacs said. use a map. sure its cheating but god its a time saver
07/02/2011 at 19:02
Member since: Dec 2009
I actually don’t consider it cheating! In my mind the 300 blast shards trophy is one of the most ridiculous slogs I have ever put myself through.
It’s badly designed on multiple levels. For one, it should at least be a Silver. Secondly, 300? Far too many. And, finally, marking them blue on your map when you “pulse” means it’s very hard to see them among a blur of blue neon electricity points.
I stuck with it mostly out of pure spite.
07/02/2011 at 08:57
Member since: Jul 2009
Great stuff, Al. Much like Resistance 3, it appears the devs have addressed the major concerns of the previous outing and are on the brink of offering the fans something great. I really enjoyed inFamous and can’t wait to see what Sucker Punch will deliver this time around.
07/02/2011 at 09:00
Member since: Nov 2008
Brilliant read cant wait to play this loved the first one.
07/02/2011 at 09:05
Member since: Dec 2009
Cool as fuck….
07/02/2011 at 09:17
Member since: Dec 2009
I’m excited for this. Might pick up the first one again.
07/02/2011 at 12:20
Member since: Nov 2009
can get the special edition for about £10 in Game
07/02/2011 at 09:24
Member since: Jul 2009
Only recently tried an infamous demo, didnt get on with it so will probab;y leave this one.
07/02/2011 at 09:29
Member since: Dec 2009
Demo didnt do it justice Spike,cracking game inFamous…..
07/02/2011 at 09:45
Member since: Forever
I got it from LoveFilm, didn’t really like it at all. Repetitive as hell and Cole annoyingly stuck to everything. Looks like things will be better this time around.
07/02/2011 at 16:09
Member since: Dec 2008
Brilliant game. Nothing like it out there.
Sure it had some problems (animation was poor, city a bit lifeless) but for a superhero sandbox, you could lose yourself for hours. Its probably dirty cheap now, take the plunge!
07/02/2011 at 09:49
Member since: Feb 2009
I didn’t get on well with the 1st one and I’m not sure why. I really enjoyed the story development and the way the story was told, but that’s all that kept me playing as I found the actual gameplay itself to be very boring. If that’s been property addressed here than it may end up good, otherwise it won’t be for me.
07/02/2011 at 10:24
Member since: Feb 2011
Nice read, another game this year I’ve had to add to my ever growing list.
07/02/2011 at 10:41
Member since: Aug 2009
I enjoyed the first, so hopefully this sequel will just improve on my levels of enjoyment.
Don’t know if it’s a day 1 purchase though, I don’t think anything is at the moment with the huge amount of great games comming!
07/02/2011 at 11:07
Member since: Oct 2008
Fantastic. Glad that answered my question about the good and evil paths.