Yesterday, via the handy medium of Twitter, several people suggested that, in light of the newly improved offerings on PlayStation Plus, it makes sense to take a look at some of those games. Obviously this started last week when we looked at Darksiders, and I see no reason not to continue it. Therefore, this week’s game is the rather interesting inFamous 2, one of the games that’s available for the rest of the year.
This was the game I was most excited about when Sony announced the updates to PlayStation Plus during their E3 Conference, and the one that will (at some point) tip me over into getting a subscription to Sony’s service. I don’t know what it is that appeals to me about Cole McGrath’s adventures so much, although the Prototype series has a similar draw. Maybe it’s the pretty obvious comic book overtones that both series’ take, or maybe it’s just the ability to do something more than drive a car around an open world.
Sadly though I’ve yet to experience the inFamous series beyond the demo of the sequel they were showing at EGX in 2010. That will all change when I can afford a Plus subscription, but for now I’ll have to turn to Peter for a view on Cole’s second outing.
In his review of the game he picked out the writing as being worthy of praise, in particular he felt supporting cast were much more rounded than in the first game. He was also fond of the user generated content system, saying that it had “almost unlimited potential”. On the negative side of things he did find a few glitches in the game, and wasn’t particularly impressed by the way it controlled when trying to climb ladders or posts.
Overall he was relatively impressed though, awarding the game an 8/10. If you’re more a fan of his fancy words than his ability to assign numbers to things, here’s an extract from the review:
inFamous 2 takes the flawed brilliance of its predecessor and improves upon almost every aspect. Missions are slightly more varied and characters are much more rounded. It breeds empathy and it encourages experimentation in the ways supporting characters play off the protagonist and each other. You will feel like a superhero – or villain – by the time you have built your powers back up and some of the new abilities you evolve make exploration and combat all the more enjoyable. Add to all that the excellent and intuitive user generated content and you’ll see that what Sucker Punch have delivered is rightly deserving of its place among the greats of PlayStation 3 exclusive gaming.
So with all of that said, it’s time to ask you what you thought of the game. Does electrocuting people thrill you, or did you find it dull? Did you enjoy the way Cole’s powers are mixed into the combat, or would you rather have just zapped people endlessly from afar?
No matter where you sit on the spectrum of feelings towards inFamous 2, it’s time to share your thoughts. If you feel like taking part you simply need to write your opinions into the handy comment box below. Once you’ve done that remember that you need to add a rating on the Buy It, Bargain Bin It, Rent It, Avoid It scale.
If you do feel like taking part the deadline is Sunday afternoon. Any later than that and your comment may miss out on inclusion in Monday’s verdict article.
stillirise6257
BUY IT, or just get PS+, cos its worth it, even if you get the 3 months for 11 squids and then cancel it its an all round bargain, through one play through and doing the side missions, dead drops, blast shards, plus some UGC your looking at 20 hours. Overall its a great game and my personal view of the first one was ammense entertainment, it was solid and IF2 is even better.
But as i said, if your not keen on Plus or your reluctant to try it i would seriously do what i suggested to all my friends, get it for the 3 months then cancel details so it cant take your spondoolies again. Then just see if you appreciate what it has to offer. I alone had Plus, but i never bought darksiders, warhammer, infamous 2 or motorstorm apocolypse so i was happy. But 11 squids for 5 games worth a play through and in 3 months its easily done. Worth a punt right?
hazelam
buy it, buy it, BUY IT.
i may have said this before, but that’s how you make a sequel.
they’ve improved the game in just about every area, making an already good game even better.
the controls are a little on the loose side, and Cole will sometimes grab onto a building when you don’t want him to, but that’s a minor issue that you learn to accommodate pretty quickly.
with Cole’s new weapon, the amp, melee combat is far more fluid and enjoyable then the original.
the game also features a decent script, with a few unexpected twists and a great voice cast.
the morality system is a bit black and white but it works with the comic book story.
the New Orleans inspired setting of New Marais is also a great backdrop for the game with plenty of interesting old buildings to climb and later on a flooded section of the city providing an extra challenge.
i case you hadn’t guessed, maybe i was too subtle. ^_^ but my vote is for, buy it.
the only reason i didn’t buy it before was being short on cash.
thankfully it worked out ok because now i got to play it with my plus sub.
a word of warning though for potential plus subscribers wanting to play this, it’s about 15 gigs, so clear some space.
but damn, is it worth it.
Rocket_345
Buy It. One of my favourite ever games. Top quality story, Great visuals, great gameplay rounds to one damn good game. Worth buying PS+ only for this game.
element666
Absolutly brilliant game!It much improves on all the first games flaws,which made for a great experience. visually really nice as well.I was also great with Nix and Kuo!
But like someone said above,the possibility of a third is unlikely.
My only quarrel was that it was s tad short,but that could be because I played it non stop!lol
Buy it/ps plus it!
Forrest_01
RE: the 3rd inFamous
Never say never (learnt that from a Jedi recently!) – How many times in films & games have we seen someone not directly related to an ‘incident’ become involved in some way, or a long lost sibling or child comes looking for retribution etc.
Basically, what i am saying is that if a sequel is greenlit, writers will find a way.
plutoniumdragon
I felt overall that this was a much easier game than the first one, so if you got frustrated with the first one this may still be a good choice.
I’d rate it as buy, even better now it’s cheaper :)
As for a third sequel, one of the two endings does sort of suggest that they were at least leaving the door open.
The other ending pretty much makes a sequel pointless.
MadBoJangles
Loved the original.
Never tried the 2nd one until it became free with PS+.
I had been losing a bit of the old gaming mojo til I played it.
Really really good game and the shards are not as much of a bastard to find this time.
BUY IT.
jikomanzoku
After an average but fun original I didn’t really know what to expect from this sequel, but have been very pleasantly surprised indeed. Fluid movement and combat systems, coupled with some half decent writing and acting, greater variety and a graphical overhaul make this one of my favourite titles of recent months. worthy of the 90 day PS+ subscription alone so a resounding BUY IT, from me.
sabbat7001
I bought Infamous 2 the last day of the Ultimate Collection sale which means had I waited 24 hours I could have gotten it for free with PS+. While I was certainly resentful of this I’m trying to be objective. Had I bought it on day 1 for full price I’d have been very happy with the purchase.
Like other franchises such as Assassins Creed and Uncharted, it took the flawed original and buffed out (most of) the dents and scratches to bring a much more polished experience. I still occasionally had issues with Cole turning the wrong way and grabbing the wrong ledge but not so much that it became a frustration.
I won’t go into detail about moral choices in the game because I don’t want to spoil any specifics for potential games but I played through once as good Cole with his fancy Jedi blue powers and once as Bad Cole with evil Sith red powers and while the core game remains the same, there are several significant story/mission differences and I also approached each play through very differently so it didn’t feel like a slog the second time through. It was fresh again.
I think the comparison to Prototype is understandable and to a certain degree justified, however having played both Infamous games and both Prototype games I would see they both stand on their own without one copying the other. You could argue that they’re the same game is the same way you could argue that Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 are the same game… sure, on the surface but anyone who has played them both knows they are very different animals, and I think the same applies here.
In conclusion, again, as someone who could have got it for free with a little patience, Buy this game (or a PS+ subscription).
2ofclubs
I can’t understand what the fuss is with inFamous 2. Most of the action feels like a standard issue third person shooter with lightening versions of a pistol, grenade and rocket launcher all present and accounted for. Not only that but Cole feels so underpowered it’s embarrassing. I know he’s not invincible but how can he defeat ‘The Beast’ when a few gunshots wipe him out. Sure, he gets more powerful when the game progresses but it just felt far too little too late. Sorry but it’s just not for me.
Rent it, I seem to be the minority so you’ll probably love it.
bowie
I can understand where you are coming from but I felt that Sucker Punch did a good job of managing progression. Late in the game you feel significantly more powerful than at the start because you do start from a relatively fragile state. That weakness makes you feel so much more powerful when you hit the storm section where you can call down the most powerful lightning strikes without limit. If you always had that much power, the game would have lacked challenge and been boring. That said, if you are playing a super hero game and don’t feel super, I can see why that would be a turn off.
I had a great time with both Infamous and Infamous 2. I thought Sucker Punch realised two excellent super hero games. Which is no easy feat given how often super hero games go awry. I think Sucker Punch also managed to achieve something that is infrequently done in most videogames and that is create interesting and satisfying endings to their games. I highly recommend playing both Infamous games and preferably play them back to back. Buy it.
2ofclubs
Perhaps the badass-ery bar was set too high by that ‘other’ superhero franchise – Prototype. That made you feel powerful straight away and only ramped up the challenges as you progressed. To me that’s a better way to do it but then inFamous felt more grounded in humanity as opposed to both Prototype games that were great fun but with incredibly poor stories.
2ofclubs
Perhaps the badass-ery bar was set too high by that ‘other’ superhero franchise – Prototype. That made you feel powerful straight away and only ramped up the challenges as you progressed. To me that’s a better way to do it but then inFamous felt more grounded in humanity as opposed to both Prototype games that were great fun but with incredibly poor stories.