inFamous 2

I came to New Marais, I saw the need for a hero, I conquered all enemies.  But was it fun?

inFamous 2 didn’t really deliver on my request for shades of grey when dealing with moral issues.  Instead, in the sequel, it’s more or less business as usual: save the civilians, or kill the civilians.  What these clear moral choices offer is the opportunity to really exaggerate the qualities of good or evil on your play through.  I suppose this sits well with the comic book feel to the game, but I believe gamers are ready for an experience a little more nuanced.

Gameplay wise, I can’t really fault Sucker Punch because they deliver a nice sandbox city that you can roam and explore outside of missions until your heart’s content.  Zapping enemies with your electric bolts and throwing lightning grenades is as fun and as satisfying as it has always been, and zipping along power lines and flying about with your static thrusters feels fantastic.

Except there’s something about inFamous 2 that I don’t quite buy into.  The whole game is about becoming powerful enough to battle the Beast, but I feel as if you’re spending half of the game earning back some of the powers you lost at the beginning (even though you’re told otherwise).  Admittedly you don’t lose all of your powers, but as the game progresses through inFamous 2, I just don’t feel like Cole is getting significantly more powerful.  You could say he’s Cole, version 1.3.

What doesn’t help in this regard is *spoiler alert* the ice soldiers.  You’re effectively combating other super heroes and super villains in this game, and to boot some of them can even fly!  But as Cole, you can’t.  This is a niggle as whilst I can’t fault the gameplay, you’re not left feeling like the most powerful person in the game.

inFamous 2 delivers a couple of nice twists in the storyline, and combined with the gameplay, you’ve got a solid game.  The leap in graphics is particularly noteworthy: the way the lightning dances and flows around Cole in the dark is a highlight, and amongst the I would therefore have to give inFamous 2 a respectable 8.5 / 10.  It’s great fun!

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