Graphical Evolution of Infamous Series: From Infamous on PS3 to Infamous: Second Son on PS4

The next installment in Infamous franchise, "Infamous: Second Son" will launch on next-generation Playstation console, "PS4". The previous two installment "Infamous and Infamous 2" arrived on PS3. The incredible journey of Infamous series started in 2009, and since then it has come a long way and this time around the stage is all set for the next installment "Infamous: Second Son" to join the elite group "Next-Gen Game List".

[Godmars290]

Except that its not.

The trailer is what they hope to do, not what will likely be gameplay.

[Raiz]

Sucker Punch has already stated the most footage in infamous second son trailer was actual gameplay
.
so we can expect things to get even more better, reason: so many months are still to go before game's launch

[miyamoto]

yup.

and what really amazes me is that prior to PS4 most first gen games on PS1 PS2 PS3 all looked like games made from scratch game engines.

This time the shown PS4 games looked like developers just made improvements on their already existing high resolution game assets but at the same time showing significant graphical leap.

PS4 is really a game changer.

but the game I am most excited is Media Molecule's full 3-d world Game Creator game using the Sculpture Tool. You can literally make and publish your own 3-D game.

[Angrymorgan]

I didn't realise some of that trailer was actual gameplay.......impressive

[Temporary]

The leap is serious.

[starchild]

When I was watching Sony's conference I remember I kept thinking that the inFamous Second Son trailer must be pre-rendered CGI even though I knew it wasn't. It's crazy to think that games will actually be looking that good.

I hope that developers will realize this generation that they also need high quality graphical fidelity in terms of how clean the image is. It would be a tragedy if they create all these beautiful worlds but then ruin them with screen tearing, jaggies and pop-in.

Obviously Sony's first party games usually don't have screen tearing, but inFamous did have some pretty horrendous jaggies and pop-in.

[linkenski]

Yeah it's in-engine, but when Suckerpunch states that this is actual gameplay they're just saying it because it's pr, and it generates hype for the game. It's a damn lie. It's no more gameplay than the Killzone 2 demo was for PS3 at its unveiling in 2005.

[gta2800]

@Linkenski

You can't really compare the two. The Killzone 2 trailer wasn't that easy to sell. It was really obvious that it was CGI. If you watch the Infamous trailer in HD you will notice that it has slight jaggies...which obviously show that it's running on a real engine so the two aren't comparable. Don't be surprised if the actual game play looks close to the trailer though.

http://www.gamingenthusiast...

Looks legit to me. I'm willing to bet the trailer is just a in game, real time cut-scene.

[GrandTheftZamboni]

I don't know if people still bitching about Killzone 2 E3 trailer played the actual game. The game looked better to me than the 2005 trailer especially the lighting.

[RememberThe357]

FYI, the pic is hella small. You can't make out anything. I'm just assuming it proves your point.

[Ritsujun]

The guy in the trailer was my second son.

[Liefx]

What is this, a picture for ants??

[T3MPL3TON]

It's 2013, you guys still believe that announcement trailers are in game? Come on. Come on. That wasn't in game. Could it look better? Sure but I'll bet a large lump sum that it wont look better. It may in fact be on par but it's not gonna look better. That was pre-rendered. Just like the Killzone vid and the "Deep Down" vid. I know it's fun to get excited because you see that stuff and you believe the lies but in the year 2013 if you're still falling for it. It's time to smarten up. I don't doubt that the games will look great but I do not expect Killzone to look that good and neither should anyone else.

[BitbyDeath]

With everyone arguing what's real and what's not just goes to show how big a jump nextgen really is.

[Nexgensensation]

was how so many people in the UK were being moditored in public areas

[Godchild1020]

That wasn't a target render and if Beyond: Two Souls (PS3), The Last of Us (PS3), God of War: Accession (PS3) and Killzone: Shadow Fall (PS4) is any indication on how great the games will look in the near future, I don't see why Infamous: Second Son (PS4) can't look as good as it does in that video, if not better at release.

[GribbleGrunger]

I know it's difficult to believe that next gen games are going to look that good, but they are ... it's as simple as that. But by the time we get to 2nd and 3rd generation games on the PS4 you'll be wondering why you never believed this was actually in game assets.

[Sarobi]

There was once a time where I thought that no game would ever look as good as Motorstorm(1).. then a year passed and I grew out of my silly phase.

[Godmars290]

I honestly wish they didn't look so real.

Really wouldn't hurt not to see a post-apocalypse or dystopian world. But that's all that gaming has become.

[GribbleGrunger]

It depends entirely on the way they present that world. I know there are a few games with similar themes coming out but that's just a reflection of today's society and the questions people are asking. Films mirror this in many different ways and I see no problem with games taking the same cues ... Games are made by 'people' after all.

I think you're being harsh in saying 'that's all that gaming has become'. When viewed through the wrong end of a telescope the world can feel very small. There's a plethora of experiences to be had out there, although the media do like to force that telescope on us regularly. Big corporations pay for advertising on a lot of big sites (and I'm talking about developers here, not console manufacturers)

From journey to Unfinished Swan, From Uncharted to Braid, from Limbo to Flower ... And next gen will be no different. It's in the eye of the beholder, as they say, and that means taking the responsibility to look past the wall of mediocrity that the internet likes to build around gaming.

Like Cage said: 'If the industry wants to grow up, we ALL need to grow up.'

[gta2800]

It's funny, most of us are impressed by the PS4's graphics, but like 6 years from now PC graphics will be more advanced and many people are gonna be crying for the next generation of consoles lol. I really don't know how far people want to go. Do people expect graphics to get to the point where everything is photo realistic? I think some games would suck if they were photo realistic. Imagine a Mario game like that...I imagine he will look like this:

http://blog.kidrobot.com/wp...

lol

[harrisk954]

I knew it was only a matter of time before someone made the obligatory "PC is better" comment. [shakes head]

[DigitalAnalog]

I believe many of the comments were all inferring from John Carmack's keynote predicting that "next-gen" won't be significant in leap - this opinion being shared by Nintendo's CEO that the next SONY/MS consoles would not be that much of a jump to the Wii U as it was with the Wii and ran with it.

But as one can see post-PS4 press SONY did the unpredictable and actually pushed a console WORTHY of next-gen with only the first-gen graphics making the already cynical consumer questioning the visuals. That's when you know SONY is playing their cards right.

[Riderz1337]

Sucker Punch said most of it was in game. They just used custom camera angles to make it feel like a trailer rather than a gameplay demo. Good try though =)

[infamousinfolite]

It's the same as MGS4 the cutscenes are all in game but they just use camera angles to make it more cinematic.

[smashcrashbash]

Keep current or don't say anything. It has been stated several times that it is actual gameplay shown at a different angle for effect.Premature negativity is the bane of the gaming industry

[MasterCornholio]

Hey big red. I hate to get you all chewed up but the developers said there was gameplay in that trailer.

I apologize for hurting your feelings.

Edit: BTW the haters strategy of claiming that every PS4 footage is CGI is starting to get really old know. I know that Kill zone 2s target render made a lot of people angry but that happened a really long time ago.

Motorola RAZR i

[Lulz_Boat]

fanbot? yep.

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

in game...

[DigitalRaptor]

It's strange how people don't realise that PS4 is capable of CGI-level quality now. Did anyone not see Deep Down and Unreal Engine demo? Final Fantasy 'Agni's Philosophy' real-time demo that we've seen before?

We're at that level now, people.

Second Son was in-game, and developers can achieve in-game rendering like that on a machine with such specs as PS4. Drive Club will also look astounding, and these are only first generation PS4 games. Think of how much better things will look. Incredible.

[broli4000]

Its all highly customized and refined and maxing the engine out on very little. Basically, its not what we'll see in games but just a few things with more detail put into them. When you run more items at 1 time, the detail goes down.

You see this every single time with every tech demo. They are made to do that, which is what you saw last generation as well. In the end, games weren't as detailed as the tech demos showed.

I haven't seen anything from anyone where they are saying the stuff we've seen is run on the PS4 as in-game. We've seen them say in-engine, but that is a different beast.

[showtimefolks]

can't wait, still a long time in development so by the time E3 comes around we may see even a better looking game. and by release it could look stunning

this time less headache of figuring out the Cell and more time for development.

[geddesmond]

Your comment has a touch of saltiness in it. The trailer is what they hope to do?? You know Sonys developers are capable of making games with brilliant graphics except you haven't seen it until the PS4 because the PS3 had major limitations compared to the PS4.

Why can't people be patient and just give developers a chance to show what they can do before saying but yeah the game won't look like that.

[Y_5150]

I think he could have shown some better photos from inFAMOUS 2. I want to see more gameplay for second son!

[Raiz]

want to see more gameplay for second son?... wait till e3 2013...

[Y_5150]

Obviously! I can be impatient sometimes...

[Gamer-40]

Second Son, much much better visuals.

[TheGrimOfDeath]

Mister Sherlock! We have a problem in the "No Shit" department. Come and help us!

[Gamer-40]

Mister Aristotel!
I too busy, many mad man on a streets. I'm very important detective.
Sorry.

[jc48573]

you know, despite the fact that they are showing off all this great stuff, I just don't see or feel the "big leap" as I did back when PS360 were announced.

Just saw the new trailers of Beyond 2 Souls. It just seems to me that PS360 has gotten pretty far and I just don't see developers pushing it very hard for PS4 or at least get a good head start.

[Kevlar009]

Because there isn't. You can only make water and fire so realistic, add so much lighting, particle, and shadow effects. The biggest leaps to make are in human rendering (I'm impressed with I:SS facial structure on the main character) and to add extra layers or fine tuning.

Look to find a lot of little things to add up in the next-gen, not major sweeps. I would expect more graphical leaps further in the generation as we go along, Several reports hint devs aren't barely at about half the available resources. Some PS3 games look amazing enough that the current jump into Next-gen isn't very drastic.

[strickers]

Tell that to Infamous 2 and it's world breaking water splash graphics. Love that game but everytime an object hit water it was like PS1 has popped in for a visit.
Second Son looks considerably better and I2 looked good in general.

[SAE]

Leap must depend on the game vision. If the game will focus on realistic or serious story then they need to make realistic graphics. If the game vision is about the gameplay then make huge worlds and more players in the multiplayer.

Next generation consoles will do these things but it still can mix both because even if console maxed out they still can squeeze more like the ps3. It's indeed a big leap and no one can say other wise. Only blind people would say it's not a big leap because they can't see. Pc is more powerful but it still can't take full advantage of the specs in games. Only few games take 6Gb ddr3 and the games are from current generation. So imagine more polished games that take full advantage of all the power on the ps4 just like the last of us on the ps3..

[mattkelly1991]

Let me help.

http://horrorcultfilms.co.u...

http://www.sggaminginfo.com...

http://static.giantbomb.com...

http://www.4gamer.net/games...

The last one is "In-game" not cinematic though, so... Take it with a grain of salt.

My general rule of thumb for the graphical leap has been:

The cinematic graphics of the previous generation become the gameplay graphics of the current.

So PS2 cinematics look like PS3 gameplay. Just something I noticed.

[Qrphe]

"I just don't see or feel the "big leap" as I did back when PS360 were announced."

I don't know how long you've been around gaming communities but this has happened pretty much every generation. MANY were disappointed with the leap from PS2 to PS3 because many of the Xbox games already looked pretty close to what the 360 and PS3 were trying to do at the time.

[solidboss07]

Infamous is one Sony exclusive that I didn't like. It felt like....' a game', it failed to captivate me as a decent game should. I just couldn't get into its world and to enjoy the experience.
Luckily with Playstation there is plenty of choice, I have PS2 and PS3 hooked up. Don' know where the big Number 4 will sit though.

[PersonMan]

I disagree. The platforming was super fun. The combat was entertaining and the story was pretty good. Infamous 2 was probably my favorite game of this generation. I liked it so much actually, that it's the only game I've ever platinum'd. It makes me sad though, because since I've literally done everything in the game, there's nothing else for me to do. Also, since I cleared the entire city, bad guys hardly ever show up so it's not very entertaining anymore for me. I can basically only run around and shoot civilians.

[PSVita]

Infamous 1, UC2 and Demon Souls are the best games this generation IMO.

[jc48573]

same here. I could definitely see a fan base for it, but it's not a game I really enjoyed. I feel that the game could've gone somewhere because I was constantly reminding myself that Infamous was going to recapture some of the old school style, but it did something else instead. This is also coming from a guy who hasn't even tried Sony's killer title, God of War.

[maniacmayhem]

I also disagree, out of all the exclusives that get praised here only InFamous was the one that I truly enjoyed.

Part 2 was good but I did feel the "been here, done that" kind of vibe but I still enjoyed it. I just wish they would have put Cole up against more super human like enemies and not mutant monsters. That kind of thing reminded me of Cracdown 2.

[Conzul]

I'm more pumped for Second Son than for Killzone. Killzone just isn't the same without Radec.

[Jaqen_Hghar]

A man has seen many mixed opinions but a man thoroughly enjoys the series and the sense of progression from barely knowing what your powers are in Infamous to slowly mastering them and then expanding on them in Infamous 2. A man is pleased they spun off/rebooted as he feels a protagonists story was well concluded.

[sorceror171]

A man is incapable of using first-person pronouns, so he sounds ridiculous.

[PersonMan]

As each generation hits, you're going to see less and less of a difference. The PS4 is going to be mostly small details that make the overall picture look a lot better, but not leaps and bounds better.

Think about it. We're starting to reach a point where some games already look photo-realistic. The textures get sharper, the animations get better, but games aren't going to blow your minds as much graphically as they did in previous generation changes.

I'm excited for advanced lighting in the next gen though. I'm sick of seeing pre-baked shadows and low res shading everywhere.

I'm also sick of seeing so many games with screen tearing. I really hope there's enough power in next generation hardware so that developers don't have to resort to tearing the screen to keep the frame rates up. Screen tearing is the worst thing to ever hit gaming. It ruins the picture far worse than lower resolution textures, and shorter draw distances.

[Jaqen_Hghar]

A man would hope for 60fps by the time Killzone releases and for that to be the standard. A man wants 1080p 60fps, faster loading (in and out of apps included) and multitasking for this gen. Social options are well covered from what a man saw in the press conference.

[strickers]

Those "little" bits will make a bigger difference to the believability of environments and characters than you think.
Physics will make a huge difference and humans will feel less separate from the world they inhabit.
The difference in feel for us will surprise you.

[Godz Kastro]

That's actually not a big difference especially the city view. Don't get me wrong I know the game will obviously look way better. I just think this article did a bad job of showing any graphical advantages :/

[KillrateOmega]

As we go along in the years and console, we'll see less and less improvement. There's only so far you can push the graphic before they look truly photo-realistic. One you reach that point, can you really go any further? No, you can't. This gen we'll see more improvement concerning the finer details and general scale of everything.

That being said, keep in mind that SS is only in the very beginning of the PS4's lifecycle and it has been stated that the devs were barely utilizing 50% of the PS4's power. The graphics will only get better as the years pass in the console gen.

[fabiani]

AFTER LAST GEN EVERYTHING IS IN GAME

[Felonycarclub8]

Second son its all INGAME they just used different camera angles to make a trailer for it.:-) can't wait

[GraveLord]

Impressive. The jump from 1 to 2 was impressive, but the jaggies were horrible.

[Indo]

Second Son trailer had gameplay? I honestly thought at first glance it was all CG or target render. And now knowing most of it was actual gameplay and on running an old dev kit is crazy. Just imagine future games on PS4.

[e-p-ayeaH]

Second Son makes wanting a PS4.

[Hydralysk]

I don't see any gameplay in the video...

Maybe the trailer was done in-engine, but that still didn't look anything like something someone was actually playing.

I like Infamous, but I'll hold my praise until I see him actually running around the world and collecting blast shards like a true hero.

[ziggurcat]

bu-bu-but PS4 games look exactly like PS3 games...

/sarcasm

[TheDivine]

Don't like the character. Looks like Dante from the new DMC. Emo and cocky as hell. Don't know why this is now a popular trend.

[ceballos77mx]

Actually I think he kinda resembles that douche of Cliffy B. But it may be that shot I don't know.

[pody]

Emo is the new black!

[alb1899]

What i saw in the presentation of the PS4 of Infamous wasn't a gameplay, get over it!
Even if at the end it get to look like that in gameplay it wasn't gameplay in the presentation.
Is not that was so amazing that is not possible.....is just that the change of cameras show you that is not.......why will you think it is....i don't even understand.

[UnHoly_One]

Anyone besides me think that the Second Son trailer looked more like a sequel to Prototype than inFAMOUS?

Don't get me wrong, that isn't a negative, I love both series of games.

It's just that the whole Red and Black look that he had going on with his powers really looked like Prototype to me.

[Rhezin]

I thought it WAS Alex Mercer at first, then I saw it was only the kid from Tron:Legacy. I bet they're using his voice and his face for mo-cap.

[dee-ecks]

I hate that dumb ass grin on the new guys face, reminds me of the new (douche bag supreme)Dante in DMC. Other than that it looks bitchin!!!