Not many super-hero games were a success. Superman 64 is the biggest example of how you don't make a super-hero game in your whole life. There are still bad games like Spider-Man 3, Superman Returns, and Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters. That doesn't mean that there weren't great games as evidenced by Batman Arkham series and Spider-Man 2.
Now, developers are trying to make original games. Prototype and inFamous being the most popular ones currently, and they were released on the same year which increased the competition between them while Batman Arkham Asylum was thrown in the mix. 2009 was the year when that genre has risen in popularity and critical acclaim.
Sucker Punch succeeded with inFamous as evidenced by Sony Computer Entertainment's support for the intellectual property and gave it a sequel which increased the franchise's franchise even more.
inFamous was critically and publicly acclaimed for its original characters and lore along with sandbox setting and most of all, morality system. Karma is what made inFamous unique and original from other games and it worked perfectly.
inFamous 2 improved the sandbox setting with a new city, added new mechanics for combat, and most important of all, improved Karma and story-line. There weren't any plot twist similar to the original game but it was still good as it received critical acclaim and good sales which made promising results for inFamous Second Son's existence.
Now, Sucker Punch didn't pull any punches with inFamous Second Son thanks to Playstation 4's architecture and it was obvious with shockingly great visuals, great voice acting, and somewhat smooth gameplay. It is an awesome game, but it does have some issues and most of them are minor. I will still say that this is the best Playstation 4 game ever made currently.
OVERVIEW:
inFamous Second Son is a super-hero action adventure game developed by Sucker Punch, the developers of previous inFamous games and the well know Sly Cooper franchise. It was published by Sony Computer Entertainment as it is an exclusive game for Playstation 4.
STORY:
inFamous Second Son is set in the fiction Seattle in 2016, seven years after the New Marais incident in inFamous which resulted to Cole's sacrifice and supposedly killing off all the conduits around the world which turned out to be false in this game. We are playing as Delsin Rowe, a town delinquent who likes to express his "feelings" through stencil art and well, being a trouble maker which annoys his older brother, Reggie Rowe.
Delsin got his new-found smoke power through one of the conduits who was one of the prisoners in D.U.P's armored truck. D.U.P, which is an abbreviation for Department of Unified Protection, is a government agency that are tasked to capture and possibly kill conduits around Seattle, even though they have conduit abilities in their disposal.
The story itself was actually short and weaker than the previous inFamous games in terms of morality. I don't see huge differences in moral consequences besides karmic powers, pedestrians' opinions about Delsin, whether your companions subdue or kill enemies, the companion mission which are only two, and the final mission and its ending. It is unfortunate not to see a great story but I should say that character interactions were touching, and Delsin himself was great in this game with his laid back personality and being "douchy" for sake of having fun with himself unlike Cole. Other than that, the game's main missions were short, predictable, and kind of weak.
GAMEPLAY:
In terms of gameplay, Sucker Punch delivered their promise for a fun game and "enjoy your powers" as I did indeed enjoy my powers.
Delsin has an array of powers in his hands and two of them are smoke and neon which were know for the general public before the release of the game. I will not mention other powers since they could be considered spoilers for some people but I will say this, one power will surprise you while the other was expected to be obtained.
The melee aspect of the combat system has been heavily improved comparing to inFamous 2 as Delsin uses his chain whip to attack his enemies and just dash or teleport to another one as he continues his body count. It was actually smooth and fun as I see enemies flown away from the whip's force against their bodies after the final hit during the combo. Whether it will be smoked or dimming with neon lights, the chain whip is a great weapon to use in this game.
The ranged aspect has been improved too with better aiming which doesn't have the game's camera to the shoulder like previous inFamous games unless you are zooming onto the enemy, and each power has different ranged abilities to use. You could be slow but effective with smoke or sniping with neon and others with different powers. Either way, you will have to use strategy with which power to use as they have different outcomes against the enemies and this a good thing since every power is unique and not the same as the previous one.
The bosses were unique and fun to battle in this game. Yeah, there could be some bosses that have repeating patterns but they were still challenging if you mess up one time. You should still focus on their movements and attacks or you will have a bad time. Also, if you feel that your attacks don't do anything, then experiment with abilities or just be patient since they do damage, it just takes time.
The free-running element is back as Delsin can climb buildings and terrain but like previous games, it can be kind of wacky when you try to jump on the object you want to climb. Sometimes it lets you climb that, or it chooses an entirely different object to climb on. I just used neon's dash ability to run around Seattle and only used climbing element when it was needed during some missions. Most of the time it works well, but it is still as annoying as in the previous games sometimes.
You also collect blast shards, which appeared in the previous inFamous games, to upgrade your arsenal. Whether it would be better capacity for some of your abilities or getting new ones, it is still necessary to collect them if you want to go toe and toe against stronger enemies which there are acceptable amount of variety on them. They could be normal soldiers, or a conduit who can be a challenge with tough concrete armor and uses a mini-gun against you. The game can challenge you, and I like how it challenged me throughout the play-through.
There are also different abilities for different karmic reputation. You could either have an ability to slow down time while using your neon ability if you are a hero, or turn your enemies to ashes with your smoke if you are infamous. The special move is also different in terms of your karmic reputation. If you are a hero, you should not do mistakes while subduing your enemies by avoiding killing them, and murdering innocent citizens. Being infamous, however, encourages you to go ballistic and kill everyone you see to obtain the ultimate move. The game rewards you when you are being either good or evil, which is great for games that revolves on morality. I just hoped that it would have better effect in the story.
GRAPHICS:
The graphics are just brilliant in this game thanks to Playstation 4's capabilities. The effects while draining neon lights and dashing to buildings, and the textures on the streets, buildings, and terrains are just astonishing. I could not believe my eyes as I just wander around Seattle and have my eyes wide open while climbing and using my powers. They also did a good job on lighting as I get out from a dark building and have light blinding my screen for some seconds just like in real life. Sucker Punch made a great job as they took care of every single detail in the city, and powers.
The facial animations are also great to look at and see the emotions spreading through the characters' faces. Whether it would be joy or anger, you will see it on their faces in each moment, and I loved them.
SOUNDS:
The music was really well done in this game as I was hooked during combat encounters, and calm during my exploration in Seattle. It didn't fail to deliver excitement when I battle enemies and bosses in this game, and I would listen to the official soundtrack during my free time.
The voice acting was great as Troy Baker did a great job being a delinquent with Delsin. It felt that Delsin was having fun, being outraged, but most of the time just enjoying himself with powers with his silly jokes in a genuine manner of tonality. Other characters did a good job but they didn't steal the show as Troy's Delsin did, and I enjoyed Delsin's voice and character in inFamous Second Son.
OVERALL:
This game is a must have for your Playstation 4 is you have one, or planning to get one. The graphics were great, the gameplay was incredibly fun, the sounds were good to listen to, but the story was weak, predictable and short comparing to other inFamous games, along with morality in the game's story.
If you don't nitpick the game's story, you will have a blast in this game with unique powers and a city to explore around. It will be worth your money, and a reason to buy a Playstation 4 now.
inFAMOUS Second Son was one of PS4's best exclusives, but does it hold up a decade later?
100%, locked 60fps and still look great all these years later, same with the expansion, definitely worth a look if people haven't played it yet, not the best games ever made but a good experience, hopefully a new infamous gets released
Never was my favorite infamous, but it was definitely a graphics showcase early on PS4. Still plays well with the unlocked frame rate.
Still remember getting hyped about this game nearing release. Funny because I never even got a PS4. Jumped from PS3 to PC so I never played it ahahaha
Its a good game. But thats it. Congratulations you made the best choice. I dream to have a great PC one day.
Graphically It's a absolutely stunning game that still holds up today.
Didn't have all that much depth to it forcing you to play though twice for a platinum trophy a good and bad run it was a little disappointing how similar those were Delsin would be like I'm not doing that for you in a cutscene but the cutscene would play out and force you to do it anyway just as you would of in a good run
I did like the story however it got a lot of complaints back in the day people hated playing as Delsin instead of cole despite Coles story being wrapped up.
Overall though the map wasn't overly saturated with useless points of interest there was some collectibles and things to find but nothing compared to a Ubisoft game.
I think it was a good game if a little hollow I've played it through around 4 times now since it's so short.
Also it's DLC was great a full story expansion
GB: "With this feature, we run down 15 of the most underrated games on the PS4 that never received the love and appreciation they truly deserve."
I've played 15, and I wouldn't consider any of those underrated TBH. Some of them are pretty high rated.
I. Not seeing anything on that list underrated. I never played concrete genie, the ASTRO vr,and one other but I forgot the name already. Nothing on there was underrated at all imo.
There’s only 4 of those games I never played, and no most of those aren’t underrated.
GB: "There's just something special about the games that could be, and this feature gushes about 15 games that we would love to see on the PS5."
Update: Here is my inFamous SS review but there are some things I wanna say about planned game reviews.
I will not review Thief as I didn't have any pleasure for playing it and I don't have that determination to complete it so I will cancel that.
I need more time with MGSV Ground Zeroes since there could be stuff that would be added when I explore more into the game. I am aiming to at least get to 100% completion but if I can't then at least I will do majority of the stuff until then.
Hope that y'all will enjoy the review :D
In one play through how long is this game?
pretty good, organized review, I might pick this game up in the near future.
Uh... 9.7? Come on man...