Enjoy your power.The tagline for inFamous: Second Son has been “enjoy your powers.” It’s on the box, it’s in the commercials and I’m happy to say that it’s a tagline that is very easy to follow. inFamous is an incredibly fun game to play with inventive new powers that far surpass its predecessors.
Second Son tells the story of Delsin Rowe, a delinquent who lives outside Seattle, who must work with his brother Reggie to save citizens of his home. One of the game’s first major victories is the relationship between Delsin and Reggie. They have more chemistry than Cole and Zeke did in the first two games and any scene with them together will leave you with a smile on your face. While the core story falls apart a bit in the final act, Delsin and Reggie’s relationship keeps things fun and interesting throughout.
Thanks to Delsin’s character this installment in the inFamous franchise feels like a step in a new direction for the series. Both Delsin and the story feel different than the typical superhero story that Cole went through in the first two iterations. Delsin loves his powers, he already felt different then other people and this only helped solidify that. The game becomes much more fun to play when the character you are playing as is having just as much fun in the city as you are.
The story of the inFamous games has definitely gotten stronger over time, but one place that it has always succeeded was with its gameplay. Second Son reaches a new level of fun by offering the player a more creative selection of powers than the electrifying powers Cole had in the first two.
Instead of traditional elements, Second Son grants Delsin the ability to harness the power of smoke and neon. These are just a couple of the powers Delsin can get his hands on but using them against the DUP forces is as fun the first time as it is the hundredth time.
Each of the powers attained feels vastly different from the others. From how Delsin goes about fighting the enemies to how he traverses Seattle, the variety will keep you fighting until every last enemy has fallen in countless different ways.
The smoke power is the first that you’ll get to play with in Seattle. Using this power, Delsin can move around the city by dashing through air vents and shooting into the sky. The smoke power represents the most balanced of all the powers. Neon powers, on the other hand, offer more speed and precision than any other power at Delsin’s disposal. With the ability to slow time for a few seconds to subdue an enemy, the neon power makes it much easier to take out enemies one on one while also accruing karma points in the process. I also found the neon power’s “super speed” to be the most fun, efficient and visually impressive way to get around the city.
The powers also offer a lot of beauty and character to the game visually. Second Son is one of the best, if not the best, looking game out for the PS4 right now. From the second you start, the game will blow you away with its brightly colored areas and great animations.
More than once I found myself just standing atop a building and looking out over Second Son’s Seattle. The game is filled with moments where you will just want to stop and look around at how great this game looks. And boy are you in for a treat when you use Delsin’s neon powers at night. It’s just one more way the gameplay and the visuals are working hand in hand to give the player one of the best experiences out for the PS4 right now.
Experience points also take a departure in Second Son. In its place, the game uses the blast shards to grant you the points to level your character up. Replacing the experience points with the blast shards makes it easier to level up at your own pace while also encouraging even more exploration through Seattle.
The one area the game falters pretty badly is with the morality choices. These boil down to five storyline choices throughout the game. The problem is that they don’t feel like that big of choices, and honestly some of them flat out aren’t. If you choose enough one way or the other, the opposite morality choice even becomes locked to you until your morality heads more in that direction. That means, unless you want to do a lot of backtracking, the whole idea of choice in the game disappears completely.
Closing Comments:
inFamous: Second Son is a game you should want to play. Sucker Punch knows how to give you power and let you have fun with it in a lot of different ways. Each power set feels unique and worth learning how to master while the new characters Delsin and Reggie make you want to keep progressing through the story. Second Son makes it fun to enjoy the power it gives you, so go do it. This game will put a smile on your face.
