When Sucker Punch released Infamous in 2009, I bought it on release day and beat it in two marathon sessions. The third-person, open-world game had its flaws, but Cole's electric journey from delivery boy to super powered hero (or villain if you prefer) resonated with me personally and still stands as one of the PlayStation's best exclusive titles. And for the most part, Infamous 2 delivers the same great open-world action as the first game even though the game's narrative and missions don’t always hit the right notes.
If you haven't played the original Infamous, then many of Infamous 2's story beats won't pack the emotional punch that Sucker Punch intended. Infamous 2 frequently alludes to events in the original game. I won't give any specifics examples because they could be considered spoilers. Just know that new comers can play Infamous 2 and have a good time, but by not playing the first game, they will miss out on some important character and narrative development.
Much like Commander Shepard in Mass Effect, Cole's first journey in Infamous was merely preparation for a bigger test. Infamous 2 kicks off with the looming threat from the first game---simply known as the Beast---attacking Empire City. Cole answers the call and heads off to battle. In short, the Beast kicks Cole's butt. Cole and his best friend Zeke retreat south to New Marais in search of new powers. In New Marais, Cole runs into new problems with the local militia who are out to purify the world of the super powered "demons." Cole also learns that he can strengthen his powers with blast cores. But the blast cores (not to be confused with blast shards) are spread throughout New Marais and it's up to Cole and Zeke to find them before the Beast makes his way south.
Cole also meets Nix and Kuo who, through different events, end up with super powers. These new minor characters are pretty bland and basically amount the angel and the demon on your shoulder that many may remember from older cartoons. Nix is constantly pushing you to cause chaos and havoc and her attitude is matched with---surprise, surprise-- fire powers. Kuo is the 'by the book' good girl and she wields ice powers. While these characters are good devices for giving Cole new powers, they end being one dimensional props that simplify an already too simple morality system.
But Infamous 2 isn't just about story, which is a good thing because the game-play is really awesome. The game feels just like the original. If you hated Infamous, then Infamous 2 isn't going to change your mind about the series. Conversely, if you loved Cole's first outing, chances are you will enjoy Infamous 2. Dead Drops, blast shards, and stunts are all back, and Sucker Punch did a great job of taking all of the main elements from the first game and tweaking them for the better. Take stunts as an example: in the first game they just gave you little experience bonus for performing them, which really wasn't much of an incentive. In Infamous 2, stunts are used as requirements for unlocking new powers. Want to upgrade your electro-rockets? Then you will need to perform a stunt like getting ten head shots or reflecting a rocket back at an enemy. No one stunt is too hard. They just serve as a good way to teach the player some of the game's nuances.
Infamous 2's aesthetics are greatly improved over the first game. My friend, who is currently playing the original, came over while I was in the middle of a mission and immediately remarked on how the game looks a lot better. Sucker Punch also did a great job giving players a good variety of enemy types each with their own strategy. Cole and Zeke's appearances have matured a bit from the first game. Also, Sucker Punch did a great job giving players a new and more life-like city in New Marais. Each area feels distinctly different and the overall setting of New Marais is an interesting change from Empire City. Overall, the game just sports a better look and fee when compared with the first. But when you compare Infamous 2 with other games of the genre, the graphics and art style are just average.
Sucker Punch decided that they should spice things up by letting players create missions. They call the system UGC (User Generated Content). And I've got to say the UGC has potential to be amazing. But everything I played, and I do mean everything, was completely pedestrian. Don't expect LittleBigPlanet quality missions, at least not yet. Most of the UGC missions are unbalanced. If you play them too early in the game, then you will often get killed in a matter of seconds because you don’t have some of the more powerful attacks to fight off the tougher enemies. If you play them after finishing the game, most missions are a piece of cake because Cole is overpowered. Sucker Punch gives players an awesome but complex toolset for mission creation. After playing about fifty different missions (and I only completed about twenty-five of those missions), I turned UGC off. Maybe things will change as players get better with the toolset, but I turned it off and never wanted to turn the feature back on.
My main problem with Infamous 2 isn’t the UGC though; it’s the lack of mission variety and morality system. The missions are a little on the bland side. Very rarely did missions do different things. It's like Sucker Punch created about five different missions types and just changed them to fit different settings. And when the missions are different, they normally end up being annoying. For example, there is a mission where you have to lob cars at different buildings. Why? The game justifies it as some sort of 'out to cause chaos' mission. While it is different from the majority of the other missions, it’s just dumb. And the morality system is too black and white. The game tries to mix things up with Nix and Kuo at the end of the game, but Sucker Punch goes as far as color coding every choice option--red or blue, bad or good--just in case you’re a complete idiot and cannot figure out if killing a bunch of people is the evil choice. I know that the game takes a comic book approach to morality, but it seems like the creators only read comics from the 1960s. Apparently there is no moral grey when you have super powers.
4/5
I had really high hopes for Infamous 2, and for the most part the game lived up to my expectations. It’s fun and a rewarding experience. Everything is interconnected and meaningful. Sucker Punch trimmed all the fat from the first game and added some life to the Infamous universe. Both the good and bad endings are really impacting and incredibly different (in both story and in final mission structure). But even as I write this review, I cannot shake the feeling that Sucker Punch could have made a better sequel. With that said, I beat the game as a hero and was compelled to immediately restart the game to play the whole thing over again as a villain, which says something about how much fun I had with Infamous 2.
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