inFamous 2 Review

By Kevin Mitchell  |  Posted: June 7, 2011

Infamous 2 takes place only a month after the end of the first Infamous, continuing the story of Cole and the choices that will ultimately seal his fate as a hero or a villain in the eyes of the city. The game starts off briefly recapping what transpired during the first game, which is a great way to get players that skipped the first Infamous up to speed with everything that is going on. Sucker Punch added the ability to import your save file from the first game. Doing so will reward players with varying amounts of hero/infamous karma, an extra energy cell or bonus experience. All of this depends on the number of trophies earned in the first game.

With the threat of The Beast coming to Empire City engraved into the back of Cole's mind from Kessler, Cole prepares for this ultimate showdown. Starting to give in to his ego, Cole becomes cocky and believes that he can single-handedly defeat The Beast, but as The Beast arrives in Empire City, Cole is no match for the sheer power that The Beast possesses. Zeke, Cole's sidekick/pal from the first game, Lucy Kuo, an NSA agent who is there to assist, and Cole barely escape Empire City in a boat as The Beast destroys the city and almost kills Cole in their fight. Once in the boat, they head down the East Coast to the city of New Marais with The Beast following slowly down the coast, devastating every city and town in its path. Agent Kuo explains to Cole that the Ray Sphere was originally created in New Marais and Dr. Wolfe, who helped Kessler create the Ray Sphere, is the only one who can help Cole defeat The Beast.

After arriving, Cole discovers a human-purist militia led by Joseph Bertrand, the mayor of New Marais, whose sole goal is to rid New Marais of all Conduits—humans with the ability to gain superpowers like Cole. Bertrand tries to turn the city against Cole by calling him "The Demon From Empire City." Not only does Cole have to worry about The Beast making its way to New Marais and the militia group set out to destroy him, but also the unknown that lurks just outside the city edge.

For those who have played the original Infamous, Cole controls almost the same as he did in the first game. Thankfully, he nearly avoided the major overhaul that Sucker Punch was originally going to give him after the outcry from fans around the world. I have to give props to them for listening to their fan base on something as important as the design of the main character.

After collecting enough XP, Cole can upgrade his skills or purchase new ones. The favorites from the first game return, such as the grenade and the rocket. Cole is still able to traverse quickly through the city by climbing up and over buildings, poles, trees, and yes, this includes fences. There is even a trophy for climbing over a fence the first time. Electrical wires are the fastest way through each of the different areas, though I was sad to see that there wasn't a train going around each of the islands like in the original.

Scattered across the city are various side missions. These side missions reveal more of the main story but are completely optional. Story lines are very important to me personally, so I tried to complete as many as possible to get the full story of New Marais. There are also citizens that need assistance throughout the city. One may need to be rescued from muggers while another may need a bomb to be defused that is attached to a building. Saving these civilians adds karma points but doesn't affect the main storyline. Completing the side missions does clear sections of the map from enemies.

An open-world city has never looked as good as it does in Infamous 2. Sucker Punch has really expanded on what they had in the first game and completely blew me away with the visuals in the sequel. All the characters have an incredible amount of detail, and New Marais is more alive and with more character than Empire City. The devastated sections of the city really feel empty, while the busier sections are full of civilians walking around. There just seems to be more diversity in the different areas this time around.

Decisions, which are the hallmark of the series, really do affect the outcome for Cole. There are quite a few tough decisions this time that may have you thinking for some time before you make a choice, but there are others that have to be made on the fly that give you no time to think; just act.

Simply Put

Infamous 2 is a worthy sequel that expands and improves on everything from the first game. Let's not forget that there is also the User-generated content that Sucker Punch has added to the game. Anyone can start creating new content and publish it for all to experience. With this addition, fresh content could be created for a long time.