Next-Gen Reviews

For approximately 7 years Augustine, a conduit and leader of the mercenary group DUP (Department of Unified Protection ) has been rounding up the Conduits and locking them away in a prison (apparently for their own safety). There has been a prison break and Augustine has put a lockdown on Seattle and ordered the re-capture of all those that have escaped.

 

To those that are not Conduits, Augustine could be seen as a hero trying to protect the life and needs from the powerful and strange beings, but to the Conduits, she is an evil woman with a power problem that wants nothing more than to be the only “power” on the streets.

 

Delsin is out seeing his family in the countryside when he sees a horrible site, a group of prison buses mangled and on fire with people in orange jumpsuits trying to free themselves from the debris (the prison break). Delsin and his brother Reggie attempt to help the poor sods that are currently stuck and screaming, but something strange happens… Delsin pulls a man from under a bus and whilst doing so gains an ability; smoke. Delsin has no idea what’s going on but is soon to be pleased by the new found pleasures.

 

Delsin wants answers and seeks them from the Hank, the man that forwarded his powers, but fails to catch him. Back at the fish factory, Betty, a member of the Akomish tribe and friend to Delsin and Reggie is shocked to see Delsin with his new power, She knows that he’s a good person and has nothing to fear, but there is someone that doesn’t feel this way... Augustine! Augustin arrives in hope to seek out the escaped conduits and is quick to realise that Delsin is now one himself. Augustine has a very special and rare power that allows her to use concrete in many ways, and the bad news is that her choice is the “not so good” route. Augustine offers Delsin the choice to help the DUP which means handing in the Akomish tribe or to hand himself in and save the Akomish tribe. This is your first step to either becoming a hero or villain.

 

Once the game gets going your eyes are treated to what is the true start of next-gen graphics; rich, vibrant and full colours, clean shapes and massive depth-of-field. As a non-PC gamer I couldn’t believe what I was seeing on my TV, to the extent where I had to stop what I was doing and just turn in a slow circle to take it all in… Honestly, impressive isn’t the word!

 

As much as I love the visuals, I wasn’t totally impressed with the diversity or in-world people. I appreciate that the streets are on lockdown, but you don’t see many people roaming the streets getting on with their lives and those that you do see don’t seem to be doing much. It feels more like a town full of wet roads and robotic drug dealers.

 

The PS4 controller brings some cool ways of doing things due to its many functions. I was shaking my controller and spraying graffiti on the walls, the controller would itself make a ringing noise when my brother was trying to contact me and when I absorbed powers the “woosh” sound would again, come from my controller. Very cool indeed... even if it is just a gimmick.

 

The main attraction in InFamous is the powers and you gain these from conduits, as you know. The 4 elements are: Smoke, Neon, Video and Concrete. These elements are all very similar in what they do, they just do it whilst looking a little different. The only real difference is that you collect smoke from fires and chimneys, Neon from signs and video from TV aerials.

 

Powers can be upgraded by draining shards (little blue ice-like pieces). Once you have enough shards you can upgrade your favourite powers and even unlock variations. Another way to collect shards is to shoot down the many quad-raptors that you’ll see flying around the city or at times, mangled on the floor.

 

I do have one gripe with the powers that you’re given and that is how quickly they are accessed. I never felt that I was given enough time or any tasks that would help me remember how to use a power to its full potential. Instead, you’re given a power and then set a quest to find the next. It’s all too much and should have been spaced apart much better.

 

Just so you know… My favourite power is definitely video. Video allowed me to shoot a machine-gun-type-power and gain flight height when dashing through TV aerials.

 

Seattle is full of things to do in the form of side-missions. These are very similar to that you would have seen in most open-world games like Far Cry. There are areas where DUP are at their fullest and need wiping out, drug dealers to get off the streets and mini games. The side-missions aren’t great because of their repetitive nature, they’re mainly padding so that the player gets more gameplay time. Still, it’s a nice excuse to continue looking in areas that you may not have seen.

 

You’ll often feel like you’re going to die because the screen will go a bit blurred and echo, and your only option is to run away. It works, yes, but the game needs a cover system. I hated running away from the scene, coming back when my health had regenerated only to be in the same situation. Other InFamous games had a cover system, so why not now?

 

Overall InFamous Second Son is a great game that is the real start to PS4’s success. InFamous shows large areas in great detail, great storytelling and the power of PS4. Everything works well and the game is fun, but it’s definitely lacking a few things to make it an absolute gem.

 

 

 

8/10