Infamous 2 is an
action sandbox game for the PlayStation 3. It was developed by Sucker Punch.
Cole MacGrath and his buddy Zeke have travelled to the city
of New Marais to help Cole develop his superpowers in preparation for the
Beast, a giant destructive force that Cole is prophesied to fight.
Unfortunately, when Cole arrives the laboratory that was developing a device to
help stop the Beast is destroyed, scattering the source of Cole’s power-up all
over the city. Cole has to retrieve these power-ups, the Blast Cores, so he can
power up the device, the Ray Field Inhibitor, before the Beast makes his way
down the Eastern seaboard to New Marais. He also has to deal with opposition
from monsters that are mysteriously coming out of the swamp, a local militia that
has taken over New Marais and turned it into a superhuman-hating police state,
and an insane private army with ice powers.
Cole is given missions by his friend Zeke and his other
allies around New Marais, which continue the story when completed. Missions are
mostly going somewhere, and either beating up people, or collecting or
destroying something while beating up people. While it does not sound like much,
the slowly growing diversity of enemies, the difference in things to collect,
and the detail of New Marais makes missions feel fresh every time.
Cole has the ability to generate and redirect electricity, which he uses in a multitude of ways. In combat, his main form of attack is to shoot aimed bolts of lightning out of his hand, as well as a blast that pushes people, and an electric grenade. For utilities, Cole uses his powers to hover over long distances and levitate objects. Cole needs to recharge his powers regularly, which he can do by draining electrical devices.
Running and climbing around New Marais is the best part of
the game. Cole is very fast, very light and can jump really far, so climbing
and running over rooftops never feels slow or sluggish. Nothing can stop Cole
from climbing a building in seconds.
Sucker Punch put a lot of effort into making sure all of New
Marais was as interesting to climb over as possible, though maybe not so much
in being visually interesting. Every part of New Marais looks different, is
differently shaped, has uneven rooftops, plenty of landmarks, lots of things
that make New Marais look like an actual city, and not just a series of
identical buildings.
Cole starts in the actual city part of New Maris, moves to
the flooded part of the city partway through the game, and eventually ends up
in the industrial section. The city part is the most interesting to run around,
since it has more variety of buildings, residential, commercial, and
industrial, and is modeled after New Orleans. The flooded part provides an
interesting challenge of having to avoid all the water, but it mostly houses
and debris. The industrial area is nothing but towers, tanks, and warehouses,
and is the least fun to explore.
Combat is both enjoyable and frustrating. Cole’s powers are
both fun to use, because they give you a lot of options, are more original than
shooting a gun, and are a bit sadistic. The enemies though are a pain in the
ass. They are smart enough to notice you from a couple of blocks away and start
shooting at you when you just want to run down the street, but are stupid
enough to shoot a rocket at you when you are standing in front of them, killing
you both. Simple lighting attacks barely faze them, and even the most basic
grunt can stand up after several grenade blasts, unlike Cole, who is really
weak all the time. It is annoying to go through the entire game and still be susceptible
to a one shot kill from an RPG in the first area. Thankfully the game has plenty
of checkpoints, so when you die you start nearby with little time lost.
Besides main missions, Cole can complete side missions for
people on the street. Completing these missions captures part of the city for
Cole. Captured parts have no enemies patrolling the streets, making them easier
to travel through. Side missions have less diversity than main missions, and
are even more focused on only beating people up. But like the main missions the
variety in New Marais’ design keeps them interesting.
Infamous 2 has a
karma meter for Cole; do good things and one side fills up and Cole gets access
to certain powers, do evil things and the other side fills up instead,
unlocking different powers. You get good or evil karma for doing things like attacking
enemies or civilians, rescuing civilians or beating up cops, and for main missions
where you have to make a moral choice.
Karma meters are not fun. They were novel when Knights of the Old Republic used them in
2003, when showing that your actions could have consequences was a new idea,
but now that video games can do that without bashing you over the head with
what is good and evil, the restrictions such a system puts on the player are
pointless. I should be allowed to use whatever powers I want, and I can decide
whether I use them for good or evil and the game can just show the consequences.
And I do not appreciate being forced to make heavy-handed choices, like having
to choose between saving a bunch of cops and killing a bunch of cops for some
bigger plan, and being told that one side is good and the other is evil. That
is some blunt and lazy writing trying to look deep and thoughtful.
The story lacks direction. Cole is supposed to be getting
prepared for the Beast, but all he does is get dragged into fights with the
different factions and find Blast Cores along the way. There is this subplot in
the background about a plague killing everyone in the United States, in
addition to the Beast, but the game does not care. Then at the very end the
plague is suddenly the most important thing ever. Then a minor character from
the first game is brought back, and is made a very big deal without any
foreshadowing. And the game ends with a heavy-handed “Cole has to do something
really good or really evil” bit that feels so forced.
Cole and Zeke make up for most of the story though. They
have a constant banter going on during missions and in cutscenes; Cole as the
snarky smartass and Zeke and oafish smart guy. Their banter is funny throughout
the game and quite sweet and endearing at the same time.
Infamous 2 is
plenty of fun that is only hampered by its lame story. You can spend hours exploring
New Marais, collecting things, completing missions without ever getting bored,
from beginning to end.
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