My Words On:

Story/Plot:  You’re probably wondering if you had to have played the first Infamous to get the story behind the second game. In my honest opinion not really since Infamous 2 is a stand alone game with little ‘must know’ facts about the first one in order to get the drift of the story. A lot of the background will be explained in the first few minutes and certain tasks will provide some intel on the previous game. Other than that, Infamous 2 does take on Cole’s story out of Empire City and into a new city: New Marias.  Here Cole needs to inherit enough power to go against this game’s apparent threat: The Beast (The Beast was mentioned in the first Infamous through certain CGs but he didn’t affect the game first hand; not really). Of course trying to gain those powers didn’t come without any trials. Cole had to go through militias, rebels, super powered enemies, and of course Cole had to meet his own super powered side kicks who are tied to the game’s story who are either a hassle or a perk depending on the mission, the scenario, or the player’s preference in karma (I was a baddie in the reaper outfit. I was your typical ‘don’t give a fawk who gets hurt as long as the job’s done’ Cole).

Evil. I've come to tell you that I'm Evil.

Honestly the game’s story isn’t exactly its’ greatest asset much like the first one. Yes there were a couple of interesting twists towards the end of the game, but all in all it wasn’t a ‘wow’ factor. Interesting enough to make it decent, however I spent more time doing side missions and the excitement of engaging the story wasn’t all there. Then again most sandbox games have that affect on me so maybe that’s just my own personal preference talking.

7.5/10

Gameplay: The one thing that sucker punch did that factored in to this game’s credibility is that it paid homage to the first infamous in regards to the way the player can control Cole while fighting and travelling. Smoothing out some of the way he maneuvers, going from point A to point B has become a lot easier and the player can feel a ‘comic book’ way of getting around the city, more so than the first one. Getting from ground to the top of a building has become less climbing and more power based especially once the player reaches a certain point of the game. I like the fact that some powers can be used for killing as well as helping Cole get to a certain destination. Of course the trademarks from the first one are still alive and well like Cole’s ability to slow his fall by levitating himself, which this time around got upgraded to a much useful version later on in the game (he floats more now making it MUCH easier to get to a much farther building), electric zip line travel still remains the same however this time around there are less rail road tracks to come across and certain parts of New Marias (flooded town) offer a less friendly detour routes for our ‘electric man’ protagonist. But in the grand scheme of things I felt more ‘powerful’ and more a super hero when going around town. In a couple of events that  I found myself having to retreat to the roof tops to get a better angle of an enemy, Cole’s natural ability to scale walls wasn’t the only thing I can depend on, this time around his powers came in handy and I was on top of my game blasting enemies away from a much safer point of view.

And Just like the game before, Cole must choose which power he wants to harness. Good or Evil?

 Upgrades in combat based powers also came in abundance by going through the story, doing  certain amount of side missions, and by performing stunts (which I thought gave the whole idea of performing stunts a little more incentive rather than just a trophy or a title-sake). Much like the updates for Cole’s fast travel, the things that Sucker Punched did to tweak his powers was both clever and very refreshing. First off each category of powers (the R1 button for regular bolts, the Square for Grenades, Triangle for his rocket bolts, etc.) are given a couple of upgrades that the player can pick and choose from. His normal bolt (now changed from a lightning wave to a sphere bolt, minor change, but I liked the first one better) is not just limited to one certain way, the player can unlock different ones and each specific type is useful for certain scenario or just for preference of the player.  For example, if the player prefers to be more of a headshot deal and would like a perk for all those nice targeting skills, the ‘skull  bolt’ would give the player a satisfaction for such feats (this is the bad karma route I am mostly speaking of) by sending an explosion to an enemy that is shot in the head which of course has a natural butterfly effect to environment or any other enemy/civilian around him. Or maybe things are hectic and precision isn’t the main ideal, then the ‘scythe bolt’ would give the player an horizontal wide projectile that can hit enemies easier or multiple ones depending on how they are clustered. The list goes on and this option of changing also applies to the other set of powers as I mentioned before! A player can choose what kind of grenade Cole can throw and what effects it may have or maybe change up even his ‘iconic’ power which isn’t bound to just summoning the Thor trademark of lightning coming down and destroying everything and everyone in sight.

Mentioning all that may I add that switching between these powers are of no hassle! It BARELY scathes the rhythm of the game play because using the D-pad the player can easily switch which power and what category of power with ease and go right back into the flow of battle as if the player never stopped it. Then everything else like Cole’s evasive maneuvers, covering when in gunfight (which I still found useless) and then the much MUCH useful melee makes fighting even more enjoyable this time around. Of course much like any sandbox game things do get repetitive, but with so much better options and new ways to go about it, it isn’t much of a redundant task and it will take a while to get tired of it. I myself still haven’t gone through the good karma so that will definitely give a different shade to the game. So in a nutshell Infamous 2 feels like Infamous, but of course spoiled with the feeling of stepping into a new and better grounds as if you were Cole getting the next blast core and getting an upgrade.

9/10

Graphics: The visuals most definitely had a step up from the first one. Not leaps and bounds but I can honestly say that there was a little bit more time spent on Kuo than Trish that made the asian Ice slinger a lot easier in the eyes than Cole’s ex girlfriend.

Trish didn't feel like worth saving at some angles. 

Can I say Kuo looks graphically better than Trish?

 The surroundings to me still felt like Infamous but in a new location, which I wasn’t disappointed by the first Infamous’ show of graphics anyways. Visual effects when Cole uses certain powers are bright and very entertaining. Giving Cole options for skin (whether it be the Reaper or the Kessler outfit) gives a cool twist but not at all too dramatic on the game. CGs still had the motion comic look to it which I liked in the first one. But to me as long as a game like Infamous wasn’t running on 16 bit graphics, I think it was dressed to impress. It’s for sure not going to disappoint too many unless someone is expecting L.A. Noire facial expression while hurling lightning bolts at a local baddy.

8.5/10

Audio: While the background music aren’t something I was too keen to since I was too busy listening to the sound of the gunfire and the energy bolts being hurled about, Cole’s change of voice was a plus for me. I never thought the whole ‘Logan/Solid Snake’ voice he had in the first one fit him. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad but it just didn’t fit him, not in his stature, his demeanor, and not how he looks.  In Infamous 2, Cole is given the same rough vocal, however it seems less stoic and rugged. It doesn’t sound like Cole is using a voice alternator like Bruce does in the new Batman movies rather it gives him the same ‘badass’ aura by the way he carries his voice while fitting him much better in the way Cole is whether Bad karma or Good karma.  The other characters like Kuo and Nix had their flaws here and there, but I think they did a good job conveying their characters, Nix’s voice actor in my opinion did a much better job than Kuo’s, but all in all it was good. Zeke remained the same and that part I liked since Zeke did a lot of talking.

Sound effects were for the most part recycled which I am not at all complaining. The way things were in Infamous was just right. The one thing I did appreciate that they didn’t recycle the grunts and screams of enemies like some games do. I didn’t hear the garbage men dying when I killed the Ice Soldiers is what I’m trying to say. Other than that I think the sound is worthwhile and I don’t think it’ll give anyone the mind blowing factor nor will it give nuisance to anyone just paying attention to the game and not trying to pick apart the voice acting or the sound effects.

9.0/10

Difficulty: Infamous 2 offered the same amount of challenge and feel like the first one. While Cole may have all these super powers that allowed him to blast people with electricity, lift cars with energy and hurl them at helicopters, he wasn’t at all invincible. If one rushes into a gunfire without any decent tactic, getting pounded with bullet hole will happen in a moment’s notice. Learning and knowing how to utilize Cole’s power both the new and the old will be essential in surviving a mob of militia and later on against the super powered version of them, the Ice Soldiers. Of course when there’s a lot of things to suck juice from so Cole’s back up to health makes the battle every bit one sided, however there will be times when a certain part of the city has rare to no sources because the power is out. Then knowing the ropes of being the ‘electric man’ will come in handy. Of course having experience from the first one made it easier, but with the new kinds of enemies and the new powers to master, it definitely made it a different beast to tangle with.

Some enemies this time around gave a different beat into the battle ground while some were disappointingly dull for how menacing they look. Like the first Infamous there were three types of enemies that have similar qualities from each other. The militia being the first group Cole encounters, then the swamp monsters, and then the Ice Soldiers.  The bigger enemies proved a worthy of a tussle. Again if one isn’t too careful it would be a quick end. There are button sequences to fulfill with some of them which of course always give normal skirmishes more flavor in any game genre.  None of them are terribly difficult, however the Ice Soldiers, being the last type of enemies that Cole faces have a bit more flare to them since they move quickly and are more adequate in a fight. Disappointingly the titanic creature that looks similar to the swamp monsters lacked the challenge one would hope in his sheer size. He wasn’t even intelligently fun to go at it, but that’s just me of course.

These Ice Creatures probably gave me the hardest time out of any other enemies in the game.

So to add my last two cents in Infamous 2’s difficulty, I would say that having experience from the first one proved to be a great asset, however much like any game, there are tutorials and the learning the game is simple but not that easy to master. One can find a challenge but eventually when one puts a few hours into it and the player gets the rhythm of how he wants to use Cole, it gets easy and smooth.

7.0/10

Overall: So did it live up to the hype? Was it as good as the first one? Were there any let downs? Like I mentioned before, Infamous 2 paid homage to what the first game did right and gave it some modifications. Adding some cool twists to the story, giving the players more powers to wreak havoc or play boy scout, and then put Cole to face the one thing that caused Kessler to do the things he did, well you got yourself a pretty good sequel. I never felt let down or I never thought they did something ridiculously dumb. The multiplayer they added didn’t add much of a flare for me but it is a nice new avenue to venture into when I feel like just doing something out of the blue. Playing different player made levels from all over has a nice ring to it, but not really something that will make or break the game.

All in all, I honestly had a good transition from the first to the second. It feels like both games is just one game that’s spread out in a couple of years. It’s a note worthy game and I know that after giving it a few months’ break it’ll be one of those games that I’ll be picking up again and replaying. Let’s put it this way if you enjoyed the first game, you should have no qualms with this one, but if you haven’t played Infamous or new to the sandbox/action genre of video games, you’ll have a blast with this one and should have no problems getting into the flow of it all. Any gamer should experience what this hype is all about and it’ll either turn you off the first hour or get you addicted. But if you have any doubt you can always download the first Infamous. Depending on when you’re reading this, Infamous 1 will either be free from the whole PSN outage, or really cheap from being part of the ‘greatest hits’ collection.

9/10