inFamous 2 – Hands On
- October 5th, 2010
- Posted in Eurogamer Expo 2010 . Previews
- By rymanb
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It was May last year that Cole McGrath first took the PlayStation 3 by storm (pun) in the form of an electrical superhero. Sucker Punch poured a lot of effort into their fantastic new IP, with inFamous quickly receiving generally high scores from the press – including a few perfect scores from some critics. The game blended brilliantly the elements of an open world game with the action and decisions that a superhero must make, which some people loved and some people hated. Needless to say, fans of the game couldn’t wait to see more of Cole; so when inFamous 2 was announced at E3 in June with bigger powers, colourful environments, and an improved melee combat system, the media went crazy.
After trying out the game at the recent Eurogamer Expo in London, it is clear to see that the game has vastly improved from its predecessor, with a lot to look forward when it releases next year. However, that’s not to say that there aren’t some glaring problems with the game.
The demo available was identical to the one found at E3 earlier this year. You start off tasked with fighting off some swamp monster with you new melee weapon – augmented with your electric powers of course. The melee system is the same as found in the original game, however the moves look much more spectacular with some slick combos being dished out to enemies with low health – even though you’re only repeatedly tapping the square button.
Overall, melee animations are much smoother and more impressive.
After brawling with the weird creatures, the game shows you a limo which you have to chase using the various overhead wires, and it’s this bit that I found one of the first problems with the game, which sadly is one that was found in the original. Cole is as fidgety as ever, and although the game does try to pull you towards objects of interest when climbing, it is still reasonably difficult to jump where you wish to first time round, once you’ve played the game for a while, you slowly compensate for the twitchy controls and it becomes a joy to play – although now and again you do notice the odd fidget.
Whilst running after the limo using various wires and pipes, you’re introduces to some of the combat mechanics found in the original game – mainly the Shockwave move, which has been renamed; and the Static Thrusters, which have been upgraded so you can fly further – as well as some new moves such as sliding along a wall-pipe. Altogether, it’s clear that Sucker Punch have produced the same seamless and enjoyable action sequences that the fans loved from inFamous.
Shockwave makes a return, only flashier.
Running around the city made me realise how incredible the graphics were – one of the most notable improvements to the game. Everything looks so much more sharper in the sequel, the terrain textures are built to a much higher resolution, the character models are more detailed, and the special effects are much more superior. These improvements are helped by the fact that New Marais is a much more colourful city than the dreary Empire City where the original game took place. There’s a whole new art style going on too. You can feel the difference of the city, it feels much more alive and bustling than Empire City ever was, and the buildings look completely different.
Further on in the short demo, you’re given the ability to use an impressive new move – the Ionic Vortex, a swirling tornado of wind filled with the powers of Cole’s electricity. It picks up pieces of debris and smashes them everywhere, wrecking havoc on the streets, all I can say is if this is just a glimpse of the new powers Cole is going to get, then I cannot wait to see what Sucker Punch have thought up to make you feel like a superhero in your own living room.
New Marais is a city with much more life than Empire City (from the original).
Sadly though, it seems that the incredible electrical powers have come at a price. For the most part, the game runs pretty smoothly, however whenever executing an Ionic Vortex in a crowded area, the framerate takes a dive. How sharp the dive is depends on how much is going on, and I have to say that I was disappointed in this aspect. I can only hope that Sucker Punch will be able to add more polish to the game and get the engine to run more efficiently by the time they release the game, which I have no doubts that they will. Shortly after taking out a helicopter, you’re given a few minutes to roam around the streets of New Marais armed with your new found power.
Overall, inFamous 2 is shaping up to be an incredible sequel to a fantastic PlayStation exclusive. The powers are bigger, the missions are more epic, the city is more vibrant, and the graphics are pretty much immaculate – only to be expected for a PlayStation exclusive. inFamous 2 is setting itself up to be this series’ version of Uncharted 2 – a game which builds on the foundations of the first, and provides one of the best gaming experiences to be found this generation. Sucker Punch need to work on a few things to polish this game to perfection, but I reckon when the game ships sometime in 2011, it will be in the running for Game of the Year. Take a look at the latest trailer below:
I really might give this a go – I’ve not really been that bothered about playing inFamous but I recently downloaded the 1hr trial of the full game from the PSN Store, which I’ll have a go on at some point. The city in the first game looks really boring so I’m really looking forward to seeing the new city in inFamous 2 – from the early screenshots it does look a lot more interesting.
inFamous is a really great game – the boring city is about the worst part of it. In fact it’s the only game with karma choices where I’ve actually wanted to play through twice to see how differently things end up.
The story is probably the best part of the game though – with a bombshell dropped right in the last few minutes. I’d seriously advise getting it if you like the trial, it’s pretty cheap now anyway seeing as it is a Platinum range game.