inFAMOUS 2 - Sucker Punch Defies Expectations

Sucker Punch, mostly known for developing the Sly Cooper series, made a surprise hit in inFAMOUS a few years ago. By sheer coincidence, a very similar game named Prototype came out the same month. Many people confused the two when they were released, but in due time people learned to like inFAMOUS much better than Prototype, despite the games being very similar in concept and execution.

inFAMOUS 2 continues the story of Cole MacGrath, now knowing about his destined battle with the Beast. I was very pleased to see Sucker Punch reward players for playing the first game, giving the all-powerful Blast Shard Locator, increasing your starting karma based on what path you previously chose, and extra XP to start with. inFAMOUS 2 also starts you off with nearly every power you got in the original, but the most powerful abilities are taken from you in the beginning sequence of the game in a logical manner.

This sequel addresses every problem of the original, even going so far to give you an achievement for scaling a chain-linked fence, Sucker Punch fully aware that it was ridiculous that Cole could scale extremely tall buildings, but not fences. The El Train from Empire City is gone, replaced by an electric trolley in New Marais, allowing Cole to ride the rails without fear of getting hit by an oncoming train. Quests are no longer repetitive, featuring much more variety this time. There's also plenty of spur-of-the-moment karma incidents now, allowing you to stop a mugging, kick the crap out of a statue mime, etc.

Story: 9/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Presentation: 10/10
Replay Value: 9/10

Average Score:      9.5/10

inFAMOUS 2 fixes every problem of the original, and even includes some unexpected new powers. Although the box advertises Cole can now use fire and ice powers, you need to go through the story a bit to get them. Until then, you can enjoy destroying environments more creatively, evolving your lightning powers to new levels and even switching up your powers to personal preference and when the situation arises, something I've never seen in a video game. The graphics are much less gritty than the original and it's nice to see closeups of characters faces now. Cole's voice much better suits him now, a believably neutral voice, rather than his old SUPER GRAVELY voice that made it obvious Sucker Punch wants you to play as a bad guy.

Speaking of playing the bad guy, previously the only incentive to play evil was to get a different ending and get the other spectrum of powers and trophies, since being evil meant civilians and the bad guys would attack you and you could not get the easy XP of healing civilians. This time, if you complete the game as good and evil, you can start a 3rd playthrough with the good and evil powers. There's no real advantage to it, but it's fun to be able to heal civilians and then later get experience points for killing them.

The story has much better pacing and is much more clear in why certain events happen, unlike the last game where the character of Sasha just disappeared after defeating her, despite her being alive, and other story pacing issues the first game had. Cole also has more humor written in his dialogue, allowing you to care more about him rather than being almost a strict player avatar.

I would ordinarily say here that I'm looking forward to inFAMOUS 3, but the ending of 2 apparently closes every single loose end to the point that a sequel starring Cole MacGrath cannot happen. I'm sure Sucker Punch will find a way to make a 3rd game in their newest IP, especially with the exposure Cole MacGrath will be getting in Street Fighter X Tekken overseas.