Video Game Review: Superhero Sequel ‘Infamous 2’ Pulses With Addictive Action

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CHICAGO – After the resounding success of Sony and Sucker Punch’s 2009 “Infamous,” my expectations were sky high for the June 2011 follow-up. In fact, they were so high that the first couple hours of the game disappointed me. This is it? It feels too much like the first game. Give it time. If you stick with “Infamous 2,” you’ll realize how it builds on the strength of the first game to become a similarly-captivating experience. It’s not quite the home run of the original, but this is no sophomore slump.

HollywoodChicago.com Video Game Rating: 4.5/5.0
Video Game Rating: 4.5/5.0

“Infamous,” now available on PSN and probably sitting on most of your PS3s since it was offered as a make-good after the recent security disaster, is a spectacular experience. Sucker Punch merged a style inspired by comic books with the open-world gameplay made so popular by titles like “Grand Theft Auto” and the result was one of the more enjoyable games of the last few years. Not only did the game feature clever, superpowered action but it incorporated morality, allowing different paths based on player decisions. And the world of “Infamous” was a gamer’s playground as I remember spending hours simply climbing, jumping, grinding, and searching for collectibles.

Infamous 2
Infamous 2
Photo credit: Sony

Your experience with “Infamous 2” may depend heavily on what you traditionally expect from a sequel. Naturally, one shouldn’t expect too much variation from a successful original. Why change what worked? But one also doesn’t want to feel like they’ve paid again for the same game. We’ve all played sequels that simply felt like remixed versions of the original. And yet gamers are not opposed to lavishing praise on sequels as mega-hits like “Uncharted 2” and “Mass Effect 2” amply prove. What did those sequels do right? They built on the original game, building up its strengths and diminishing its flaws.

Infamous 2
Infamous 2
Photo credit: Sony

Does “Infamous 2” build on the original? Not really. But it doesn’t fall far enough below the high standard set by it to be considered a true disappointment. I still think the last game is superior (mostly due to storytelling but also simply by virtue of feeling more original and fresh than its follow-up) but should that be the standard? Shouldn’t the rest of the field be what we judge a game by and not the previous installment? Judged against its competition, “Infamous 2” is an undeniable success — a good-looking, fun, entertaining thrill ride hampered only a bit by a dull story and the natural repetition that often comes with sequelitis.

“Infamous 2” picks up at the end of “Infamous,” as the super-powered Cole MacGrath (one of the best lead characters of the last few years and voiced even more expertly in the sequel) is ready to defend Empire City from The Beast, a massive creature that only our electric-charged hero can defeat. Cole fights him in a tremendous opening scene that recalls the over-the-top prologue of “God of War III” but is too weak to defeat him. Cole, Zeke, and Dr. Kuo escape and take the east coast down to New Marais (Empire City was a clear NYC parallel and the location this time is a clear New Orleans one) as The Beast follows them with a path of destruction along the way.

With regular reminders of how far The Beast is from New Marais, Cole and his friends get involved in the action in their new hometown while our hero builds up his powers and develops some new ones for the day that his massive nemesis returns. New Marais is being terrorized by a militia group led by Joseph Bertrand III, who is also developing a group of superhumans and monsters with bizarre experiments. Cole has to defeat Bertrand while also preparing for the impending battle with The Beast.

Infamous 2
Infamous 2
Photo credit: Sony

“Infamous 2” follows a traditional open-world structure in that the player can choose between story missions, side missions, or just wander the grounds of New Marais staring at the scenery and occasionally fending off a militia attack. There is more to do in “Infamous 2” than your average open-world game in that not only are there traditional side missions to build XP and unlock new abilities but there are also user-generated missions that are often available to play. And the city is filled with collectible audio drops and blast shards and even the occasional civilian interaction can increase or decrease your moral standing. You can stop muggings to make yourself more of a champion or steal blast shards from people to make yourself less of one. These interactions get remarkably repetitive but it’s nice to see so much game outside of the main missions.

The storytelling in “Infamous 2” is a major part of the experience. This is not the tale of a solitary avenger and Zeke, Kuo, Bertrand, and new characters play major roles in long cut scenes. The game also neatly divides into good and evil paths, to the point where if you take one of them you’ll lock out side missions on the other path. The developers made it nearly necessary for completists to play through the title twice. While I admire the effort, I never felt as much conflict regarding my decisions as the best of these kind of games. Games like “Fable III” and “Mass Effect 2” seamless incorporated moral choices into their storytelling but it feels less organic here. And the story becomes less and less interesting as it goes along. I couldn’t wait for The Beast to get there.

The biggest problem in storytelling is that many of the missions feel nearly identical. Go there and defeat some dudes or some monsters. I wanted some more variety in the gameplay to create a few more surprises in the storytelling.

Infamous 2
Infamous 2
Photo credit: Sony

Having said that, the action of the title saves it. As the game progresses, you regularly unlock new powers (grenades, blasts, rockets) that keep the combat fresh. I pulse-blasted thousands of bad guys in New Marais and never grew bored of it. The most interesting combat addition from the last title is a melee weapon known as the Amp, which can produce some pretty spectacular finishing moves once you’ve powered it all the way up. It took me some time to appreciate the action of “Infamous 2.”

Same goes for the graphics and design of New Marais. Empire City was pretty straightforward with its large buildings allowing for a lot of parkour-inspired roof-hopping. New Marais is more accomplished and more diverse, something you’ll truly notice when you go to the flood-ravaged part of town with its half-submerged homes and crumbling buildings. And it looks stunning. The graphics in “Infamous 2” are stellar.

“Infamous 2” gets a bit repetitive (both judged on its own and when compared to the original) but if you can get past that element, it’s really the only conceivable criticism when it comes to the most important thing — gameplay. The combat, the action, the graphics, the control — they’re all among the most stellar that you’ll play this season. We know this “Infamous 2” review is a bit later than normal for our video game fans (it took us awhile to get our hands on a copy), but we didn’t want it to go completely unmentioned on the site. We’d hate to miss one of the best games of the year so far.

‘Infamous 2’ was released by Sony Computer Entertainment and developed by Sucker Punch. It is rated T (Teen). The game is exclusive to the PS3. It was released on June 7th, 2011.

HollywoodChicago.com content director Brian Tallerico

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

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