This title is officially the last interesting title to hit the shelves before the long, hot and dry summer days are bestowed upon us marking the end of gaming period and fun as we know it. Sucker Punch have a strong history, and this title had a lot to live up to, especially in filling the shoes of its predecessor, which was one of the best sandbox title by far. With Infamous, Sucker Punch managed to show this generation of gamers that it’s all in the game play, but Infamous 2 is a whole other story, everything and I mean everything has been tweaked to perfection.
Plot: The story sets off after the events of Infamous, in Empire City. Cole reunites with Zeke and together they move to the troubled city of New Marais after the Beast (which Kesler warned about) ravaged Empire City. Together with Dr. Wolfe and Agent Kuo, they set off to bring down the Militia who muscled their way into New Marais and in the mean time try to charge up the RFI which will help Cole deplete the Beast’s health just in time for Cole to bring it down. As the story progresses new characters join in with one common goal, to bring down the beast before it destroys everything.
Audio and Video: The visuals of the game are truly amazing; there is a massive difference before the first instalment and this title. The textures are massively improved, the environments are huge and polished, and everything can be manipulated by your actions. As we move on to the audio aspect, the voice acting is more professional and they also kept the same style of OST, but the Achilles heel of the audio in the title is both the SFX and the surround quality. Most of the time you end up walking the streets of New Marais with absolute silence in the background which tends to be quite boring and creepy, also the surround effects are mediocre when compared to other games, in THX mode the rear speakers rarely operate reducing the overall entertainment quality of the game.
Game play: The game play is similar to the first instalment, the controls are smoother, and the character feels lighter to manouver. More powers have been added and more power combinations are now available. The inventory system is improved making it easier to upgrade and see your progression. As far as the mechanics go, there is no way you will manage to explain the badassary of this type of game, up till now Infamous was the ultimate sandbox title, but this one really takes the cake. It’s what Sucker Punch do best, and once you pick up the controller you will not want to put it down. There is also the introduction of online gaming, which includes a variety of user generated levels scattered around the map for you to play. I wasn’t fond of these and there are no extra achievements other than XP to collect which make it useless for your progression, and the terms and agreements pop-ups are just so bloody annoying you just want to electrify yourself. The worst aspect in the game play was the boss fights (which later become routine enemies) which cannot be brought down with the stronger powers, which will make upgrading look rather useless for boss fights.
Personal Experience: This game dominates the sandbox genre, and there is no other open world game good enough to steal the title. It is one of those games that actually makes you want to finish the campaign missions and the side missions other than exploring the vast environment. If I had to complain, the only thing I don’t see as being ‘a must’ is the option to choose between good and evil, The storyline remains the same, the powers are stronger on the good side, and since cut scenes are the same they just make Cole look a bit vague with some sort of a split personality disorder. Other than that I think this game has opened a whole new world of possibilities in the open world genre for developers to explore, It is truely the ultimate trend setter in gaming.
Overall Rating: 9/10
Written By Matthew C