Infamous 2

After I finished the first Infamous, I couldn't stop thinking about what would happen in Infamous 2. I just platinum'd Infamous 2 last night, and once again, I can't stop thinking about what will happen next. I don't want to spoil anything, because the story line of both games is one of the best parts of the series. But I do want to say that the story does not disappoint, and I am dying for more. The only disappointment is that I'll have to wait a couple of years for that. *MINOR SPOILER* One thing I will say about the end of the game is that once you complete both endings, all of Cole's powers are unlocked, regardless of your karma. So make sure you play both! * END SPOILER* Just about everything about the second game is better than the first. The game play and controls are tighter and more intuitive, the graphics are more polished, the choices you make are more significant, and the side missions are more varied. The introduction of the melee weapon, the Amp, was fantastic. It's incredibly satisfying to be surrounded by 50 monsters and combo them all to death with the Amp. Yahtzee from Zero Punctuation (a notoriously negative reviewer) actually said several good things about Infamous 2. He mentioned that Sucker Punch did something unique in that they made the collectibles and side quests actually enjoyable, and I totally agree. Here's me, a few missions into the game: "There's the next story mission, but.....I can see about 5 blast shards from here, and someone's getting mugged. I'll be right back." (30 minutes of collecting, exploring, and random battles later) "OK, back to the story. Oh no, monsters are attacking! Better go stop them!" The story line is fantastic, and the side quests are addictive. That makes for a truly enthralling game. There were just a couple of things that I didn't like, but not nearly enough to affect my opinion of the game: Infamous 2 reads your Infamous 1 trophy data and enables you to begin the game with certain things already unlocked for you. This is awesome, and makes you feel like you're carrying over the same story line more fluidly. However, there are a few things from Infamous 1 that do not carry over. For example, the rockets are missing, and your life meter is drastically reduced. It would have been great if a super-hard mode could be enabled if you have the platinum trophy, where you could keep all the powers from the previous game, but all enemies would be incredibly difficult. Also, in Infamous 1, Cole's physical appearance changed based on his karma. This was most noticeable with the evil karma, because he became incredibly disfigured, physically embodying his level of evil. In infamous 2, the most evil version of Cole is a little pale, and he has different colored clothes. I personally missed the character modifications. Lastly, Sucker Punch still hasn't included any method of tracking your stats. You have to stop 80 crimes in progress for a certain trophy, but I had no idea what my progress was until the trophy popped. It would be helpful if they included a stats menu so you could see how many headshots you've gotten, how many people you've healed, how many people you've bio-leeched, etc. Any game in which I get equal enjoyment out of the story as well as exploring the environment, and has me salivating with the possibilities for the sequel is a good game in my book. Infamous 2 is more than worth it.

Infamous 2 has a pretty big set of shoes to fill after the success of the first. It seemed like it would be hard to improve upon the mechanics of the first game. Yet Sucker Punch studios managed to find a way, and produce a worthy sequel to Infamous. GAMEPLAY If you have played Infamous then you will feel right at home with Infamous 2. Not much has changed gameplay wise from the original except for loads of polish. Your character will keep his powers, avoiding a Metroid or God of War scenario, and earn additional powers throughout the game. Climbing mechanics, aiming, melee combat all feels more fluid and lively when compared to the original. You will explore a brand new city, take side quests and missions, find dead drops and shards... its all here all over again just with a new coat of paint. On top of new powers to unlock, Cole now has access to THE AMP which allows him additional combat moves especially with melee. To top it all off the map now has some destructible elements which add a nice bit of devastation to Cole's attacks, and goes along exceptionally well if you decide to take the EVIL path. One thing that does put a damper on the gameplay however is the camera mechanics. This time around the camera got in my way a lot more than it did in the first installment, especially when it came to melee combat with the amp. The camera gave this really nice comic book effect sometimes, giving nice low angle close ups to the fight but it also cut off my view of oncoming danger; and sometimes when jumping would go behind a building or wall leaving me blind to my position. While not a major problem it does put a tiny damper on the gameplay GRAPHICS A big time improvement over the first game, and overall the game looks great! The graphics are rendered exceptionally well, and the effects of Cole's powers never looked better. The best part of all is the new city. It looks magnificent when compared to the previous. There is a lot more activity and visual effects going on that really do make the city feel more alive. It is a major improvement over the first title I feel. SOUND/STORY Sound wise, the game is very lively. Cole's powers have a lot more effect to them and overall the game just sounds great. Voice acting is of high quality in my book. The new voice actor for Cole at first might seem out of place, when compared with the original, but it grew on me over time. Story wise the game has a decent story, on par with the first game. Like in the original you can chose to be Good or Evil depending on your actions making for two endings and in a way; Two story arcs each leading to different sets of skill upgrades and storyline elements. REPLAY/LENGTH Depending on how obsessed you get with collecting shards, dead drops, side quests etc the game should take you anywhere from 14 - 17 hrs. Replay value is exceptionally high! Not only do you have both a Good and Evil storyline to complete, but shards, dead drops, side quests all return and then some. If you loved the first you will have no problem playing though this game twice with ease. There is also an online element to Infamous 2 which allows you to create and play user created maps/content. While the controls and implementation of the creator do need some work (in my opinion) the level of creation available is high. Given some time expect to see some wild user-generated content online! OVERALL A- ... 90% Infamous 2 does the original game justice. It doesn't change the formula much, instead just improving upon what made the original a greatest hit; while also giving it a nice face lift graphically. Throw in new super-powers, user-generated content and online, and you have yourself a winner. While Infamous 2 is not a perfect game, it does more than enough to make itself out to be a powerful, high quality title well worth the price of admission.

'InFamous 2' is the best video game I've played all year. It's a sequel that takes the strengths of the original game, polishes off the rough areas and injects a heavy dose of color and personality. The gameplay's more exciting, the setting is more appealing, and not since 'God of War' has there been a game that makes you feel like a super-powered badass! 'InFamous 2' puts you in the role of series protagonist Cole MacGrath, a person with electric superpowers who's done great good or evil (depending on how you play) for his home town of Empire City. After losing a battle with a super being known only as 'the Beast', Empire City is destroyed and Cole and his allies flee to New Marais (think New Orleans) to upgrade. The story is pretty straight-forward comic book fare with Cole getting involved in the conflicts of New Marais while powering up for his rematch with the Beast. The comic-style cutscenes from 'inFamous 1' are back and sharper than ever, but the real joy is the improved in-game cutscenes which seem movie-quality thanks to the engaging main characters. The cutscenes and story do change a little in 'Infamous 2' depending on whether you're a hero or villain but it's mostly towards the end of the game. The story DOES assume you've played 'Infamous 1' so interested gamers will want to start with the original game first. The graphics in 'inFamous 2' (with a few exceptions) are excellent. While the actual graphics are a little more detailed in texture than in 'inFamous 1', the improved motion-capture makes Cole and other characters move naturally giving them an organic look. The setting of New Marais is also a big improvement over Empire City as each location looks fresh and varied with excellent use of color and details to make the town come alive. It's no Liberty City (and is a bit smaller than Empire City) but it suits 'Infamous 2's comic book world perfectly! The audio in 'inFamous 2' is also a treat with more Bluegrass-inspired tunes to compliment the New Orleans-themed setting. The voice-work is top-notch with new voice and mo-cap actor Eric Laden (of 'Left 4 Dead 2' fame) making the character of Cole his own! Nika Futterman is also a standout as the fire-powered 'Nix'. While 'inFamous 2' is aesthetically an improvement over 'inFamous 1' the basic gameplay is very much the same. You're still running/jumping/climbing/flying across buildings and covering and shooting with your powers. The side quests are much more varied than 'inFamous 1' but still not that complicated. The dead-drops (which I all but ignored in the original game) are now essential if you want to flesh out more of inFamous 2's story and characters. There are some racing-type missions (or 'overload' missions) on rooftops but they take a back seat to more super-powered battles in the streets. I personally liked this change as battling against other super-powered beings was my favorite part of Infamous 1 but some gamers might be put off with a more 'shooter'-minded approach. Also, the camera does get stuck sometimes (especially during the melee attacks) and while I never died as a result it did become a hassle. The major gameplay change in 'inFamous 2' is your powers. You still need EXP to upgrade abilities (which get unlocked as the story goes), but to actually obtain a power you have to pull off certain stunts and moves with your current abilities. This makes the game much more involved in my opinion in that it makes you experiment with each power before upgrading. There's also a LOT more powers to obtain in 'inFamous 2', so much so that you have to go into your menu and assign different upgrades to different buttons. The Good/Evil powers are much more varied as 'Good' powers focus on precision and 'Evil' powers focus on destruction. For that reason alone the game is worth playing through twice! While 'inFamous 2' won't impress detractors of the first game, it does just enough different and does it with more excitement and thrills that it'll easily entertain series fans! I want to stress that you DO want to complete the first 'inFamous' before diving into this sequel as certain story-elements may not make sense ( and hey, inFamous 1 is still a great game...which will hopefully make one kick-ass holiday bundle!!). Fans of the original inFamous and empowering sandbox games, this is a must buy!

The game picks up where you leave off in inFamous 1, so this is definitely best for those already familiar with the story. Anyone who has not played the first game won't understand much of the dialogue in this second game. Cole has a new voice, so that at first is hard to get use to. But with other characters sounding just the same, like Zeke, it's easier to get use to the new Cole. Just like in the first game, your choices make you either good or evil. This time, not only do you chose the good or evil missions, but you get a new partner/side-kick for these missions as well. Depending on the path your chose determines which new partner you get. The enemies are harder, but the fighting and missions are definitely more diverse this time. In the first game, many of the missions that you did to take over areas of the city started becoming repetitive. inFamous 2 has done a better job of making each mission more unique. The game graphics are outstanding. Your electric powers seem to explode from you. The colors are more vivid and the city is amazing. Each building seems completely different than the others. In the first city, most all the buildings were similar in shape and height. In this sequel, every single building is different height, color, shape, age, etc. There are architectural landmarks, sky scrapers, political buildings, etc. Much more like a real city this time. The gameplay is almost identical. The same ideas of taking over areas of the city, becoming more powerful by unlocking moves, and working towards a final enemy are all here. While the gameplay is the same, it's doesn't at all feel like your playing the same game as the first one. It's just similar enough to make it easy to pick it up and jump right in, without a learning curve. In addition to the regular missions, there are also user created missions all over the city to play. They vary from easy to difficult and you can rate them and leave comments. You can also create your own missions for others to play. While inFamous 1 was great, they managed to make inFamous 2 even better. They have improved so many aspects to the game, it has brought it to a whole new level. And as always, because you can chose the path of good or evil, once you've completed the game one way, it's time to start over and complete it the other.

Decent game, fun 'weapons', good plot. The point-of-view is very nauseating. The first game didn't give me any issues at all, but this one's gameplay is a max of about 45 minutes at a time. Seems to be too close and jumps around too much. The combat is awkward as well. When you are knocked backward, your POV changes to your frontside, and you have to swivel the view back around to the attacker, which takes time and ultimately results in more hits and dying a lot quicker than if the view hadn't changed. In big combats, this becomes really frustrating. Loss of 1.5 stars for the nauseous movement and 0.5 star for combat awkwardness.

The adventures (or misadventures) of Cole MacGrath continue in this very well done and much improved Comic Book Styled PS3 game sequel Infamous 2. A Brief synopsis's of the game: The story starts about a month after the events of the 1st Infamous game where things are either starting to come together and Empire City starts rebuilding itself under the protection of the games protagonist Cole MacGrath (If you choose the Hero route from the 1st game) or looks like a scene from Dante's Inferno and the people of Empire City cower in fear from Cole (If you took the Infamous route). When one day another NSA agent by the name of Lucy Kou that was also undercover with NSA Agent John White except she had been assigned to New Marinas where as John had been assigned to Empire City. Kou convinces Cole to leave Empire City in order to come with her back to New Marias (Fictional City Based Off of New Orleans like Empire City being based off of Manhattan Island) in order to meet the creator of the Ray Sphere which Cole destroyed in the 1st game with the promise of increasing your powers in order to face the foretold coming of the Beast. Just as your ship departs for New Marias the Beast arrives in Empire City and starts destroying the City, you battle the Beast but are ultimately defeated by the beast and barely get away in time. You along with Cole's best friend Zeke and Agent Kou, Cole must head to New Marias; find the creator of the Ray Sphere who has the knowledge in order to defeat the beast before the beast eventually finds Cole. What I like 1st of about the new game was you were able to carry over certain aspects from the 1st game like your Karma Level and how much power you could store from what you had earned from completing Infamous; however you can start Infamous 2 with a fresh slate without playing Infamous (I would highly recommend playing the 1st one before starting the 2nd one so you can get the story's background). Another downer is your initial battle from the 2nd game with the Beast takes a good chunk of the powers you had earned away as you have to earn them back again playing Infamous 2. The graphics quality was greatly improved of the characters which you can tell that sucker punch used the motion capture technology for a lot of the Cut Scenes which helped give it the "Uncharted" feel. Much of the game play of the controls is similar except sucker punch modified how to access your powers from the 1st (This was due to adding more powers to Cole's arsenal). The Karma system also returns and is a lot more unforgiving if you're not careful of your actions depending what path you have decided to follow (Once again Hero or Infamous). This is also played out on the final outcome of the game where instead of there being a moderate difference of the outcome your decision makes a serious turnpike for whatever you decide to choose and how differently the game will end. I spent nearly 2 weeks with many hours a day put into the game finishing the game (This was due to completing all the side missions as well as the required Missions for the Campaign). There is also a user create tool in the game that can be used to not only create game missions for yourself but also place your user generate game on the PS3 PSN network as well to share with others. Overall an excellent sequel which I am continuing having fun with, I would highly recommend.

I did everything possible in this game and its the first game I platinumed but that doens't mean I love this game. It is good but not great. It doesn't make the big leap that Uncharted did with its sequel but this game wanted to do just that. There is set pieces in this game that tries to do similar things but falls short with a less interesting story and slow progression. The game lets you do most of everything as the first one. In this game though you will be able to gain new abilities but I never felt too compelled to use them. I was fine with using my lighting abilities throughout the game. If your a big fan of the last game than I do recommend getting this game. It does look better. You can see everything has finer details, things look sharper, and there is more varied enemies. This game has for instance three fractions and each of these fractions fight you. One using ice and you will gain their abilities at one point in the game and they have big ice soldiers, your first encounter being a boss. They are nice but actually too easy to beat. The game never felt too challenging. This game has one major thing going for it that I like and this being able to make your own levels and share them with others like LittleBIGPlanet. The game allows you not just to put enemy placements but also tell the story through dialogue. Its a nice addition and anytime you can jump into one of these missions. There is even some people that make platforming missions or even missions where you have to throw a car at some enemies like a bowling. Its very flexible in its creativity. The last thing I will mention is new DLC coming out for the game this October. It is titled Festival of Blood and Cole has been bitten by Vampires that have overridden New Marais (where the game takes place) and to save yourself you have to find the one that bitten you. Its sound pretty amazing and something to look forward to later on. I know I am :) Anyway, the game is good. It just doesn't do a lot of new things outside the level creator which is still a nice addition. If you like action titles, open world games, than I can somewhat recommend it. Just don't expect a lot of gameplay changes from the last games.

Okay, I'm not these type of people who write super long in depth descriptions of a game. This is going to be short & sweet After beating inFamous 2 on both evil and good karma levels, I started to compare inFamous with inFamous 2. In inFamous 2, Cole has new powers that can be useful (lightning tether, kinetic pulse, & ionic vortexs) all the rest of them (car jump & throwing cars) I didn't bother to use. I felt those "powers" were definitely used to draw in new players. I also noticed in inFamous 2 that Cole was definitely MORE agile (climbs up poles twice as fast & seems to run faster). The static thrusters were stronger & better.THANK GOD. It made the game easier. Now, your basic lighting stricks , the "alpha ray" consumes your electircal supply which I found to be a pain the rear end. I was HIGHLY upset about it at first, but I guess they wanted to make the game more "realistic". I HATED the train rails you could use in inFamous because the trains hit you & knock you the heck out, so the street car wires was a plus. And just like in inFamous, the street car wires are not available everywhere in New Marais. I didn't bother to collect blast shards as much as i did in the inFamous because I'm already good at the game so there was no need to waste time. Also the dead drops is a definite waste of time because you can play the story line missions & understand the story, but I suggest you collect them if you want extra XP to purchase powers. Same glitches existed in inFamous 2 as in original inFamous . i.e. ( bad guys holding turrets, if you push them, their arms will stretch but not release turret, Cole can't heal a person if another one is in the way, dead drop birds will fall BUT not reach the ground , they'll hover in air & you'll need to blast the bird to get it down) there are probably more glitches, but it didn't affect gameplay that much Story line is SUPERB, but it leads me to the conclusion that there will not be an inFamous 3. If there is, I don't think I would purchase it. SPOILER ALERT: If you are a hero, you'll die for all of mankind, be recognized as a hero & heal all the people affected by the plague. If you're truly inFamous, you end up killing everyone that's not a conduit & you go around the world healing other conduits & of course, it's insinuated that you are power HUNGRY & CRAZY. I probably didn't cover some things in the game. You could read that in a 10 page review somewhere else. All in all, PURCHASE inFamous 2 IF you've played inFamous because it is a great sequel.