Infamous Second Son Blows Up Seattle - PAX 2013

[Greg Tito]

Infamous Second Son Blows Up Seattle - PAX 2013

The open world superhero franchise Infamous looks pretty spiffy on the PS4.

Infamous is quickly becoming one of my favorite franchises. There's something great about using your super abilities for good or evil in a open setting, and it seems Sony's wholly owned studio Sucker Punch is ramping it up for the PlayStation 4. Set in a town - a futuristic Seattle - and starring a new character, the presentation of gameplay from Infamous Second Son and the new trailer starring a character named Fetch all make me want to play the game now, and not wait until Q1 2014 when it's slated to come out.

You probably already know that Delsin Rowe has taken over as the lead character from Cole McGrath. Delsin has some fancy fire-based powers, and he seems to have a tense working relationship with his brother, a law enforcement agent. Seattle is ruled by what looks like a totalitarian organization called the DUP (Department of Unified Protection) that has been rounding up all bioterrorists a.k.a. the conduits or superheroes that have sprang up.


Based on the new trailer, Delsin seems to have the ability to absorb other conduit's powers. Fetch - Abigail Walker is her real name - is plucky conduit with a bit of a mean streak, and Delsin infiltrates the city to track her down. Then he decides to absorb her power rather than just kill her like his brother wants, but it's unclear whether this process harms Fetch or not. This activity or choice will likely feed into the karmic good/evil choices that's another of the franchises hallmarks.

The gameplay shown is quite impressive. Delsin jumps over buildings and uses his red flame power to hover in the air or teleport short distances, even up drain pipes. Functionally, Delsin's superhero powers seem very similar to Cole's electricity-based ones, with power line skating the obvious omission. Still, it looks just as fun to move around the world and take out DUP agents with Delsin's mobility as it was in Infamous 2.

The presentation at PAX 2013 was brief, and there were no developers on hand to answer my questions, but it did what any game presentation should. I want to play Second Son right now, and it will likely sell a lot of PS4s when it comes out exclusively for the platform the winter.

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[Compatriot Block]

I'm currently living in Seattle for college, so I'm really hoping that I'll be able to at least jump around on my campus.

 

[nightmare_gorilla]

did he just absorb the floresence off the bulbs at the end? i'm sorry i love infamous it's one of the best super hero stories ever. but i just can't get behind this new guy yet. he's too much of an anti-hero. i'm not against anti-heroes per say and maybe it's just because i'm getting older but actual real heroes are so much more interesting. i get it everyone loves wolverine and lobo and the "bad" good guy type. but to me it just seems childish. this new kid delsin, his power set and the chains and all reminds me of ghost rider. maybe he will turn out as good as cole but so far he's not really appealing to me.

 

[Miss G.]

Looks like something I'd like to try. I'll have to let Frasier play it for an hour or 2 first before I make my final decision.

 

[Arslan Aladeen]

Still unsure of the main character, but I really enjoyed the heck out of the previous Infamous games, so I'll have to check this one out once I break down and get a PS4. I'm just hoping they ditch the morality choices in this one.

 

[ZZoMBiE13]

it's unclear whether this process harms Fetch or not. This activity or choice will likely feed into the karmic good/evil choices that's another of the franchises hallmarks.

If this is true, if they've actually managed to make the moral choice nonsense into a fluid part of the gameplay rather than just the binary Saint/Dickhead design of the other 2 and a half InFamous titles, then it makes me even more excited for this one.

And I was already pretty damn excited for this one to begin with.

InFamous is one of my favorite franchises to emerge from the "7th gen". If there's a tangible reward for going a dark path, or at least some motivation for going that route, it'll make an already stellar franchise even better. Of course even if it was just status quo and the whole Second Son story is just more of the same with a new face and shiny new paint job, I'll still be happy to just have more InFamous. But here's hoping they're really building on the foundation set by Cole's tale and taking it in some new and interesting directions.

Thanks for the article Greg!

I'm currently living in Seattle for college, so I'm really hoping that I'll be able to at least jump around on my campus.

That would be so cool.
Living in Texas, we rarely get a game set here. At least not modern Texas. While Red Dead was based on Texas, it's not like there was any kind of recognizable terrain or anything. It'd be nice if a GTA or a Saint's Row or one of their analogs could set themselves in this area. Dallas, and the DFW metroplex, has become a pretty bustling area over the last decade. Our numbers aren't as high as LA or NYC, but it's respectable.
Ah well. Maybe some day.

 

[klaynexas3]

did he just absorb the floresence off the bulbs at the end? i'm sorry i love infamous it's one of the best super hero stories ever. but i just can't get behind this new guy yet. he's too much of an anti-hero. i'm not against anti-heroes per say and maybe it's just because i'm getting older but actual real heroes are so much more interesting. i get it everyone loves wolverine and lobo and the "bad" good guy type. but to me it just seems childish. this new kid delsin, his power set and the chains and all reminds me of ghost rider. maybe he will turn out as good as cole but so far he's not really appealing to me.

Remember how the game uses Karma, meaning Cole could have been every bit the dick that you're probably seeing Delsin to be and more. Another way to look at it is that you have the choice to make Delsin every bit the saint you made Cole. So in other words, people will get their Anti-hero, but you still get your good guy.

 

[Quazimofo]

Unfortunately I think they made 2 major mistakes for this infamous game that kind of ruin it for me.
For one, the main character. As said before, he seems a bit too much of an anti-hero, of which we have too many. If I can't get behind the main character, it's difficult to really enjoy a game I think. The exception being saint's row where you're just a sociopath.

The second and biggest reason this game has me uneasy is the fact that they decided to continue after the good ending, which said in no uncertain terms that

Spoiler

EVERY CONDUIT ON THE PLANET IS DEAD. It was a very weighted decision for the ending: either kill all the conduits to save the majority of humanity, or kill everyone else in search of the conduits hidden among the humans to bring the species forward.

They said they continued the good end because it was the more played of the two, but that to me is a failure to understand the reason why people picked that ending in the first place. I liked it because it was, in my eyes, the moral thing to do, and also because it provided a very un-ambiguous but very satisfying conclusion to the story.
To continue after that but in such a manner as this is a disrespect I think to that story, basically invalidating the final decision cole had to make because ex post facto the plan didn't work. At least not as expected.

Because they continued from the good end, this game is kinda gimped from the get-go. If they had continued from the "evil" end, I feel they could have had the potential for another very interesting game that didn't spit in the face of the original plan to have only 2 infamous games; particularly the good ending for Infamous 2.. At lest, not as much as continuing on the series like this.

P.S. Is anyone else having a problem were advertisements cut off the bottom right hand corner of the text window where you type? It gets annoying not being able to see what I do there and having to count the letters to make any edits in that portion of the text box.

 

[Quazimofo]

Also, since when was smoke-powers and fireballs a part of what conduits were able to do? I thought they were supposed to be entirely electricity based, since the ray sphere was supposed to do something involving the human body's natural electricity.


Edit: Well it seems I was wrong then. Only played infamous 1 all the way through so that was the only frame of reference I had for what conduits are supposed to be able to do. My mistake. Thanks for 3 of 4 people correcting me being very polite about it.

 

[TecnoMonkey]

Also, since when was smoke-powers and fireballs a part of what conduits were able to do? I thought they were supposed to be entirely electricity based, since the ray sphere was supposed to do something involving the human body'S natural electricity.

Wut...

Have you ever played an Infamous game. The only character in the series that had electric powers was Cole, every other had something different (ice, telekenisis, fire,). Hell some conduits had powers that couldnt even be properly described, for example, the secondary antagonist in inFamous 2 had the power to become a huge mutant alien thing, and convert normal people into other smaller mutant alien things. So where did you get that info from? Also they never went into detail on how conduits are created, I mean, what if after all the conduits died more were born. I'm just speculating here but I doubt they would leave that question unanswered.


OT: This is probably my most anticipated game for next gen, apart from looking fantastic I look forward into playing a main character who is not all depressed by having awesome powers, unlike some people here.

 

[vallorn]

Also, since when was smoke-powers and fireballs a part of what conduits were able to do? I thought they were supposed to be entirely electricity based, since the ray sphere was supposed to do something involving the human body'S natural electricity.

See inFamous 2's Ice, Fire etc etc conduits. It manifests in everyone differently.

EDIT: Ninjaed with more detail by the poster above me... Good job mate.

 

[Verrik]

Also, since when was smoke-powers and fireballs a part of what conduits were able to do? I thought they were supposed to be entirely electricity based, since the ray sphere was supposed to do something involving the human body'S natural electricity.

HAHA! Ok, either you're trolling, or you've never played an Infamous game before in your entire life. In Infamous 2 (don't want to spoil it) a CERTAIN character had the power of ICE. And another had the power of OIL/FIRE (something like that). And another still had the power to transform into a giant monster.

Hell even in the first Infamous game, conduit powers were not limited to electricity.

 

[Saltyk]

Already have this game reserved. And I can't wait to get my hands on it. Honestly, I enjoy the gameplay as much as anything else. So, as long as they kept up the movement and combat, I don't think there's anything to worry about.

Also, since when was smoke-powers and fireballs a part of what conduits were able to do? I thought they were supposed to be entirely electricity based, since the ray sphere was supposed to do something involving the human body'S natural electricity.

Wut...

Have you ever played an Infamous game. The only character in the series that had electric powers was Cole, every other had something different (ice, telekenisis, fire,). Hell some conduits had powers that couldnt even be properly described, for example, the secondary antagonist in inFamous 2 had the power to become a huge mutant alien thing, and convert normal people into other smaller mutant alien things. So where did you get that info from? Also they never went into detail on how conduits are created, I mean, what if after all the conduits died more were born. I'm just speculating here but I doubt they would leave that question unanswered.


OT: This is probably my most anticipated game for next gen, apart from looking fantastic I look forward into playing a main character who is not all depressed by having awesome powers, unlike some people here.

Beat me to it.

Also, while they did state that all conduits, even those whose powers hadn't awakened yet, would die as a result of the Good Ending, we don't know all the details of this new game's story. Like you said, nothing prevents new conduits from being born after that. And all things considered, I'm sure there may have been some people interested in finding/creating conduits. After seeing what Cole could do, you know someone would want a living weapon like him.

I'm not certain, but I think the Ray Sphere just awakened a conduit's latent power more easily, while killing nonconduits and using their energy to power the process. But, I don't think anything prevented a conduit's power from awakening on it's own. It's just rare.

What I'm curious about is our new character's powers. Seriously, the ability to take other conduit's powers seems OP as Hell. I'm curious what the limitations are if any.

 

[Verrik]

Already have this game reserved. And I can't wait to get my hands on it. Honestly, I enjoy the gameplay as much as anything else. So, as long as they kept up the movement and combat, I don't think there's anything to worry about.

Also, since when was smoke-powers and fireballs a part of what conduits were able to do? I thought they were supposed to be entirely electricity based, since the ray sphere was supposed to do something involving the human body'S natural electricity.

Wut...

Have you ever played an Infamous game. The only character in the series that had electric powers was Cole, every other had something different (ice, telekenisis, fire,). Hell some conduits had powers that couldnt even be properly described, for example, the secondary antagonist in inFamous 2 had the power to become a huge mutant alien thing, and convert normal people into other smaller mutant alien things. So where did you get that info from? Also they never went into detail on how conduits are created, I mean, what if after all the conduits died more were born. I'm just speculating here but I doubt they would leave that question unanswered.


OT: This is probably my most anticipated game for next gen, apart from looking fantastic I look forward into playing a main character who is not all depressed by having awesome powers, unlike some people here.

Beat me to it.

Also, while they did state that all conduits, even those whose powers hadn't awakened yet, would die as a result of the Good Ending, we don't know all the details of this new game's story. Like you said, nothing prevents new conduits from being born after that. And all things considered, I'm sure there may have been some people interested in finding/creating conduits. After seeing what Cole could do, you know someone would want a living weapon like him.

I'm not certain, but I think the Ray Sphere just awakened a conduit's latent power more easily, while killing nonconduits and using their energy to power the process. But, I don't think anything prevented a conduit's power from awakening on it's own. It's just rare.

What I'm curious about is our new character's powers. Seriously, the ability to take other conduit's powers seems OP as Hell. I'm curious what the limitations are if any.

*SPOILERS*



I think as far as the Good Ending goes, while that machine killed all people with the conduit gene, it only killed all people with the conduit gene that were ALIVE at the time. More people with the gene could have been born after. I mean, Nix's parents were obviously not conduits and didn't have the conduit gene, yet Nix herself had powers. So it would make sense that, even if a couple without the gene had a child, that kid could be born with the conduit gene. The game never really explained how people with the gene were born.

Now, with that said, I have no idea how this game would work with the Bad Ending. Unless they are making the Good Ending canon.

 

[Saltyk]

Already have this game reserved. And I can't wait to get my hands on it. Honestly, I enjoy the gameplay as much as anything else. So, as long as they kept up the movement and combat, I don't think there's anything to worry about.

Also, since when was smoke-powers and fireballs a part of what conduits were able to do? I thought they were supposed to be entirely electricity based, since the ray sphere was supposed to do something involving the human body'S natural electricity.

Wut...

Have you ever played an Infamous game. The only character in the series that had electric powers was Cole, every other had something different (ice, telekenisis, fire,). Hell some conduits had powers that couldnt even be properly described, for example, the secondary antagonist in inFamous 2 had the power to become a huge mutant alien thing, and convert normal people into other smaller mutant alien things. So where did you get that info from? Also they never went into detail on how conduits are created, I mean, what if after all the conduits died more were born. I'm just speculating here but I doubt they would leave that question unanswered.


OT: This is probably my most anticipated game for next gen, apart from looking fantastic I look forward into playing a main character who is not all depressed by having awesome powers, unlike some people here.

Beat me to it.

Also, while they did state that all conduits, even those whose powers hadn't awakened yet, would die as a result of the Good Ending, we don't know all the details of this new game's story. Like you said, nothing prevents new conduits from being born after that. And all things considered, I'm sure there may have been some people interested in finding/creating conduits. After seeing what Cole could do, you know someone would want a living weapon like him.

I'm not certain, but I think the Ray Sphere just awakened a conduit's latent power more easily, while killing nonconduits and using their energy to power the process. But, I don't think anything prevented a conduit's power from awakening on it's own. It's just rare.

What I'm curious about is our new character's powers. Seriously, the ability to take other conduit's powers seems OP as Hell. I'm curious what the limitations are if any.

*SPOILERS*



I think as far as the Good Ending goes, while that machine killed all people with the conduit gene, it only killed all people with the conduit gene that were ALIVE at the time. More people with the gene could have been born after. I mean, Nix's parents were obviously not conduits and didn't have the conduit gene, yet Nix herself had powers. So it would make sense that, even if a couple without the gene had a child, that kid could be born with the conduit gene. The game never really explained how people with the gene were born.

Now, with that said, I have no idea how this game would work with the Bad Ending. Unless they are making the Good Ending canon.

I pretty much agree with everything you said. We could look at the Conduit Gene as being a recessive gene. Meaning that if the "non-conduit" gene is present with the "conduit" gene, the person is not a conduit. As a result, two non-conduits could have a conduit child. Though, I doubt two conduits could have a non-conduit child unless there is some other factor in play.

Of course, as far as we know, the only guaranteed way to awaken a conduit's power was the Ray Sphere. So that's the biggest unknown. I can't remember the situation with Nix (if her parents were dead or with her when she had her own powers awakened), but for all we know they were conduits. But their powers were never awakened. Be it via the Ray Sphere or some other natural means.

As far as I know, the Good Ending of Infamous 2 is canon. They based it on the most common choice that players made. The Evil Ending would have had a much different world for the player.

 

[KoudelkaMorgan]

I liked the first game. I hated the second game, except for Cole and Zeke. Both endings were decent, both of the women in that game were insufferable. I didn't get the DLC, because it looked really stupid, and in my game Cole was dead...so random vampire bs really didn't make sense to me.

I3 looks to have an interesting plot kernel, but I really dislike Delsin. I don't like his name, because it reminds me of a shampoo. I don't like his design, especially that hat. That the only reason Cole had a shaved head and this twat has a beanie (and everyone else has short hair) is that they suck at making believable hair. Its not because of some kind of artistic choice to express characterization. They just suck at modeling hair, so you get to wear a wool shower cap that makes you look like you're doing bad Toad cosplay.

But, his voice isn't annoying and what he actually DOES in the trailers is pretty cool. He might be a great character in the end. Just one with a silly name and hat.

 

[Drummodino]

This game represents about 80% of my motivation to buy a next gen console. The Infamous series are my favorite ps3 games and I am incredibly psyched to play this.

Also has anyone else noticed that Troy Baker seems to have a voice acting role in almost every big game recently? He's becoming the new Nolan North. I mean just look at his IMDb page: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1684869/

Not that I have a problem with that, he's terrific.

 

[Drummodino]

I liked the first game. I hated the second game, except for Cole and Zeke. Both endings were decent, both of the women in that game were insufferable. I didn't get the DLC, because it looked really stupid, and in my game Cole was dead...so random vampire bs really didn't make sense to me.

I3 looks to have an interesting plot kernel, but I really dislike Delsin. I don't like his name, because it reminds me of a shampoo. I don't like his design, especially that hat. That the only reason Cole had a shaved head and this twat has a beanie (and everyone else has short hair) is that they suck at making believable hair. Its not because of some kind of artistic choice to express characterization. They just suck at modeling hair, so you get to wear a wool shower cap that makes you look like you're doing bad Toad cosplay.

But, his voice isn't annoying and what he actually DOES in the trailers is pretty cool. He might be a great character in the end. Just one with a silly name and hat.

Actually Suckerpunch initially planned for Cole to have hair in the second game (it was shown in the trailers) but the fan backlash convinced them to revert to the shaved head.

The vampire thing was kind of a "what if" scenario. It was just Zeke making stuff up to try and chat up that chick in the bar, it never actually happened.

 

[Verrik]

Already have this game reserved. And I can't wait to get my hands on it. Honestly, I enjoy the gameplay as much as anything else. So, as long as they kept up the movement and combat, I don't think there's anything to worry about.

Also, since when was smoke-powers and fireballs a part of what conduits were able to do? I thought they were supposed to be entirely electricity based, since the ray sphere was supposed to do something involving the human body'S natural electricity.

Wut...

Have you ever played an Infamous game. The only character in the series that had electric powers was Cole, every other had something different (ice, telekenisis, fire,). Hell some conduits had powers that couldnt even be properly described, for example, the secondary antagonist in inFamous 2 had the power to become a huge mutant alien thing, and convert normal people into other smaller mutant alien things. So where did you get that info from? Also they never went into detail on how conduits are created, I mean, what if after all the conduits died more were born. I'm just speculating here but I doubt they would leave that question unanswered.


OT: This is probably my most anticipated game for next gen, apart from looking fantastic I look forward into playing a main character who is not all depressed by having awesome powers, unlike some people here.

Beat me to it.

Also, while they did state that all conduits, even those whose powers hadn't awakened yet, would die as a result of the Good Ending, we don't know all the details of this new game's story. Like you said, nothing prevents new conduits from being born after that. And all things considered, I'm sure there may have been some people interested in finding/creating conduits. After seeing what Cole could do, you know someone would want a living weapon like him.

I'm not certain, but I think the Ray Sphere just awakened a conduit's latent power more easily, while killing nonconduits and using their energy to power the process. But, I don't think anything prevented a conduit's power from awakening on it's own. It's just rare.

What I'm curious about is our new character's powers. Seriously, the ability to take other conduit's powers seems OP as Hell. I'm curious what the limitations are if any.

*SPOILERS*



I think as far as the Good Ending goes, while that machine killed all people with the conduit gene, it only killed all people with the conduit gene that were ALIVE at the time. More people with the gene could have been born after. I mean, Nix's parents were obviously not conduits and didn't have the conduit gene, yet Nix herself had powers. So it would make sense that, even if a couple without the gene had a child, that kid could be born with the conduit gene. The game never really explained how people with the gene were born.

Now, with that said, I have no idea how this game would work with the Bad Ending. Unless they are making the Good Ending canon.

I pretty much agree with everything you said. We could look at the Conduit Gene as being a recessive gene. Meaning that if the "non-conduit" gene is present with the "conduit" gene, the person is not a conduit. As a result, two non-conduits could have a conduit child. Though, I doubt two conduits could have a non-conduit child unless there is some other factor in play.

Of course, as far as we know, the only guaranteed way to awaken a conduit's power was the Ray Sphere. So that's the biggest unknown. I can't remember the situation with Nix (if her parents were dead or with her when she had her own powers awakened), but for all we know they were conduits. But their powers were never awakened. Be it via the Ray Sphere or some other natural means.

As far as I know, the Good Ending of Infamous 2 is canon. They based it on the most common choice that players made. The Evil Ending would have had a much different world for the player.

In a comic cutscene in Infamous 2, it talks about how Nix got her powers. She was rounded up with her family and a bunch of other outcasts to be used as "Ray Sphere fodder". It definitely shows her mother getting caught up in the blast. Everyone caught in that blast died except for Nix and Bertrand. Now whether or not her father was there, I don't know, but it does say that her family was there with her.

 

[Casual Shinji]

So from this trailer I guess Delsin recharges his powers by obsorbing it from combustion engines (cars), which makes sense seeing as it's fire based. I still wonder how they're going to work around the "no swimming" angle. I mean, Cole electrocuted himself... What's Delsin gonna do? Unless this time you can swim, or the city isn't surrounded by water.

And it looks like Fetch is Sucker Punch's version of Jubilee.