inFAMOUS Second Son Tries to Take Back the Super Hero Game Crown - Preview
by Karl Koebke , posted on 16 June 2013 / 4,012 Views
While Arkham Asylum makes it difficult to call inFAMOUS the best super hero video game ever it's still probably one of the best, particularly for an original super hero. Some of the moments from the first inFAMOUS truly made me feel like a superhero being forced to make tough choices on how to use my powers. Delsin Rowe is our newest protagonist with a whole new set of powers and trials and tribulations to get through. I got a chance to see a short demo played by a couple of the developers and it's looking mighty impressive.
The Department of Unified Protection has taken over Seattle and the demo gave Delsin the task of taking out one of the department's bases. Of course some people might think that having a department of the government to watch over people with super powers is a good idea but the DUP isn't some feel good mamby pamby government organization. Any house can be broken into and everyone inside scanned for abnormalities. If they find you have some kind of powers then you're either going to work for them or be locked in prison for the rest of your life. It's a lot less Marvel Civil War and a lot more like Nazi Germany in that respect.
Most readers probably know by now that Delsin's ability is the embodiment of smoke, although that's apparently not the only power he'll get throughout the game. He can not only shoot smoke (similar to how Cole shoots lightning), but Delsin can actually transform his entire body into smoke, making chain link fences a meaningless obstacle. The guys from Suckerpunch wanted to show me how they've put a more run and gun feel into this latest inFAMOUS title. First off you can use your smoke to dash and then link that up into several attacks immediately to get the jump on enemies. Aiming your projectiles is also not as cumbersome as it once was and your reticule is always present as a tiny dot so you can fire while at a full run.
Environmental destruction is also in full force as Delsin brought watch towers crashing down and obliterated cover that his enemies were using. There seemed to be a central metal structure that was for all practical purposes untouchable, but for the most part if you see it you can probably wreck it. Personally one of my favorite parts from the last two inFAMOUS titles was the travel system, which allowed you to use electrical high wires to get around. Delsin's abilities allow him to use vents as a form of instant travel. The vent's exit pops him high into the air after which he can use a combination of smoke dashes and classic Cole-style floating to navigate long distances. I'm not totally sure if it'll feel like it has the skill aspect that Cole's locomotion method did, but it looked functional nonetheless. Of course climbing is still an option as well and it looks like Delsin might be even better at it than Cole was.
The demo ended with Delsin jumping in the midst of a pack of soldiers and using a special attack seen from a previous trailer. He flew high into the air as streams of smoke only to come crashing down in a massive explosion that sent everyone around him reeling. During this demo there was no notable HUD but the developers told me that, although it hasn't yet been announced, there will be a power draining and refilling method similar to Cole's but obviously not using electricity. How exactly this will work is something I'm definitely interested in. Look for more on inFAMOUS Second Son when it releases on PS4 in the first quarter of 2014.
