inFAMOUS Second Son hits 3/21/14

Check out the gamescom trailer for inFAMOUS: Second Son

This games keeps getting better and better looking.

Its probably the one single player game I'm more excited about than any other. I hope they keep the same balance as the 1st as far as how powerful you are. I don't want something I can tank through in a few hours. inFAMOUS was one of those innovative sandbox games I would have never played if I had not gotten it for free when PSN got hacked and went down for weeks.

Check out the launch announcement trailer for inFAMOUS Second Son which will release on March 21st 2014.

I should finish the first game.. I'm so behind on so many games.

I never played the 2nd, and I'm hyped for this game more than any aside from Destiny.

Check out this vid doc about creating Seattle in inFAMOUS: Second Son.

That is some good attention to detail. I'm looking forward to playing this.

inFamous Secon Son has been touring China to show off its gameplay mechanics. Here is some raw footage that includes a first look on how the game will utilize the touchpad on PS4's controller.

Day One Patch adds a crap load of content: http://www.vg247.com/2014/03/20/infamous-second-son-day-one-update-adds-19-new-missions-graphics-and-performance-tweaks/

Full content updates and patch notes

Cole’s Legacy Content Pack

• FREE with pre-order
• Explore the events immediately following inFAMOUS 2
• Work with an investigative reporter to understand the source of conduit powers
• 4 story missions, approximately 1 hour of gameplay

inFAMOUS Paper Trail Storyline

• FREE bonus missions and exclusive web content
• Innovative online and in-game story arc co-developed by Sucker Punch and 42 Entertainment
• Manga and murder, follow the trail of origami doves to discover the full story behind the D.U.P.’s occupation of Seattle.
• 19 story missions and corresponding web-based investigations, approximately 5 hours of unique gameplay.

Difficulty Balance

• Normal difficulty has been slightly increased to challenge the player’s mastery of their powers
• Expert difficulty has been fine-tuned to ensure it is the best experience for skilled gamers
• Karma progression extended to support longer playtime

Boss Fights

• The boss fights have been re-tuned for difficulty and fun
• More dynamic boss behaviors and attacks

Pedestrians and DUPs

• Engine performance tweaks to allow for more life and activity in the city
• Increased pedestrian and traffic density and variety
• Increased pedestrian-related karmic opportunities
• Post-story enemy activity and D.U.P. raids

Technical Improvements

• Graphics and performance improvements
• Fixes for a small number of infrequent blocking bugs
• PSN integration to support Paper Trail DLC

I hope this game covers a good chunk of previous plot lines from the first two games so we're not left in the dark. I never played the second one and I only got about 5 hours into the first game so I have no idea how direct of a sequel this game is compared to being a stand alone game.

btw, after playing KOTOR, I realized that infamous was emulating the light / dark side choices of the game and calling it "karma". Just in the first couple hours that I played Infamous, I could have easily chosen to be an evil bastard.. but I decided to walk the path of the light and help those around me. I know that your powers as you level up would be affected by how good or evil your karma was.. same with the reactions of characters you encounter. Second Son could have some decent replayability if you want to see all the karma options.

First impressions.

This game is a blast so far. Unlike previous inFAMOUS games, you're powers are not unlimited. You have to absorb them through proper sources. All I have is the smoke ability currently. and when I use it up I have to find a smoke source to absorb power from. If I cant find one, I can just bash a car until it starts to smoke and drain it.

You gain a good amount of abilities from the start, and instead of shock orbs, there are drones with "shards" to collect towards upgrading your skill tree. Some are stationary, and some are on the move. As you gain control of city areas (similar to how you do in Saints Row games) shards become visible on map.

inFAMOUS utilizes both the light bar and touchpad. There is no action/interact button like we're accustomed too. instead you swipe the touchpad to open doors or lift objects. The light bar is mostly used for spray painting graffiti so far. I like the touchpad after getting use to it. In one instance you had to swipe up and hold to lift a platformed object while you rapidly pressed down the R2 button to inflict damage to it. The lack of a action/interact button frees up the dedicated button to do something else.

PS4's video capture is still jacked up.... its not just BF4. I tried to capture 2 events and neither one was properly recorded. I had to settle for different clips to share in the end.

The lack of power cords to quick travel across makes this game a lot different from previous inFAMOUS games. You're not Cole anymore and your powers are different. There is a lot more parkour involved. Its looking like it uses more of a Saints Row 4 version of gliding... but not as overly powerful as of now... they've also seemed to borrow the quick travel aspect minus the ship outside the matrix. lol.. its not a bad thing at all.

The game sounds like fun so far. Aside from going around gaining control of areas and getting powerups, hows the story of the game playing out so far? Did it give you some flashbacks to the guy's origins and how he developed his powers?

Do you have the PS4 camera? I think I read that the light bar works only in conjunction with the camera. If you don't have the camera, then maybe the controller was using it's internal motion sensors? If thats the case then the PS4 controller is even more versatile seeing as it has some Wii like functionality.

The PS4 share button is a bastard now. It never saves the right clips or it won't save a clip at all for me as if my video capture space is full. But what I found out from trial and error is this.. Double hit that share button to start recording, forget about it for a while, then when you see something you want to save, hit the share button once. Because of the initial double tap, it'll record for 15 minutes or until you hit the share button. But from what I've been experiencing.. it'll stop recording at 15 mins and then the very next time you hit the button it will save the correct footage. This worked good for you before if I remember right.. But after that, double tap that share button to start recording the next 15 mins again. Keep repeating this after every clip you want to save to ensure it will save the next clip, and so on. So far this has been working out for me as you can tell from the sniping videos I shared on facebook. Its just annoying having to fill up my capture space on the hard drive with pointless clips just to save the one or two that I want. I'm now deleting all capture videos at the end of the day now after I upload the clips I want.

The only time this kind of screwed me was when I saved a tank video last night. I was going to make a video of my entire tank run with how I got 2 tank ribbons and a 10 kill streak, but when I hit the share button when I died.. the system saved the initial 15 minute recording that I started and then another clip of 2 1/2 minutes.. my entire tank video was broken into two clips, the last 5 mins of the initial 15 and then the second part of 2 1/2 mins. Oh well.. at least it actually saves the damn videos now. It also worked good for when I was sniping.. I double tapped the button, got a kill 5 mins later, hit the share button once and it stopped the initial 15 min recording for exactly the clip I wanted. Of course we can't predict when something amazing will happen, so I'm going to start double tapping that share button every 20-30 mins or so in case I do something amazing.

The story is pretty good so far, there is no flash back, because you gain your ability in the opening parts of the game. Conduits are labeled as bio-terrorists so you go from being a normal person to an enemy of the state unwillingly. The main antagonist is a conduit herself, and she attacked your tribe (Delsin is a native american). You quickly discover that you can obtain any conduit's power by touching them, so you're trying to hunt her down to absorb her power and heal all the people slowly dying back home from her attacks.

EDIT: She is also in control of the government agency that cracks down on conduits to add to the twist.

I just noticed that as my progress the light bar on my controller is turning more red... I thought it was glitched at first because it was yellow when I turned it on... and thats the color it is when its charging, but as I play the ruthless path, the bar is getting more red the further I go... pretty neat. I was wondering why it seemed so bright at first. It started out white, and I guess if you go heroic, it gets more blue.

Now that sounds more interesting. That light bar turning red is cool too.

So far so good. I just received my 3rd ability. I'll put the 3rd power in a spoiler tag just in case someone doesn't want to know what it is... its not really anything that could ruin the gameplay. But I've notice most game sites not revealing the 2 other powers in their reviews.

Smoke-

This is the power you start out with. This power seems to be the brute jack of all trades during combat. You're basic attack is a cinder blast which you can fire rapidly, you can also hold down the button for a large close range blast. You eventually unlock a cinder missile which does incredible damage and you can volley them off until you run out. The melee is a heated chain which comes in handy on enemies that get too close... your more powerful attacks like the cinder missile will hurt you if you fire them at targets that are too close. While you have smoke, you can dash into a cinder form and rematerialize. this will let you pass through objects like a chain link fence, or walls with gaps in them. Its also useful for avoid gun fire. You also have a non lethal attack smoke bomb which will cause lesser enemies to choke. This will open up the ability to either execute them or subdue them.

Each power posses a "super move". This is acquired through taking down 7 enemies in a short time frame between each kill/subdue.  In smoke's case it is the Orbital Drop as seen in most trailers. You launch up into the air and come down unleashing a fiery shockwave killing and destroying everything in its radius (at least for infamous, the symbol looks different from a heroic playthrough video I saw). Once you launch, you can adjust your drop area to a certain degree on your way back down.

Neon-

Neon is the second power you get, Its more useful for getting around and long distance fighting. The basic neon burst attack is far weaker than smoke, but if you zoom in, head shots become instakills on most targets. Unlike smoke you cannot charge up the basic attack for a bigger blast... the neon "missile" serves that purpose. Its not as good as the smoke missile as it needs to be charged, and its range is not as far. Neon's non-leathal is similar to the smoke bomb, but instead of choking enemies, it slows them down matrix style for easy head shots... this only lasts for about 1-2 seconds... plaything through as heroic gives you an option to make the effect last longer. Neon does not feature a dash ability. Instead it allows you to run in a neon state allowing bullets to pass through you, and also allowing you to run up walls. This is useful because under smoke you have to rely on smoke vents to get to the top of buildings, or a grappling system that all buildings may not accommodate in the best of ways. Neon's melee is further reaching than smoke as its a long neon beam sword.  I found myself sticking with neon most of the time once I got it. Attacks seem to drain your power less as well, I assume because without precision they aren't as damaging.

Neon's super move unleashes a massive wave of neon, capturing every enemy in its wake into a floating orb. You then unleash an insane amount of neon bursts from both hands sweeping the entire area in front of you. This will kill everything on your screen. Its less effective on vehicles and objects, but a lot more effective on enemies. It has more range than Orbital Drop, but if there is anyone behind you, they will still be there when you are finished. (You are temporarily invincible while you perform these moves, so anyone shooting at you cannot kill you before you have finished it)

Video-

I haven't fully tested this out, but I assuming this is the best of both worlds with an in the middle rating when it comes to attack damage. Video's most notable difference is that it allows you to temporarily turn invisible. In this state you can execute/subdue enemies when you get close to them. The basic attack is a video turret which rapidly fires electronic blasts, by holding down the button... there is no charged attack. Instead of a missile, you tag a target and giant swords materialize and cause massive damage, its almost like a homing missile. You can also summon video angels to distract enemies when things get too heated... I assume this is the non-lethal. (this all sounds weird for being video, but it would be story spoilers if I explained it). Melee is a lot more close range than the previous two powers, but is way more powerful. You get claw like distortions on both hands that can kill in two hits rather than the 4-5 it may take with the other powers. Video's dash move is by far the best, you gain glowing wings that allow you to dash like with smoke, but you can quickly swoop up the side of buildings as well. You can get to the top of anything with the speed of smoke vents, but with the convenience of neon wall run.

 

Video's super movie is called Heaven and Hell, it allows you to summon an insane amount of video angles and they all come crashing down, destroying people and vehicles... this seems to be the most destructive power so far, but its more limited to a line of sight attack. Smoke gives you a whole radius, Neon gives you a half radius, so I would say this is just a quarter radius in front of you.

A final note I forgot to mention that when performing each powers "dash" ability, you will not heal. When on the brink of death it takes a good 5-6 seconds of not taking any damage to completely heal, this process pauses while dashing so you cannot abuse it that way.

I'm not looking at the third ability, in case I play this game later on. The powers sound effective. Once you get a new power, is the super moves for them unlocked right off the bat or do you have to level up each power in the same way you would level up Kratos's weapons?

The super moves are acquired pretty much from the start... you go through learning mission where you absorb power from devices that grant you knew abilities. The last one always features a test drive of the super move.