inFAMOUS: Second Son is set in Seattle, Washington; you take the role of Delsin Rowe, a small town delinquent part of the Akomish tribe. Delsin is a graffiti artist turned conduit, and one of the most diverse conduits in inFAMOUS history. Conduits mainly stick to one matter, but Delsin can absorb any core conduit’s power. Delsin obtains his first power from an escaped conduit named Hank, who leads Delsin into the situation that starts the entire story into a spiral.
Delsin then meets Brooke Augustine, the leader of the D.U.P. Delsin sets out on a mission to take down Augustine for attacking his people. You will meet Fetch and Eugene on your journey. Fetch controls the power of Neon, while Eugene is a loner who controls the power of video. Eugene also commands an army of angels and demons–pretty cool, huh? I really enjoyed the fact that Second Son delivered the way that it did.
InFAMOUS Second Son relies on your choices, so it’s a good idea to come up with how you will play before playing. You can either play with good karma or evil karma.
Eventually, you will face Augustine to get her power. I recommend waiting to flush the D.U.P out of each district until after you beat the main story.
The powers you gain are not only useful, but they are also fun to toy around with. The four main powers you receive are as follows:
- Smoke (you can regain this power from smoke vents on buildings or cars)
- Neon (run fast, run up walls; level one power, and contain enemies in a stasis bubble to make it easier to subdue them or obliterate them; level two power)
- Video (able to fly, use a giant sword which should take only two hits on regular foot soldiers. Ability to turn invisible. If upgraded you can even call an angel to help you)
- Concrete (heavy-duty power able to launch enemies in the air and throw concrete)
Delsin’s brother, Reggie, can either be his greatest anchor or the biggest buzz kill for Delsin. In the end, whether you love or hate his brother, Reggie is always there for Delsin. Delsin gives Reggie trouble, but he will always care for his older brother.
Second Son showcases brilliance in story-telling and amazing graphics that I almost lost myself in. Having Troy Baker provide the voice and motion capture for Delsin makes it even better for me (personal note: Troy Baker is one of my biggest influences in becoming an actor and voice actor).
Extra Content
Those who pre ordered Second Son also got add-ons including:
- Cole’s Legacy (the gift to you being Cole’s signature jacket from the first two iterations)
- Paper Trail (a weekly story add-on; Rewards not yet revealed.)
- Extra jacket designs
With Cole’s Legacy, I was kind of disappointed with how short it seemed, but I do enjoy wearing the jacket. I also liked having Zeke back into the fold in some way.
Paper Trail involves not only the game, but takes you to the keyboard and mouse as well with infamouspapertrail.com. When completing a mission in Paper Trail, you send evidence to your profile on the computer and must investigate the collected evidence before continuing the story.
The website suffered over this past weekend due to reports of the site moderators deleting the needed JavaScript. The issues didn’t really affect my liking of the game, but I did get frustrated when first attempting to complete the first part of the content. When interacting with the website, one thing to remember is that some items in the evidence you collected have been known to change overtime.
Final Findings
InFAMOUS: Second Son is both flashy and brilliant. Delsin Rowe can be either hero or villain depending on how you play him. This game is one of my favorite next-gen titles and the gameplay speaks for itself, as well as the awards it has acquired. Sucker Punch Productions has created a game that will staple the PlayStation 4 as an amazing console for years to come.
Rating: 9 out of 10.
