Infamous: Second Son review: more than playing superhero

There are two things about Sucker Punch Productions’ Playstation 4 exclusive Infamous: Second Son that make it a must-play game. But let’s focus on the most important one, first. Infamous: Second Son is a true next-gen game, not just one polished up real nice for the Playstation 4.

(Not the reading kind? Watch our video review.)

Infamous: Second Son is the sequel to 2009’s Infamous for the Playstation 3, and tells the story of 24 year old Delsin Rowe, who one day stumbles across a car accident and discovers he had super powers. To be specific, Delsin saves a man from the wreckage, touches him, and absorbs that man’s superhuman powers. Unfortunately, this is not a good thing, because in the world Delsin lives in, having superhuman powers (being a “Conduit”) is a one-way ticket to life in prison.

Predictably enough, an even more powerful Conduit appears, this time in the form of one woman named Augustine, who heads the Department of Unified Protection. The D.U.P. is a force dedicated to ridding Seattle of its Conduits, who they call bio-terrorists, and since Delsin just admitted he’s a Conduit and is standing right there, well, Augustine kills him.

Or she tries to. Some fast-healing Conduit recovery time later, Delsin wakes up to find out that his entire tribe (he lives on a reservation) has been concrete-ified by Augustine. And they’re doomed to die unless she takes the concrete back out. Among the potential victims: Delsin’s mother-figure, Betty.

Of course Delsin is incensed. He’s 24 years old and he just discovered he has superpowers. Our hero heads to Seattle to find Augustine, absorb her powers, and save his tribe. Cue the best game so far, this year: Infamous: Second Son,

Overview

Second Son is an action-adventure open world game, and is set across a vast, open-world version of Seattle. Delsin is quite the parkour champ, and you can see this as you roam the city, climbing up ledges and drainpipes when you’re not hovering in the air.

In his quest across Seattle, Delsin comes across different Conduit powers, all with quirks of their own. They can be used freely, but must be recharged from specific sources when they run out. For instance, Delsin’s Smoke power can only be replenished by absorbing smoke from chimneys or cars, while his Neon power draws from Seattle’s neon lights.

This happens via the Dualshock 4, which means we finally get to see a game that actually uses the touchpad! The touchpad is used to absorb powers and open doors, among other things, and also to vandalize walls. (Yes, you get to spray-paint walls as a big middle finger to the oppressive D.U.P.; using the Dualshock 4 as a hissing spray can is pretty cool.)

This also counts towards your liberation of Seattle from the D.U.P. What, you didn’t expect to just walk into the city, kill everyone, and leave, right? This isn’t Call of Duty, you know.