Rather than rehashing the plot and generalizing the experience, I will focus on the game's strongest pros and cons. Also, this is a technically-minded review. It and its number/score are not meant to persuade you to play it or not.
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I have always loved the inFamous franchise. Next to the productions of NaughtyDog, it is the very best, I believe, that consoles have to offer. Its strengths include its moment-to-moment writing; its original characters and superhero constructs; and its addictive gameplay.
I'm pleased to announce that Second Son pleases in all the same areas. The graphics (GFX), while stylized, are eye-catching and endearing. The mixture of melee and mobility; of firing and dashing, are still mesmerizing. And the way the plot (no matter how simple or convoluted) does such a good job of making you care for (or hate) your character and the others he affects.
My father was in the US Navy, and was stationed in Seattle for a brief time. When he watched me play, I was privileged to a genuine stream of nostalgia that served to increase my appreciation of the world that Sucker Punch had built. While not an exact replica of the city, Second Son's Seattle is close enough in mood and theme that worries of authenticity fade away. While incredibly pretty, both in a real-world sense and a GFX presentation sense, the environment does fall a little short in a functional sense. As one nears the end of the game, it becomes painfully obvious that each district was designed to complement EXACTLY the powerset that you find therein.
For example, on the southern island, ground-proximate smoke vents become nearly extinct, necessitating the use of the neon power or something better suited to conquering the tallest buildings. It's not a game-breaker, but more of a sore thumb.
The enemies, on the other hand, don't care which powers you find, and thus staunchly stay the same. This, I believe, is Second Son's only glaring weakness.
inFamous games have always had a tasteful variety of enemies. Sometimes you would end up fighting different SPECIES of enemies, and within, different strengths of durability and arcana.
Alas, in Second Son, enemies all consist of bipedal, armored bullet sponges with only one or two tricks per. This is an especially sinful shortcoming, given that most of your D.U.P. enemies have access to the "concrete" power (no, you can't steal it from them), but never really do anything imaginative with it. At its core, it's a reskin of the ice-conduits from inFamous 2.
Oh well. At least the Ai is functional....
Come to think of it - the Ai in Second Son is quite exceptional, and this works to alleviate some of the monotony of enemy type.
By now you must be wondering why I gave the game the score I did, and yet seem to be only focusing on shortcomings. Well, therein lies your proof of the greatness of the achievement of Second Son. It's SO good in SO MANY ways, that when you come across a failing of the product it feels quite jarring. This game had massive hype to live up to, and given that it hasn't been torn to shreds (except by critics) is quite a marvel.
The graphics; acting; and especially facial and emotion capture are the stars of the show. You wanted next-gen, and this is it baby. All "cutscenes" are rendered in real time, and at great risk of bodily harm, I must inform you that they exceed even the pre-rendered effects from 2013's The Last Of Us.
Another stand out, surprisingly, is the presence of "Paper Trail" - an interactive exercise in crime solving. You do one mission in game, and this provides clues which you then sort through on the (real) internet in order to progress to the next mission. Also, there's a Paper Conduit. How cool is THAT?
Lastly, it is worth noting that the story is very different than in previous games. It's shorter and sharper, and less winding than you'd be used to. While the omnipresent witty dialogue and banter hasn't gone anywhere, the plot - and ultimately the ending - of Second Son, is potent and mature.
inFAMOUS Second Son was one of PS4's best exclusives, but does it hold up a decade later?
100%, locked 60fps and still look great all these years later, same with the expansion, definitely worth a look if people haven't played it yet, not the best games ever made but a good experience, hopefully a new infamous gets released
Never was my favorite infamous, but it was definitely a graphics showcase early on PS4. Still plays well with the unlocked frame rate.
Still remember getting hyped about this game nearing release. Funny because I never even got a PS4. Jumped from PS3 to PC so I never played it ahahaha
Its a good game. But thats it. Congratulations you made the best choice. I dream to have a great PC one day.
Graphically It's a absolutely stunning game that still holds up today.
Didn't have all that much depth to it forcing you to play though twice for a platinum trophy a good and bad run it was a little disappointing how similar those were Delsin would be like I'm not doing that for you in a cutscene but the cutscene would play out and force you to do it anyway just as you would of in a good run
I did like the story however it got a lot of complaints back in the day people hated playing as Delsin instead of cole despite Coles story being wrapped up.
Overall though the map wasn't overly saturated with useless points of interest there was some collectibles and things to find but nothing compared to a Ubisoft game.
I think it was a good game if a little hollow I've played it through around 4 times now since it's so short.
Also it's DLC was great a full story expansion
GB: "With this feature, we run down 15 of the most underrated games on the PS4 that never received the love and appreciation they truly deserve."
I've played 15, and I wouldn't consider any of those underrated TBH. Some of them are pretty high rated.
I. Not seeing anything on that list underrated. I never played concrete genie, the ASTRO vr,and one other but I forgot the name already. Nothing on there was underrated at all imo.
There’s only 4 of those games I never played, and no most of those aren’t underrated.
GB: "There's just something special about the games that could be, and this feature gushes about 15 games that we would love to see on the PS5."
In short, you love the story and presentation/graphics etc. And the gameplay is good but repetitive.
I am somewhat opposite as I thought the story was so boring that I was really yawning a lot. Now, this is not to say I didn't like the characters.
This is actually another opposite, I wanted to see so much more of this games story, more of the awesome characters, but everyone got such little time except for Delsin and Reggie.
You can argue that they are the main characters, but honestly I liked the supporting cast even more, just didn't see enough of them. Eugene is my favorite character by far, when he would turn in to his angel, it was the funniest thing I have ever seen.
I really liked Fetch as well, but alas you don't see much of either of them despite a nice group up at the end. The plot itself was so predictable and uninteresting, I felt like it was a Marvel movie.
I loved the gameplay a lot, though I agree it gets repetitive not due to the powers or enemies (maybe the enemies a little), but the rinse and repeat nature of clearing out districts which feel like a chore.
Overall I really like the game but it's no memorable masterpiece unfortunately. An 8/10 for me.
What did you like more - InFamous 2 or Second Son? InFamous 2 is one of my favorite games