Review: Infamous: Second Son is beautiful, but its open world gameplay is generic | Canada

nfamous: Second Son is one of the best looking games on next-generation consoles, particularly the PlayStation 4, but unfortunately it doesn’t do much to change up the traditional open world genre formula and while it’s still fun, Second Son isn’t the system selling game the PS4 needs right now.

[Chuk5]

Why does it need to change up the open world formula? I don't beleive it ever advertised as such. Any there's plenty of emergent combat scenarios in my opinion. People are to up this idea of next-gen gameplay that really sounds like snake oil. I'm seeing some of these reviews acknowledge that SS is fun and beautiful and pull back because it's not innovative enough. Innovation is pointless if it's not enjoyable.

[legionsoup]

I agree. You have to cater to the fans. If you change it too much, then the fans of the original will get upset.

If you want something new, try a new game. If you want more Infamous (super powers in an open world), they give you more Infamous.

[ABizzel1]

There's nothing generic about the gameplay. The gameplay is a blast, now the side missions can be generic, but the gameplay is not.

[GarrusVakarian]

I had to do a double take at that title....seriously, wtf?!

The side missions are pretty generic, but the gameplay is most definitely not.

What game can you turn into a puff of smoke, enter a vent, shoot out the top of the vent and hold square to smoke slam onto a bunch of enemies?

What game can you throw neon grenades that suspend multiple enemies in their leaving them vulnerable to be slow-mo headshotted by you, causing them to explode into a burst of particles and setting off a chain reaction to other enemies in close proximity.

What game can you do THIS? -
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Lol, the game is *far* from generic in terms of gameplay.

[3-4-5]

It does look kind of boring in parts though.

The videos of somebody just standing there throwing fireballs at bad guys why they continuously get hit and nothing happens just seems kind of last gen and boring.

The graphics look pretty good and the art style is appealing though, so it has that going for it.

For people who are already fans I'm sure this game is fun though.

[csreynolds]

Well said. Innovation is worthless if it doesn't contribute to the fun factor. If it isn't broken...

[callahan09]

I am getting so effing sick of critics calling PS exclusives "generic". It's like the catch-all, go-to word they the industry has agreed on so that they can have an excuse to not give Sony games great scores.

I don't get it, and it's all BS.

Generic my ass.

[pivotplease]

I find a lot of the Canadian review sites biased toward PS exclusives. Wish a few more of my fellow Canadians respected games outside of the FPS genre. I think they just picked the wrong writers for the jobs. You need more people who enjoy games from a wide variety of genres. You need people who see the merit in games like Journey and Heavy Rain. Guess we'll keep being fed the same line: "PS exclusives are superior from a technical standpoint, but they all have generic gameplay!" Really?

And that really gets me... The Walking Dead from Telltale gets all of these awards and praise as a multi-plat title while a game that did everything Telltale did but better gets a mixed reaction?

[BelkingOfSony]

PS exclusive gets lower scores for being 'generic', meanwhile cod gets super high scores despite being as generic as a FPS can possibly get

[Chuk5]

@Lukas
That clip is wild man!

[TimeSkipLuffy]

like many other genres getting generic. CoD, AC, LEGO, etc. So many games that do only little things new but usually still sell well because gamers have fun playing their kind of genre they love over the time ^^

[Crazyglues]

Bubble for you ---> well said, could not agree more..

I liked the game but yeah I felt it was getting generic, doing the same old things..

would have loved some more story telling of the out-break and more battles with conduits to take down... Didn't have any game changing decisions to make like save your bother or save the bus going off the cliff.. --things like that--

and more story, how the world has changed, how people get their powers, how your power is made from either things in your life or your personal DNA - give me that story..

Also push the powers to the limit, let me lift a car and throw it with my powers, or explosions that go down the block -- breaks windows, cracks the street, I want to feel like a total badass...

Good game, but potential for so much more then just this... --Could have been one really badass game, with just a little add-ons to the powers-- ..imo

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[mkis007]

that is what second wave sequels are for. And i cant wait.

[Crazyglues]

@ mkis007

yes indeed, and I can't wait either...

[WeAreLegion]

They spelled "fun" wrong.

[Bobets]

"It doesnt change up the traditional open world genre formula"

HOLY SHIT!!!! what the fuck? really? I dont even......

What is the next open world game to release? watch dogs,AC,witcher? does any of these look like they are changing the open world genre? then I better hear the same criticism which I doubt we would.

[DawnOfDon]

Watch Dogs could change the open world genre, if you think otherwise you know nothing about the game

[Bobets]

Oh?? then by all means let it. I would love to see what these "Next gen gameplay" these critics keep raving about and quit frankly I have a hunch these guys don't even know what exactly is this next gen game play they speak off.

[CrossingEden]

-Witcher 3-multiple world states, an unprecedented amount of branching plot lines, moral ambiguity and mature well written plot, 100 hours of content, dynamic combat, dynamic enemy AI and tactics, world is so large that some areas can only be accessed by boat, not only that but they also don't have a scaling difficulty so players have to adapt to new challenges instead of just grinding

-Phantom Pain-tackle any mission anyway you want in the open world, definitely the largest open world stealth game ever, you can fly to other countries by helicopter, a helicopter that can play any imported music you want, you can also build and customize your own base and rescue POWS/capture enemies using the futon device

-The Division-surviving in an open world fully realized post apocalyptic manhattan, you can go inside nearly every building, help npcs, team up with other players in dynamic pvp where your items are at risk. Like MGS5 you can also call transport at any time and also other players can log in as drones from mobile devices.

-Destiny, the game has been referred to as a "shared-world shooter, as it lacks many of the characteristics of a traditional MMO game. For instance, rather than players being able to see and interact with all other players in the game or on a particular server—as is the case in many conventional MMO games—Destiny will include on-the-fly matchmaking that will allow players to see and interact only with other players with whom they are "matched" by the game. Events may happen in-game that are not necessarily controlled or planned by the developer, which will help to create a dynamic developing experience for Bungie and a dynamic playing experience for gamers.

Just providing some objective examples of next gen games that are really gonna shake up the open world genre with innovative gameplay and mechanics instead of just
-take out this one specific enemy base
-now the side missions and collectibles are easier to find, get them for 100%

To be fair, from what we've seen of watch dogs it will not be doing anything different from the above formula besides the dynamic pvp.

I love ISS but I can definitely see the other side of the fence that's disappointed in the lack of innovation in the third game of a series on a new next gen console. And I can also see how someone would find it very repetitive, because it is by nature, pretty repetitive especially the getting your power formula.

-get new power
-find three core relays to unlock moveset
-do a mission with the new conduit you just corrupted/redeemed
rinse repeat
^ this happens EVERY time you get a new power, which can be pretty disappointing because not only are there's other ways to introduce new abilities, but this also limits the storytelling and characterization. We never get a zeke and cole sitting on the couch esque moment, which is kinda a fail in a story between brothers.

[Stapleface]

lol Telling the truth gets you nowhere around here. This is a 10/10 perfect game. Never do you repeat anything in this game. Everything is original. Nothing in this game has ever been done or looked better in any game ever. This is the best looking game ever on the planet, even better than every pc title. You can't glitch into the building with the 3rd power you get. And all those games you listed with all of their "next gen" stuff they are trying to bring into gaming..Man you don't even know what you mean when you say "next gen game play". Also everyone of those games better have better Graphics than Second Son, because it's ok to talk about graphics needing to be better as long as your not talking about pc graphics because then your an elitist. :)

[one2thr]

What's to say all the games you've mentioned, aren't going to be or get repetitive?

To my knowledge, not one of those games have some sort of random logics generator that create scenarios on the fly, so that any two people will not experience the same mission types on their separate play throughs.

Now warframe, is repetitive.

"Don't starve", find resources, create, eat, sleep, etc. Die you have to start over, that gets repetitive and it has survive elements, just like The Division maybe not to the same degree but I'm sure you get my point.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to enjoy those games come launch date, even if they are repetitive, but they're something that couldn't have been done on last gen consoles, and that is why I'm looking forward to playing them. Repetitive or not.

[chickenface]

lol, all the games you mention are either tps or fps games that use the same basic formula as any another fps or tps. How many other games are you a normal guy that can use 4 superpowers (never ever used before in any game) and decide whether to utilize them for good or evil? um, none. there are tons of generic fps and tps in the market.... Titanfall, COD, gears of war..... yet this game gets slammed for lack of innovation?? ba!absolutely ridiculous. Not saying the games you listed are going to be boring, they look very promising.

[Longshot28]

I think if they changed the open world genre to a linear storyline this game would of been better

/S

[WeAreLegion]

A lot of reviewers knocked it for not having as many things to do as Grand Theft Auto V.

That makes absolutely no sense to me.

Sucker Punch has less than 100 employees. Rockstar claims over 1,000 people worked on GTA V. Their main Rockstar North team has over 360 people right now, too.

On top of that, GTA V cost upwards of $265,000,000. The only film ever made that cost more than that was Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. That's ridiculous!

[Volkama]

How a game is created or how much it cost should not impact on how the game is received and reviewed, unless it is also reflected in the price of the game imo. These are both full priced retail games.

Having said that, not every game has to be GTA5 in order to be fun, and I don't think a whole genre should be trampled on just because GTA5 was spectacular.

[Shadonic]

What volkama said here. I understand that fans are getting mad at the review but this iteration is honestly the most shortest of the 3 infamous titles. Theres collectables and the district missions to do but once you get all of those the city sort of becomes a bit empty, sure you get the DUP patrols and some raid things once you take over all the districts from time to time but from what I heard those are sorta meh compared to the district takeovers. The thing is that the game itself is so freaking fun. I'm hoping that they could add in DLC with more enemies with new powers or something.

[Bathyj]

Not only that, but in infamous I don't want the go golfing, buying clothes, get phone calls to pick up my cousin.

Infamous does everything it sets out to do, let me kill stuff and break stuff in really cool ways. Tell me another open world game with the destruction infamous has.

[Volkama]

Saints Row 4 may be a better source for comparison than GTA. Not saying the Saints style fits infamous, but the scope and mechanics of potential activities would be more of a fit than golfing :)

[mike32UK]

I keep hearing about a lack of 'next gen gameplay' (not just regarding infamous) but what the hell does that even mean? I've yet to see one article elaborate on the idea

[Volkama]

If means voice and motion controls! If you could shout "shoot the haters!" to make Delsin fight it would clearly be new and awesome, right? Right?

Oh :(

[theshredded]

WTF?generic if this is generic then what the hell is GTA?

[MilkMan]

You mean like every other open world game that's ever been created since I don't know GTA III?
Exactly when did Sucker Punch say they where going to change the face of open world games...I've been scouring the net for that article and I cant find it.

[LordDhampire]

I don't think they no what open world means

Those canadians go back to your 8 bit lives

[OutcastMosquito]

Oh boy I hate people like you lord D. Are you trolling or just plain stupid?

[feraldrgn]

This happens with almost every Sony exclusive, "it's just more of the same", but if that "same" was good, why change it?
Infamous players want more infamous, if you made it into something different, it'd split the fanbase,

[DawnOfDon]

Wait.... I thought only Xbox exclusive's were labeled that way?

[chickenface]

does xbox even have any exclusives?

relative to ps, it really doesn't

[curtis92]

This is where Nintendo gets a free ride. They can quite literally keep pumping out the same games that ride on the coattails of nostalgia and success built 30 years ago and like clockwork they get near perfect scores.

Yet anyone else does a game that's familiar in ANY way and they get docked points for not reinventing the wheel. We see this with Killzone, Forza, Infamous, DR3...

[DawnOfDon]

Only problem I have with SS is that it seems to have less content than the previous 2. It is more of a graphical masterpiece than a true next gen amazing experience

[Hicken]

Most open-world games have you running through real world cities in an awesome streak of neon?

How have I missed that in every Grand Theft and Elder Scrolls?

[OsirisBlack]

Yes..... yes...... let the hate flow through you.....

on topic the game is fun as all hell end of story. Been playing it non stop since I got it.

[Father__Merrin]

if fanboy reviews claim no next gen gameplay, no innovation etc

then they have to give examples of what they would find as next gen gameplay/innovation according to the game in question

I bet they can't, that's why reviews like this are turd

[stuna1]

The thing I've never understood is how could anyone judge a game solely on their expectations of what they think is next gen attributes of a game!? Does that automatically validate their assumption of what is next gen, and somehow dismiss everyone's elses idea of what they consider to be next gen!?

Sure adding to, improving gameplay, physics, online, and scope could all fall into the realm of next gen, but these aren't attributes that are exclusive to any specific generation! My understanding of what should and could be considered next gen, is what's being done incapable of being done on previous hardware? And IMO in a lot areas of Imfamous SS, there are things that simply couldn't be accomplished on the PS3! An example would be the particle effects present in Imfamous SS.

[JonnyBigBoss]

Agreed.

[GundalfDeGrej]

I'm on my second playthrough right now. I very rarely replay games so that says a lot! The game is great but I understand what he means. The city feels a bit lifeless in my opinion. Mainly because of how pedestrians act. They don't really do anything besides walking around wich is something MOST open world games has been trying to avoid since GTA4. It's the same thing with mini-games and side missions in order to change up the gameplay and increase immersion.

The game doesn't HAVE to have these things but it's a bit dissapointing that they haven't made any significant efforts to change up the open world formula either. People here say that SP weren't TRYING to do anything new but that's not really a good thing now is it?

[Rumb13stiltzkin]

Graphics are most certainly part of the next-gen experience, but as always, they only go so far.

Aside from the visuals, what does inFamous SS do that couldn't be done on PS3? Does it have to do anything different at all?

Logically, no.

But this early in a new console's life, while consumers and the media are still fixated on the potential of what "NEXT-gen" means, yes.

[InTheLab]

I find very few city's outside of the inFamous franchise to be as vibrant and alive. Especially in Second Son. There's nothing generic about inFamous. There's not a single block in the game that's duplicated unlike Saints Row 4 or Prototype.

The side missions can get repetitive but the main game is strong...especially once you unlock more powers.

Also loved Augustine. Probably one of the best villains I've seen in a while.

And that evil ending.....wow..

I'll tell what's missing that IS generic. Tedious side missions like towing or races.

[higgins78]

I would struggle even to define it (Second Son) as "beautiful". Nothing thus far on PS4 - and I own one - has struck me as looking anything other than solid, good but not great. Yes, I know its just the first generation of titles and yes, I'm getting back into PC gaming again so perhaps this has me spoiled, but Ive got to say, my PS4 has been little more (again, thus far) a disappointment on every level.

[bestofthebest]

I'm enjoying the game a lot but everything outside of the main missions is repetitive. I just got to the lantern district so far it's a little different but still the same premise. I do like the game a lot but I hope in the future they change up the side missions and add some variety. The graphics are pretty dam good best looking streets with puddles I've ever seen in a game

[one2thr]

First open world game I've played, where I can manipulate smoke particles.

First open world game I've played, where my character turns into a cloud of illuminating neon gas to travel faster.

**Spoiler Alert** **Spoiler Alert**

First open world game I've played, where I can rip videos from Tv's or various other displays as a power.

First open world game I've played, where I can become a fast moving concrete juggernaut.

There were more innovative things happening, that out weigh what people (journalist) call "generic" in this game, that made me VERY happy for purchasing it, now I'm about to start my second play through so that I can obliterate everything and everyone >:}

And that last boss fight had me way too excited!

And I definitely, recommend playing this game on Expert(to boost the longevity of your first play through of this game)