If I Were a Superhero: The "Infamous 2" Review

As some of you might know, Infamous was one of my favorite, if not favorite, Open World Game. You played as reluctant hero Cole McGrath as he discovered that he had electric based powers, and decided whether to do good or evil. It featured not only a gripping story and fun gameplay, but moral choices that were tricky to decided, especially when they get to emotional reasons. Infamous made me excited about its sequel, nonetheless, but maybe a bit too much.

Infamous 2 places you in New Marais, a city modeled off of New Orleans, complete with flooded areas and a Voodoo woman. Cole must train to destroy the Beast, which is on a path of destruction to Cole, assisted by his friend, Zeke, and two new heroes, the fiery Nix and icy Kuo. Instead of moral hang-ups, the moral choices are made by which character you help out, Nix being bad and Kuo being good. The problem is that Nix is so over the top obnoxious with her infatuation for Cole that it makes it hard to feel anything for her character, even after seeing her motivations unfold. Kuo's backstory is just as painful, though, so it kind of counter acts. But, that's only my opinion of the characters.

I emphasize that because the writing is top notch. You relate to all of the characters to a degree, even if you don't like them. Added is the sense of doom due to the ends of most missions telling you how close the Beast is, and you have some intense emotions flowing. While you think you have a time constraint and can't take side missions without wasting time, the side missions do not take time away from you. They are worth going for, too, because every mission, story and not, is mostly varied, and fun to play through, and, like the first game, taking more side missions will make the late game vastly easier.

This is where the bad comes in, though. The endgame will need to be easier, not because the enemies are hard, but because of how their weak points are designed. One monster you fight throughout the game has a weak point so small, that it's nearly impossible to hit unless you're right in front of it. This is considered an "easy" monster, nonetheless, despite the fact that it only takes damage when a pin-sized area is hit. It makes the game challenging, but not in the right way. It's a frustrating way to make the game seem longer than it is, which they didn't need to do.

The presentation is top notch, though. Monsters look frightening, and enemies put forth a redneck sense of foreboding, both in form and voice work. The main characters are mostly acted well, but I personally do not like Cole's new voice. He does a good job, though, so, it's really just personal preference. The graphics, while not a technical marvel, look great, even showing emotions and expressions better than the previous game. The comic style scenes are still in the game, but take a backseat to the in game cinematics, thus slightly taking away the charm of the series.

If Infamous was the bar for the series before, Infamous 2 doesn't really change that, but it comes damn close. The game is fun and worth the money just to see how both stories, good and bad, unfold. The only thing holding it back is the often battled enemy that seems to hard not to be a boss battle that pops up way too often, sometimes multiples at a time. But that isn't enough to hold it back. Grind on a rail to get to it, or drive. It doesn't matter, just play it.

Overall

B+

+ Great story

+ Good graphics and acting

+ Great design

- Some enemies are bullet sponges or have too small of a weak point