inFamous 2 takes what you thought about the previous game and then magnifies it by a hundred. Prepare yourself for a sequel like you wouldn't imagine as inFamous 2 expands on the story of Cole MacGrath. From the beginning of inFamous 2, you’ll be able to continue the story of Cole MacGrath with your previous save file from the first story. Whether you chose to run with the good karma path or the bad, you’ll be able to take full advantage of what lies ahead of you in inFamous 2. Although I have completed the first game and have a save file with full good and bad karma, I decided to tackle this game as a “newcomer” to the series and start a brand new campaign as if I were a first-time player. Now, how about we go ahead and see what awaits us throughout the open-world game of inFamous 2.

As the opening cut scenes begin, you’ll find yourself watching the entire back story of what had happened in Empire City and with Cole MacGrath as he obtained superhuman powers from the ray sphere. An explosion levels several city blocks and found in the middle of the blast was Cole, a messenger from Empire City who now has the ability to emit electrical currents from his finger tips, among many other powers as you progress through the story. The outcome of the story for inFamous 2 is up to you. It’s almost like a choose your own adventure story for the hipsters and cool kids. Whether you want to become heroic or infamous, you‘ll take Cole MacGrath to his highest potential. My goal in this review isn’t to talk about the first story of inFamous, but to tell you about its sequel. A more superior and upgraded version of the original.

It’s been a while since we saw the destruction of Empire City. Cole MacGrath became a well-known conduit who made a name for himself around the city and the surrounding towns. Whether you chose to take the path of the righteous or the wicked, you’ll find yourself engulfed with powers like you have never before seen. But first, let’s discuss how the story of inFamous 2 begins.

You’ll start the game off at the gates of a fiery and practically apocalyptic Empire City; needing to make your way through the city towards a neighboring town called New Marais (which almost feels like a replica of New Orleans). Making his way to New Marais, Cole must ultimately put a stop to the beast, who is making its way to New Marais; destroying anything and everything in its way. You’ll also find yourself making your way to a town called Flood Town, but that isn’t until later on in the game.

Still fighting alongside his best friend Zeke, Cole also meets a few new friends throughout his endeavors through New Marais. Among them are Kuo and Nix; two fellow conduits with special powers similar to Cole’s. Kuo is a women who has been given the gift of manipulating ice, whereas Nix has the ability to manipulate fire. Later in the story, you’ll find a way to use their powers as your own. I’m not going to tell you how because that would just be rude and I don’t consider myself one of those spoiler types of folks. Unless of course you consider a review a spoiler.

The new enemy of inFamous 2 is Bertrand, a political mastermind who wants everything to do with putting an end to Cole and unleashing his militia of soldiers and annihilating all conduits.

To increase your powers and obtain new ones, you’ll need to collect Blast Cores, which are going to make Cole more powerful and stronger than you could imagine. In order to charge up and use the RFI (Ray Field Inhibitor), you'll need to obsorb the power the from the Blast Cores. Blast shards have been placed through the city for Cole to find. You can find them on side of buildings or steal them from citizens who have taken them for themselves, but be forewarned; stealing blasts shards adds to your negative karma. But, I’m sure that if you’re going for the bad-boy aspects of the game than it shouldn’t be any problem for you steal them like candy from a baby.

A new feature for inFamous 2 are the user-generated content. They are just like story and side missions, but with one little twist. You have the ability to create them. Give your friends something to play around with and challenge them to a friendly time trial and let’s see who can get the highest score possible as they parkour their way through the city, collecting rings and orbs. This is a very awesome new feature for the game that I really enjoyed playing, as UGC is a never-ending feature that is constantly updated when users add challenges to the server.

Now, you have to ability to swiftly switch between the different powers that you’ve obtained throughout the story; giving you a faster way to use powers that are in the same categories. Your powers are divided between bolts, pulses, grenades and blasts are just a few to mention. Throughout the game, you will also be equipped with a weapon called “the Amp,” which is a tool that Zeke had made for you that is perfect fighting against the corrupted. When you fight with the amp, you have the opportunity to complete special moves and combos which will give you an awesome “cut-scene” of pure ass kicking. This was a great add-on to the series that I’m sure many will enjoy.

Just like in the original, there are many collectables that you’ll need to get your hands on throughout the story. Collecting dead drops (digital audio recordings) from flying pigeons around the city will give you information regarding the past and how conduits became what they are. Citizens from all over New Marais and it’s surrounding towns have become conduits just like Cole. They’ve chosen a side to follow and it’s up to Cole (a conduit himself) to put an end to this new breed, even if that means putting an end to himself.

A funny moment that I found while playing through inFamous 2 was while I was working my way throughout New Marais. I found an electronic store that gave a “friendly” nod to Xbox 360’s red ring of death. The store was called Red Ring Electronics. Since inFamous 2 is a PlayStation 3 exclusive title, I found this subtle nod to Xbox was perfect placement. Signs outside the store included “All Systems Repairs in Only 12 Weeks!” and “Blowout Sale!” I couldn’t help but find this store a funny moment of the game, and I’m sure that many of you spotted this as well and were thinking the exact same thing as I was.

I honestly felt like inFamous 2 was a great title with updated graphics, updated game play and a story that may finally put a close to a great storyline. I tip my hat to SuckerPunch for creating an awesome game that blows the original out of the water. But my biggest complaint (and only complaint) had to be that once you’ve beaten the game, playing as both positive and negative karma, there isn’t much else to game to complete. Unless of course you are going for a platinum completion. I’ve noticed that many of the trophies for inFamous 2 are easily obtainable by just playing through the game, which many of them are story related.

Ultimately, it’s up to you to make the choice of saving humanity. Think you have what it takes to take down the beast? Or are you planning on fighting alongside the beast and becoming infamous for being a hardcore badass? The choice is yours to choose and I hope that you choose wisely. The outcome may be something that you wouldn’t expect.

• Game: inFamous 2

  

• Platformed Reviewed: PS3
• Developer: SuckerPunch Productions
• Publisher: SCEA
• Release Date: June 7, 2011
• MSRP: $59.99
• Review Copy Info: A copy of this title was provided to DualShockers, Inc. by the publisher for purposes of this review.