MAG Journal's inFAMOUS 2 Review

I’ve discovered an alternative to heroin, and it’s called inFAMOUS 2. In the sequel to Sucker Punch’s 2009 hit, the player can either use lightning to carve a path of destruction or generate good deeds in New Orleans-style New Marais.

Story

The game opens as our hero, Cole MacGrath, is fighting The Beast, a giant humanoid mass of molten rock whose appearance was prophesized in the original game. Cole begins to chip away at The Beast, only to realize he is too powerful. Cole finally escapes The Beast as his home town of Empire City is completely devastated. Cole travels to New Marais to become more powerful so that he, once again, can fight The Beast and hopefully win round two. The plot is very similar to that of the first game, with Cole coming up against a dominant force that controls the city while simultaneously trying to win the hearts or fear of the people of the city. The only difference here is that the pacing is much slower and the story is drawn-out, although a plus to this is that the game offers more content. There are more interesting characters and clever writing in inFAMOUS 2, which gives it a superior story compared to inFAMOUS.

Gameplay

Cole’s powers are much more fleshed-out in inFAMOUS 2, offering multiple variants of each attack. These powers can be switched on the fly, as the user interface is incredibly easy to maneuver. Cole has new lightning attacks, including the Pincer Bolt, which fires three small bolts that collide from three sides; the Artillery Bolt, which fires long-range lightning projectiles; and the Ionic Storm, a large tornado that Cole can throw at enemies. In addition, Cole now has a melee weapon called the Amp, which drastically improves close-quarters gameplay. Each strike adds to a combo meter which can then be drained to unleash a devastating finishing move. A cinematic camera gets close up to really make the close-quarter fights more entertaining to watch, but unfortunately this camera angle makes it difficult to see surrounding enemies due to it focusing on Cole and his current opponent. Overall, the only main problem with the gameplay is the camera.

InFAMOUS 2 also supports user-generated content. Players can craft their own missions for other players to play, including obstacle courses, defend the target missions, and more. The mission creator is full of features to create a deep customization experience, but the downside to this is that it is not the most user-friendly interface.

Presentation

Sound and visuals are fantastic. The character animations are fluid, a drastic improvement over the robotic animations of the first game. In addition, the character models themselves are much more detailed and the cutscenes are much better done. The voice acting is great all around, including Cole’s new voice actor, who, in my opinion, is superior to the one who played Cole in the first game.

Final Verdict

In conclusion, inFAMOUS 2 is a worthy successor to inFAMOUS. The gameplay has been fleshed-out, user-generated content has been added, and the presentation aspects have been refined. inFAMOUS 2 is superior to its predecessor in every fathomable way and is a game every Playstation 3 owner should own.

Score: 9.5 out of 10

http://www.magjournal.net/?p=845

Hate to say this but... this game is better than Uncharted 2.

Oh, absolutely. Hell, I thought the first was better than Uncharted 2.

Mecha wrote:

Hate to say this but... this game is better than Uncharted 2.

I don't see how the 2 games even begin to compare. Uncharted is nothing like infamous at all .

I have the first from the welcome package and I still need to beat it before I buy the second.

Alanski wrote:

Mecha wrote:

Hate to say this but... this game is better than Uncharted 2.

I don't see how the 2 games even begin to compare. Uncharted is nothing like infamous at all .

I have the first from the welcome package and I still need to beat it before I buy the second.

How are you liking it so far?

Alanski wrote:

Mecha wrote:

Hate to say this but... this game is better than Uncharted 2.

I don't see how the 2 games even begin to compare. Uncharted is nothing like infamous at all .

I have the first from the welcome package and I still need to beat it before I buy the second.

Rofl. I already beat the first game. I'm going to buy IF2, tomorrow. This game needs to be nominated for GOTY. Still, Portal 2 is the best game released this year.

Nice review.
But you spelt something wrong in the subtitle thingy.

TRF wrote:

Alanski wrote:

Mecha wrote:

Hate to say this but... this game is better than Uncharted 2.

I don't see how the 2 games even begin to compare. Uncharted is nothing like infamous at all .

I have the first from the welcome package and I still need to beat it before I buy the second.

How are you liking it so far?

It's a pretty good game. Definitely like the fast paced action.

Alanski wrote:

TRF wrote:

Alanski wrote:

Mecha wrote:

Hate to say this but... this game is better than Uncharted 2.

I don't see how the 2 games even begin to compare. Uncharted is nothing like infamous at all .

I have the first from the welcome package and I still need to beat it before I buy the second.

How are you liking it so far?

It's a pretty good game. Definitely like the fast paced action.

InFAMOUS is a piece of shit compared to InFAMOUS 2. :/

It's definitely my favorite series on PS3.

I rather disliked the first inFAMOUS.

TheJubJub5721 wrote:

I rather disliked the first inFAMOUS.

Well not everyone in the world is cool I guess.

my review in 5 words: I FUCKING LOVE THIS GAME

TheJubJub5721 wrote:

I rather disliked the first inFAMOUS.

play the second one it's much better

TheJubJub5721 wrote:

I rather disliked the first inFAMOUS.

The sequel is a lot better. Trust me, it's worth a try.

Story wise, would you be lost as to what's going on if you didn't play inFamous going into inFamous 2?

I have no inclination to even try the first one, even though I can download it for free, heard there is way to many bugs and the enemies have eagle vision in that they can see you from have way across the map, so annoying, that's why I dislike Crysis 2 and HATE Far Cry 2.

It's definitely worth-playing, Stoney. You probably should play the first game before diving into the second. Why not do a speed-run of the story missions on easy?

Stoney wrote:

Story wise, would you be lost as to what's going on if you didn't play inFamous going into inFamous 2?

I have no inclination to even try the first one, even though I can download it for free, heard there is way to many bugs and the enemies have eagle vision in that they can see you from have way across the map, so annoying, that's why I dislike Crysis 2 and HATE Far Cry 2.

If you feel adamant about not playing the first game (your loss :/) then just go on wikipedia, the story should be there. Read it up and get the most amazing game ever that is InFAMOUS 2.

Teckno wrote:

TheJubJub5721 wrote:

I rather disliked the first inFAMOUS.

Well not everyone in the world is cool I guess.

Yeah, I guess. Us non-cool people just like good games