When the original inFAMOUS was released, it was a pretty important title for Sony and the PS3. It was from a well established developer, Sucker Punch, and had a unique and dark approach to a superhero game. It was well received both critically and financially, but I found that the game lost focus midway through and while fun tended towards the repetitive in nature. With inFAMOUS 2, Sucker Punch has seemed to learn from their previous title and crafted a finely tuned, refined, and frankly incredibly fun sequel.
inFAMOUS 2 begins shortly after the end of the first game with the star, Cole McGrath, facing off against a towering creature called the Beast. Mcgrath is at the height of his electrical themed powers and he faces the gargantuan attacker head on. He gives it all he has but is simply not powerful enough and falls in the fight. He is brought to the New Orleans-inspired New Marais and quickly learns that there is a tool called the RFI Inhibitor that should tilt the scales in his favor enough to once again challenge the Beast and win. Of course, he needs to find and collect a number of Blast Cores in New Marais in order to be powerful enough to activate the RFI inhibitor and thus begins our quest.
New Marais is a much more coherent place then I found Empire City to be, it is recovering from a flood that obviously mimics the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and ruthless people have entered to take control. The main enemy (at the start) is a Militia run by a power hungry oil magnate called Bertrand. Bertrand is determined to bring martial law to New Marais and is focusing on Conduits (people like Cole McGrath who can get powers from Ray Sphere exposure) as the source of all the issues. Monsters have appeared and Bertrand is blaming conduits and a full scale witch hunt is occurring as people disappear under his persecution. All the while there is a plague sweeping through New Marais and the Beast is steadily making his way across the country towards McGrath to finish him off.
All of these factors add a very compelling sense of urgency to the game, you need to stop Bertrand, you need to deal with the plague, and the looming menace of the Beast is always there. Helping you in the quest is your friend Zeke and Agent Lucy Quo. Quo has a lot of intel that starts you on your path and later becomes a super-powered sidekick essential to a number of your moral decisions. Zeke is your long time buddy who nearly betrayed you in the first game and is desperately doing everything he can to win back your trust. You also meet another super powered conduit named Nix who is the Yang to Quo’s Yin.
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