Preview: inFamous SECOND SON
written by Justin Prince (@Prince_Justin)
Game Informer outlines some crucial new details of the forthcoming entry in the inFamous franchise. inFamous: Second Son will be a brand new entry, with a brand new protagonist in a brand new city. If you haven't played inFamous 2 yet, I implore you to play it before reading this, lest I spoil a very crucial part of the story. In inFamous 2, our hero Cole McGrath continues his quest to stop the coming destruction of the world at the hands of a conduit known only as “the Beast”. He travels to New Marais (a fictionalized New Orleans type of city) with his buddy Zeke after fleeing from Empire City. The core mechanic of the game introduces a morality system that affects the ending of the game, this is important because the continuation of the story is affect by this ending. Basically, if Cole goes “dark side” he becomes the one thing he was originally hoping to stop, assuming the role of “the Beast,” but if he goes the hero route, Cole must sacrifice himself to save humanity, this also kills all conduits including those that never awakened to their powers.
from the cover of the June 2013 issue of Game Informer... and yes that's THE Space Needle...
When I first saw the trailer for Second Son, it seemed to me that the canon ending would be the evil Cole ending, since the character looked to be a conduit wielding a new power (at this point it wasn’t clear if it was Cole or not). Game Informer confirms that the canon ending IS the good ending and Cole has sacrificed himself and many other conduits to save humanity from a plague brought on by the Ray Sphere (play the first game to get the whole gist of the situation).
The world of Second Son is seven years after the events of inFamous 2 and a handful of surviving conduits are labeled as bioterrorists by the media and feared by humanity. The US Government establishes the Department of Unified Protection, an oppressive organization with zero regard for due process, to deal with the conduit problem. These people, many innocent, are rounded up and imprisoned in specialized containment facilities. Here is where the story gets VERY interesting to me, a transport vehicle crashes near Seattle and the conduits inside escape, the Emerald City is placed on lockdown as the DUP attempts to round up the escaped conduits. I am super psyched to play this game now! Sucker Punch being a local Washington publisher, one can see why they chose our city of rainy days as the setting. I would love to stomp around an open world representation of Seattle with a super powered hero. The familiarity of the setting fuels my anticipation more and pretty much ensures that I will be a PlayStation 4 early adopter.
much like how Cole used the AMP in inFamous 2, Delsin uses a chain in conjunction with his conduit abilities
Now, enter our new hero. It is confirmed that Cole McGrath will not be the player character; rather we’ll have Delsin Rowe. Delsin’s a twenty-something Native American graffiti artist. When the conduit transport vehicle crashed near his hometown he decided to help the wounded, it is here that he realizes that he himself is a conduit. Delsin’s power is a form of mimicry, think when Rogue steals the powers of other mutants in the X-Men universe, but rather than it being temporary these powers become his. Delsin’s first power is revealed to be the power to control smoke, this being a power absorbed from the first conduit he encounters. Much like how Cole was able to use his electric powers along with abilities he absorbed from Kuo (ice manipulation) or Nix (fire manipulation) it looks like Delsin collecting various powers will be a major gameplay element, how Delsin will switch between these powers isn’t clear yet but I’m sure more info will be coming as the launch nears.
Speaking of the launch, while not confirmed, it can be assumed that this will be a PlayStation 4 launch title. For more information, including some new screenshots, check out the June 2013 issue of Game Informer. Let the anticipation begin!
