Infamous: First Light

Hover mouse over screenshots for commentary.

January 2015

Infamous: First Light is a spin-off of Infamous: Second Son. It stars Fetch - a character from the main game whom Delsin befriends. In Second Son, her storyline includes that her brother was killed by either drugs or a drug dealer, and when Delsin finds her she has been killing drug dealers as revenge. First Light takes place before the events in Second Son and follows Fetch during her experience with the drug world.

In First Light, Fetch is actually imprisoned in a special facility for people with superpowers (known as "conduits). She is being interrogated by a woman who would like to imprison all conduits, and much of the story is told through Fetch speaking with this woman. She and her brother were using drugs and eventually got mixed up with some dangerous people. Fetch's brother, Brent, is put in danger and Fetch has to do a variety of things to rescue him.

Much like the other Infamous games, the gameplay is very fun and takes place in an open-world setting (Seattle). Unlike Second Son, you only have one superpower in First Light - Neon. You do, however, have different neon abilities than you had with Delsin in Second Son. There is not as much variety in side missions as in the other Infamous games, but to me this is excusable because it's a smaller downloadable game and not a full game. There's an arena mode where you can compete with your friends or people around the world for high scores. The arena has a "rescue the hostages" mode, and a survival mode. I've included a video of what this gameplay looks like.

Like Infamous: Second Son, the game itself is quite pretty and has a "photo mode" which enables the player to freeze time, adjust the camera, and get the perfect screenshot. I'm not a photographer, but I just love when games have a photo mode!

Overall the game is short but well put together. Considering it's a cheap download-only game, it's actually pretty big since it uses the same play space as Infamous: Second Son. It's a joy to zip around Seattle with superpowers, and no game series does this quite like Infamous.

Many of the side missions in this game involve chasing down orbs of light called Lumens. This is one such mission.

There is an arena mode in Infamous: First Light. In this Hostage Rescue mission:

-I lose if I die

-I lose if five hostages die

-I'm trying to get 500,000 points

Infamous pioneered photo mode in games. This video shows me playing around with the feature. A game as detailed as Infamous really benefits from a closer look!

This is the last part of a typical mission in the game.

This title screen shows up each time you boot up the game, which is a first for Infamous games. Usually it just boots right to your saved game.	The location of the prison at which you are held.	Those clamps around her hands somehow prevent her from using her special powers.
	Fetch and her brother, Brent.
Infamous: First Light features a photo mode, which allows you to get some decent shots.
A loading screen.
The game again takes place in Seattle.	Instead of spray painting like in Second Son, you draw on walls with neon. It's not as fun gameplay-wise, but it looks pretty cool.
Some neon art.		More neon creations.
Run and jump!	This is the exact moment as the previous screenshot, but facing in the opposite direction.
More neon art.	You leave a neon trail everywhere you run, which is cool.

		Nothing beats riding on the back of a truck and shooting assailants.
That's quite a kick!
LSD had nothing to do with this . . .
	Absorbing neon to gain back some power.
	Take THAT, helicopter!
	A reference to the Sly Cooper games, also made by Sucker Punch.

	Some neon art you draw after taking down a drug cartel.
Trying to escape prison.
A helicopter is shooting missiles at me!	This screenshot is the same moment as the previous one.


		You can see I've been jumping all over town.
	There is an arena mode and if you have Second Son you can play as Delsin.	Shooting a bunch of missiles.

		Obligatory platinum trophy screenshot.