Infamous: Second Son

Hover mouse over screenshots for commentary.

April 2014

Infamous: Second Son is the third entry in the franchise. The previous two games were on PS3 and starred a different protagonist who gained the power to wield electricity. The previous games were marked by their blatant "good or evil" decision trees which eventually led to your character becoming either famous or infamous.

The third game takes a similar premise but develops the main character and overall story more thoroughly. In this game your character unwittingly discovers he can absorb super powers from others. He first absorbs the power of smoke and discovers he can shoot cinders, zoom through vents, and use a variety of flame-based super powers. You gain more powers throughout the game and they are all well developed and fun to use.

The game takes place in a version of Seattle that is on lock-down due to conduits (those with super powers) supposedly causing problems. It's an open world game and it is a joy to roam around Seattle with a variety of super powers. However, compared to other open-world games, there is not a wide variety of things to do. In fact, this aspect of the game seems less developed than in the previous games in the series, which is odd.

Infamous: Second Son was also the first console game to feature a dedicated "photo mode" where you can pause the action, adjust the camera, and add various effects before taking a screenshot. Using this mode captures the graphical detail the developers put into the game. For example, a standard attack with a chain looks amazing when paused as flame rises from the metal. Dashing by turning into smoke involves your character changing into more than 10,000 individual particles before reforming into a human being, and these things sure do look impressive in photo mode!

Overall, I thought the game was a ton of fun and I look forward to the next entry in the series!

These scenes take place towards the start of the game. Though this is the third Infamous game, it stars a new protagonist and is a sort of origin story. The game gets better from here.


You play as a man named Delsin, who is a Native American.


This game has dynamic global lighting, so certain lighting effects are possible simply by moving the camera.	Delsin first gains his super-powers, which are very troubling to him at first.
	Delsin's brother is a cop.

	Seattle has been quarantined by the Department of Unified Protection. Delsin doesn't like these guys - they're poo poo heads.


Sly Cooper and friends. Sucker Punch Studios developed this game as well as the Sly Cooper games on PlayStation 2.
This is a drug dealer. A character in the game lost a brother to a drug overdose and so she takes revenge by killing drug dealers. You later influence her to either have mercy on others or embrace her anger and take revenge.
Solving some puzzles . . .		A memorial to a dead brother.

A parody of how ridiculously expensive phone plans are getting.
Fetch is the one killing the drug dealers. She's been held by the DUP for seven years. She doesn't like them very much.		You tag various places with Graffiti. If you are trying to be good, you paint humorous or uplifting (hur hur) images. If you are trying to be evil, you paint intimidating images.
	Some people protest "conduits" - the game's term for those with super-powers.
	In the middle of spray painting. . .	The finished product.
		The lair of the Gamer.
Homage to the previous Infamous games, where the protagonist is named Cole and has electrical powers.
	The gamer. A little too stereotypical for me. . .

Dashing around someone super fast with Delsin's neon powers.	With neon powers Delsin can run very fast, creating a cool looking special effect. Here, he is running from right to left.	Absorbing neon from the city.

	Delsin dashes like ash with his smoke powers. The developers claim that this one animation has over 10,000 individually textured particles.

View from the front . . .	View from behind.	I zapped a blockade, paused the game, and moved the camera right behind it. I was impressed with the level of detail. The next screenshot is from the same moment, but from a different angle.
A different angle of the same moment as the previous screenshot.		That's a lot of concrete . . .
	Used Again Thrift Store: "You probably haven't heard of us . . ."
		All of that fire animation from the chain occurs in a fraction of a second. It's easier to appreciate in a screenshot, I think.
	Lots and lots of concrete to avoid . . .	Absorbing the power of Video.

It's a pretty strong punch . . .		Another shot of Delsin transitioning from smoke to flesh.


Nothing will distract people from cell phones!
		Transitioning from smoke to flesh . . .



		DUP Security center. Note how the time stamp is the exact date of the PS4 reveal, and the approximate time this Infamous: Second Son trailer was first shown.

Poor sign spinner . . .


Using smoke to travel through someone, get a good grip, and throw them down.
	This and the following 3 screenshots are from the same moment, just after Delsin pounds a car.
	Even the glass looks individually rendered. This is one of the most visually detailed open-world games I've ever seen.
Climbing a building quickly via the power of neon.
	Again, people will stay on their cell phones no matter what.	Very fast tackle . . .


		An ad mocking a certain website.

		This is a relatively small table in-game, but the detail that appears when it is damaged is impressive.
		You can shoot pretty fast with the Video power.
	Absorbing neon from a sign.	Smoke power shotgun blast.

		Obligatory Platinum trophy screenshot . . .