Mapache
Infamous 2 2011
Log Status
Completed
Playing
Backlog
Wishlist
Rating
Time Played
--
Days in Journal
10 days
Last played
March 30, 2024
First played
June 4, 2023
Platforms Played
Library Ownership
This review contains spoilers
Alright, now that I've done everything my final verdict... doesn't change that much.
Honestly, this second playthrough on hard highlighted for me some of the worst aspects of this game.
Movement suuuucks at the start and doesn't get better until you get the static thrusters upgraded. Even then, vertical movement is so tedious; you just mash x to climb buildings and that gets tiresome fast. Only at the later half of the game you get the electric whip (I don't remember the actual name) that let's you ascend to any surface. There's also the ice jump but that's only on the hero side.
This time I played as Evil Cole and I don't know what I was expecting. Ummm I guess for cole to be more edgy, kinda like Alex Mercer from Prototype? Instead he behaves exactly the same in most cutscenes, doesn't matter if you have good or bad karma. The only difference is that Evil Cole looks like shit and he acts like a dumbass, following every single bad idea that Nix gets.
The worst part of the evil campaign is that you have to listen to Nix waaay more. I just don't like her design, her voice and every single karma choice that involves following her terrible illogical plans.
This game has no nuance. Everything is black and white. But being cartoonishly evil is not even satisfying in a let's-see-what-happens sort of way (like Undertale's genocide run). Evil Cole is not this ruthless monster, he's just horny and naive.
Now the positives: Cole's power set is great. It looks cool (especially in red!), everything flows together and it's satisfying to use everything you have that's not punching and kicking. I do like the hero powers more, particularly the ice stuff, but getting a full refill by absorbing enemies was great, as hard mode meant that I died pretty fast and enemies took a lot of hits.
(btw I feel the game works better on hard mode, it's too easy otherwise)
The ending was also something I liked. Well, the evil one. The good ending, while I agree with the choice (and every choice leading up to it), it felt a little cliché. The evil ending was pretty interesting: Cole wrecking the city alongside the beast. Killing Nix, that only opposed you because the beast killed her pet monsters off screen. Then the final showdown with Zeke was very dramatic.
--
There's 2 other infamous games that released after this one. Maybe I'll check them out, even if I'm kinda confused about the in-game timeline (this game's good ending is the canon one right?). Hell, maybe I'll check out festival of blood.
Even if I didn't think that Infamous 2 was amazing, I had fun. It's a good superhero open world game, that needs some improvements (mainly to the combat, movement and the repetitiveness of the gameplay loop), and maybe the next games refine these aspects?
Honestly, this second playthrough on hard highlighted for me some of the worst aspects of this game.
Movement suuuucks at the start and doesn't get better until you get the static thrusters upgraded. Even then, vertical movement is so tedious; you just mash x to climb buildings and that gets tiresome fast. Only at the later half of the game you get the electric whip (I don't remember the actual name) that let's you ascend to any surface. There's also the ice jump but that's only on the hero side.
This time I played as Evil Cole and I don't know what I was expecting. Ummm I guess for cole to be more edgy, kinda like Alex Mercer from Prototype? Instead he behaves exactly the same in most cutscenes, doesn't matter if you have good or bad karma. The only difference is that Evil Cole looks like shit and he acts like a dumbass, following every single bad idea that Nix gets.
The worst part of the evil campaign is that you have to listen to Nix waaay more. I just don't like her design, her voice and every single karma choice that involves following her terrible illogical plans.
This game has no nuance. Everything is black and white. But being cartoonishly evil is not even satisfying in a let's-see-what-happens sort of way (like Undertale's genocide run). Evil Cole is not this ruthless monster, he's just horny and naive.
Now the positives: Cole's power set is great. It looks cool (especially in red!), everything flows together and it's satisfying to use everything you have that's not punching and kicking. I do like the hero powers more, particularly the ice stuff, but getting a full refill by absorbing enemies was great, as hard mode meant that I died pretty fast and enemies took a lot of hits.
(btw I feel the game works better on hard mode, it's too easy otherwise)
The ending was also something I liked. Well, the evil one. The good ending, while I agree with the choice (and every choice leading up to it), it felt a little cliché. The evil ending was pretty interesting: Cole wrecking the city alongside the beast. Killing Nix, that only opposed you because the beast killed her pet monsters off screen. Then the final showdown with Zeke was very dramatic.
--
There's 2 other infamous games that released after this one. Maybe I'll check them out, even if I'm kinda confused about the in-game timeline (this game's good ending is the canon one right?). Hell, maybe I'll check out festival of blood.
Even if I didn't think that Infamous 2 was amazing, I had fun. It's a good superhero open world game, that needs some improvements (mainly to the combat, movement and the repetitiveness of the gameplay loop), and maybe the next games refine these aspects?
I recently 100%ed the storymode on the good path. I had fun and now I'll go for the evil path on hard mode.
This game really feels like a product of it's time: A big open map with stuff scattered for you to collect. You're free to attack anyone and you traverse the map by doing parkour. I wonder what came first...Infamous, Assassin creed, Prototype... the bionic commando reboot? The graphics look good but it slightly has "that filter" from that era.
Then there's Cole. Storywise he's fine but take one look at him... he's just a bald white dude wearing casual clothes. Cole has to be the most generic looking whitest videogame protagonist ever.
The actual story is alright. It has some moments that hit but most of the time I felt that scenes just happened. The more (intended) powerful moments just didn't hit for me because of the the morality system. Everything is so black and white is hilarious. For example, the very first moral choice is: either you power a bridge so you can cross a big gap, or you overcharge it and burn a settlement full of innocent people.
So you have the obvious good choice or the comically evil one, and the game has the courtesy to point these "opportunities" on the map. Oh you want to to be eeeeevil? There are some cops for you to kill right here! and a random street musician across the street, look!
You wanna be a good boy? Here, some injured civilians for you to heal! Also, can you deactivate the bomb over here?
Eventually the good choices are personified by Kuo and the bad choices by Nix (a...lightly dressed black girl...🤔).
Well whatever. Juvenile story aside the gameplay is good. Moving around the map is not as fun as in spiderman or prototype but things get better when you get more powers.
The combat is mostly button mashing on close quarters but ranged combat is more like a 3rd person shooter, and there's more varied stuff you can do; like grab and throw anything close to you like cars, push enemies, deflect projectiles, shoot lightning bullets and grenades.
I'll see if the evil playthrough changes enough stuff for me, but for now I feel that Infamous 2 is in the good but not great category.
This game really feels like a product of it's time: A big open map with stuff scattered for you to collect. You're free to attack anyone and you traverse the map by doing parkour. I wonder what came first...Infamous, Assassin creed, Prototype... the bionic commando reboot? The graphics look good but it slightly has "that filter" from that era.
Then there's Cole. Storywise he's fine but take one look at him... he's just a bald white dude wearing casual clothes. Cole has to be the most generic looking whitest videogame protagonist ever.
The actual story is alright. It has some moments that hit but most of the time I felt that scenes just happened. The more (intended) powerful moments just didn't hit for me because of the the morality system. Everything is so black and white is hilarious. For example, the very first moral choice is: either you power a bridge so you can cross a big gap, or you overcharge it and burn a settlement full of innocent people.
So you have the obvious good choice or the comically evil one, and the game has the courtesy to point these "opportunities" on the map. Oh you want to to be eeeeevil? There are some cops for you to kill right here! and a random street musician across the street, look!
You wanna be a good boy? Here, some injured civilians for you to heal! Also, can you deactivate the bomb over here?
Eventually the good choices are personified by Kuo and the bad choices by Nix (a...lightly dressed black girl...🤔).
Well whatever. Juvenile story aside the gameplay is good. Moving around the map is not as fun as in spiderman or prototype but things get better when you get more powers.
The combat is mostly button mashing on close quarters but ranged combat is more like a 3rd person shooter, and there's more varied stuff you can do; like grab and throw anything close to you like cars, push enemies, deflect projectiles, shoot lightning bullets and grenades.
I'll see if the evil playthrough changes enough stuff for me, but for now I feel that Infamous 2 is in the good but not great category.