Description
The Reapers are the first gang that you encounter in inFamous and accordingly are the weakest. Cole believed that before the blast the Reapers were just junkies dealing in the drug trade, but afterwards they took over the Neon District using violent means. Their leader is Sasha, a powerful Conduit. It is assumed that she founded the Reapers. The Reapers also seem to want to spread a plague they have which is done by pumping Sasha's black mind-control Tar into water sources including fountains and water towers. Closer inspection of Reaper bodies will reveal some of them as female. The Reapers wear hoodies with skull paint jobs on the hood, but this "uniform" differs from the different ranks.
Upon storming the Reapers' hideout in the underwater tunnel, Cole discovers that the backbone of the Reaper gang in reality consists of unwilling citizens of all gender, that have been kidnapped and have the black tar pumped into them whilst in captivity, thus rendering them into drones that commit various deeds to the will of Sasha, rather than the previous assumption that they were all just drug dealers. Because of such process the Reapers seem incapable of human speech (however, this is the same for members of other gangs as well), only demonic grunts instead and sporadic vomiting of Black Tar.
After Sasha was kidnapped by the First Sons and Kessler it is unknown who leads the Reapers, though it is probable she continues to take charge telepathically. This might explain why while Sasha is in the custody of the First Sons, she can still give Cole some Evil Missions, and assign Reaper Conduits to his aid.
Weapons and Gadgets
A Reaper carrying an RPG
A Reaper carrying a shotgun
A Reaper carrying a Riot shield and and a standard assault rifle
A Reaper holding a minigun
The Reapers have a wide range of weaponry at their disposal, they include:
Machine Guns: These guns resemble AK-47's in terms of firing and looks, the shots can travel far and the Reapers have shown to have good aims, although not the strongest weapon in the game, a single rifle can still be very damaging, since Cole is still not particularly strong at this early point of the game. The Assault rifle class weapons are the most commonly used weapon, compared to other weapons used.
Shotguns: The shotguns carried by the reapers heavily resembles Mossberg 500's or an M3. The shotguns are powerful, short range weapons with a wide blast radius and can penetrate Cole's Polarity Wall and cause heavy damage to Cole, knocking him off his feet. The enemies carrying these types of weapons will rush towards Cole to deal the maximum damage at close range. Reapers carrying these guns are first encountered in the mission Medical Emergency.
Miniguns: The Mini guns are heavy machine guns that can cause heavy damage at an extremely fast rate towards Cole. Though they are a force to be reckoned with, they are not commonly used by the Reapers. These guns are carried by Heavy weaponry Reapers.
Rocket-Propelled Grenade Launchers(RPGs): An RPG can cause large explosions that deals heavy splash damages. Cole can use Shockwave to change the direction of the rocket. RPGs are carried by Heavy weaponry Reapers and are quite frequently used by the Reapers Gang.
Grenades: Most Reapers carry grenades and can throw grenades at you, they can deal a sizable damage to Cole. Cole can zap the Reapers before they throw the grenades, causing the Reaper to drop the grenade on the floor and be damaged by them. Cole can also earn the "Right Back At Ya" stunt by using Electromagnetic Shockwave to knock back the Grenade back at the tosser and defeating him.
Riot Shields: A number of Reapers are equipped with riot shields, The shields can block the basic Lightning Bolt attack, an Electromagnetic Shockwave attack is a quickly to disarm the shields. The shields itself are SWAT team riot shields salvaged or taken by the Reapers after they have taken over the Neon district. The shields has blue Reaper logos painted on them along with a few blue paint stains.
Turrets: Like the other groups of Empire city, Reapers can set up turret on strategic locations, some examples of the locations are on rooftops, sewer passage ways, and even on the rail track(when the trains are inactive). They are a nuisance to deal with due to the fact that Cole does not have the Polarity Wall power at the early point of the game nor does he have much resistance towards damage. Cole can disable the Turrets for XP and to prevent any hostile as well as friendly units from using it.
Turret Trucks: They are basically mobile turrets, the turrets equipped on them is slightly smaller than ground turrets and harder to shoot through, though Cole can destroy the truck itself as a quick way of disabling the turret mounted on it and can humorously knock the gunner off his feet.
Tar Trucks: The Reapers uses them to transport mind control tars in aid of spreading the their plague into the water mains, they have no basic defensive attacks, but the trucks are usually escorted by a few Reapers a conduit and are protected by the Reapers patrolling the streets and the rooftops near by the truck.
Appearance And Ranks
Three basic Reapers guarding a sewer passage
A Reaper kamikaze bomber before blowing up a substation
Cole Fighting a Reaper conduit, the conduit is charging it's energy shockwave attack.
The Reapers consists of three different "ranks" that can be fit in three categories: Basic Reapers, Kamikaze Bombers, And Conduits.
Standard Reapers: Standard Reapers are the most commonly faced enemies in the Neon District and could withstand a minimal amount of damage. Standard Reapers can carry various weaponry, Grenade Launchers and shields, the most commonly used weapons are the assault rifles. All Standard Reapers wears red hoodies with skull logos on their hoods, their outfit ranges from hooded shirts, jackets, snow jackets and trench coats, and wear various types of pants. Some Reapers bear police vests painted red along with red backpacks often with extra firepower.
Heavy Weaponry Reapers: The Heavy Weaponry Reapers carry heavy weapons such as the RPG and the Minigun, these Reapers appears to be a lot taller and bulkier looking than normal Reapers. They and wear thick padded red snow jackets with special Skull logo designs and unique stripes. The Heavy Reapers can withstand almost twice the damage than of the Standard Reapers. However, they are slower than the Standard Reapers.
Reaper Kamikaze Bomber: Also known as Mad Bombers They are Reapers carrying Flare like bombs and will charge at their target and detonate themselves, dealing a large explosion and critical damage towards their target. The bombers are first encountered in the mission Blood Trail. Reaper kamikaze bombers wears thick padded gray hoodies with a unique skull logo design painted on their hoods, their hoodies are packed with explosives. The Mad Bombers are also used as couriers by the Reapers as seen in Side Missions. Using their explosions to take out other enemies will earn you the Premature Detonation stunt.
Reaper Conduits: Also known as Shockwave Conduits. The Reaper conduits wears long, white hoodies and are much taller than ordinary humans. They have multiple abilities which include teleportation and a devastating shockwave energy attack which shoots across the ground and deals excessive damage to Cole, this attack cannot be blocked by Cole's Shield. They can also shape shift themselves into pedestrians for ambush purposes and seem capable of speech durning the disguised period, it appears that the they cannot shape shift at will durning combat. They carry assault rifles which they use between their energy attacks, making them difficult opponents. They are tough to get close to for the sake of melee attacks. These Conduits, coincidentally resembles Kessler, both in their looks and their powers.
Conflicts/business with other gangs
The reapers, along with the other gangs that took over Empire City after the city had been quarantined, are usually in conflicts with each other as they all wish to take over the entire city.
- The Reapers tried to trade an engineer with the Dust Men during An Old Friend. This didn't happen, as Cole intervened.
- During the side mission Street Fight a huge battle takes place in the Warren between The Dust Men and the Reapers. The participants in the battle include several Conduits and RPG users, including the basic gang members.
- Cole often lead reaper conduits during evil side missions against the other gangs.
- Reapers have random street fights with other gangs in sections of Empire City, there is an area where there would be a group of Reapers attacking a Dust men Golem along with a few standard Dust Men.
Trivia
The Reapers costume in Playstation Home
- A Reaper costume was unlockable in Playstation Home if you pre-ordered from Amazon.com
- Also on Playstation Home is a mini-game called Reaper Shock, in the inFamous space.
- They are the only Gang to have only one Conduits (excluding the Leaders), however, they are also the only Conduit in the game with two separate abilities (teleportation and energy blast)
- They are the only Gang that shows off any skin, as most of them are barefoot.
- Although the side mission Tied Down involves Arc Restraining 4 Reapers for interrogation.