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Enjoy your power.
― Tagline of the game

Infamous: Second Son (stylized as inFAMOUS: SECOND SON) is the third main installment in the InFAMOUS series and is a PlayStation 4 exclusive. It features a new setting, a new protagonist, a totalitarian government controlled by propaganda, and a new antagonist, the D.U.P. (Department of Unified Protection). It is set seven years after the end of Cole MacGrath's story and stars a new protagonist, Delsin Rowe.

InFamous: Second Son was first announced at Sony's PlayStation 4 Press Conference on February 20, 2013, after officially announcing the successor to the PlayStation 3.[1]

Announcement

Sucker Punch's Nate Fox first announced Second Son at Sony's PlayStation 4 press conference. Fox described a world under government observation and control and then asked what would happen if citizens suddenly received super powers. The trailer revealed a city run by police, with a citizen running from the police through an alley before he turned around and used some sort of power to destroy an armored vehicle, while using the chain wrapped around his right wrist as a weapon.

Background

The game is set seven years after Cole MacGrath activated the Ray Field Inhibitor (RFI) to destroy a Conduit (a superhuman named for their ability to channel powers) named John White AKA the Beast and cure the Plague, sacrificing himself and the conduits alive then. Fearing the Conduits' abilities, the United States forms the Department of Unified Protection (D.U.P.), an organization that handles any sort of bio-terrorism to ensure that events similar to those of Empire City and New Marais do not happen again.[2] It is also revealed that the D.U.P. renamed Conduits "Bioterrorists" and have been rounding them up. Using propagandized messages via news and public services, the D.U.P. forced many Conduits out of hiding by turning the general public against them, and sent them to Curdun Cay, a prison designed to contain and experiment on Conduits. The developers assumed the good ending of Infamous 2 as canon and that, rather than the RFI destroying all Conduits, some survived the explosion. While it was originally thought to have killed all Conduits across the globe, some Conduits proved resistant to the device due to the long distance from New Marais. Rather than the fictional cities of the previous two games, InFamous: Second Son takes place in Seattle, although locations and features have been changed to allow for better gameplay flow.

Gameplay

As in inFamous and inFamous 2, Karmic choices plays a role in the main story. The protagonist, Delsin Rowe, has the ability to absorb other Conduits' powers, replacing the electric-based powers of Cole MacGrath from Infamous and Infamous 2 with multiple others. Every power that Delsin gets drastically changes the way the game is played. Over the course of the entire game, Delsin gains access to new abilities by allying with other Conduits and absorbing their powers. By the end of the game, Delsin has absorbed the powers of four Conduits, and thus has access to four different powers. While Delsin can have access to only one of his powers at a time, he can easily switch by absorbing the corresponding power source.

For the first time in the series, the player will be able to shoot without having to aim beforehand (although it is still an option) to instill a sense a fluidity and quickness in gameplay.

Since the DualShock 4 controller has greatly improved, handling, aiming, and shooting will be done through the L2 and R2 trigger buttons while elements under Delsin's control (smoke, neon etc.) are absorbed from sources by pushing one thumb on the left side of the DualShock 4's touch pad.[3] The powers can be switched by absorbing their corresponding element.

Destruction has been greatly improved from the past games. More objects can now be destroyed and will stay destroyed for the rest of the game, unlike in previous inFamous titles.

Bundles and Bonuses

On October 17, 2013, it was announced that there would be Limited Edition and Collector's Edition variants of Second Son, which could be pre-ordered.[4]

Limited Edition

This edition, when pre-ordered, also comes with the exclusive Cole's Legacy. It retails at $59.99 MSRP.

Collector's Edition

This edition comes with:

  • A full retail copy of Second Son with the Collector's Edition cover
  • Premium replica of Delsin's beanie
  • Set of eight pins from Delsin's in-game vest
  • Official DUP Patch
  • Vinyl Decals
  • DLC
    • Delsin's "Legendary" in-game vest
    • Cole's Legacy

It retails at $79.99 MSRP

PlayStation 4 Bundle

This bundle was available only at GameStop.[5] It included:

  • PlayStation 4 Console
  • Second Son regular edition
  • 1-year PlayStation Plus subscription
  • A 2nd DualShock 4 Controller

It retailed at $569.96 MSRP.

Special Edition

It retails at an average of $83.50.

DLC

  • InFamous: First Light was announced at E3 2014. Abigail Walker is the playable protagonist. The DLC was released in August 2014.[6][7]

Gallery

Video

Trivia

  • Second Son takes place in 2018 while its predecessor takes place in 2011.
  • The plot of the game is similar to that of Marvel's M-Day, steaming from the fact that both plots deal with the decline of the Mutant/Conduit species (In InFAMOUS 2, Cole causes the death of most of the species. Scarlet Witch causes the de-powerment and death of most of the Mutants), while Second Son and post M-Day Event deal with the aftermath.
    • One could also compare Good Delsin's actions to those of Professor X (fighting for equality of powered people and teaching them to be heroes), and Evil Delsin's actions to those of Magneto (fighting oppression with violence and anger, and teaching other powered people to rise above "normal" people).
  • The lockdown of Seattle, the integration of the police force into the DUP, and the treatment of its citizens span from borderline illegal to breaking several laws, as stated in-game. the DUP had the city locked down and taken over in less than a week to apprehend Abigail, Hank, and Eugene. However, this action would have not have been able to be done so quickly, as Augustine would have had to get permission from both the Mayor and the Governor to do so. The integration of the police force working alongside a military power is illegal, along with their harsh treatment of the citizens.
    • However, it's safe to assume that government policy in this game is different than in real life considering the existence of Conduits and the fear and paranoia that their existence has caused.
  • The game has come under heavy criticism for a weak plot, poorly defined characters, poor writing, misleading ads about the powers, and the importance of Abigail and Eugene. More complaints stem from the karmic choices not feeling worthwhile, and that the non-canon Evil Karma path feeling "tacked on." Some fans feel Second Son seems to only be setting up a future sequel. The game has recently come under fire from a single line of dialogue that states a "powerful Bio-Terrorist's body has gone missing." Many assume it is hinting the return of Cole MacGrath.
  • This is the only main series installment in which the First Sons are not involved in the plot, which is ironic since the title of the game is similar to the name of that organization.
  • This is the first game in the franchise which features a dynamic weather system and a day-night cycle. It is also the first to feature rain. Although rain was planned for InFamous 2, it was cut during development.
  • Unlike the original installments, which took a more comic book approach, establishing shots that would more commonly be found in comic books, Second Son takes a more cinematic approach, as seen though the longer cutscenes, dialogue, and panning shots.
  • When wandering the city with Evil Karma, some pedestrians will call Delsin a "Cole wannabe." This is an obvious reference to Cole MacGrath.
  • The game's development cycle went through several hurdles, the first being: after the delay of The Order 1886, Sony ordered Second Son to be moved from a "second wave" title to a launch title to compensate for a lack of a game in the line up, costing Sucker Punch a year of development. It was later revealed Cole was intended to make an appearance in some fashion, but due to Eric Ladin, Cole's voice actor filming American Sniper, he was cut, instead Cole's Legacy was created. In 2016, Troy Baker stated in an interview post E3 2016, that much of the script hadn't been written by the time motion and facial capture had started, leading to the actors having to improvise many lines and actions on the spot.
  • In 2022, Cole's Legacy became free to anyone that didn't pre-order or got the collector's edition

References

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