Culture

Rating: A-

Lately there has been great debate about the function of hyper realistic graphics in games. Some gamers think that this move towards hyperrealism isn’t creating better games and that many games that steer away from realism and use a stylised art style are better products. There is no right or wrong answer to this debate, of course; there will always be a place for stylised art games just as there will always be a demand for realistic games, especially as they become more and more realistic. The debate to me has always seemed silly, because, of course, it totally depends on not only the personal preference of the gamer, but also the artistic vision of the developer. However, I do think that there are some genres that do favour a style. In particular, with super hero games, the more realistic the better.

To me this is what is so great about Sucker Punch’s new instalment in the Infamous series, Infamous: Second Son. If a game is going to give me powers, I want everything but my powers to be absolutely grounded in reality. In this way, the surrealistic nature of the amazing things the game allows me to do are grounded in reality, making them all the more satisfying. Stylised art styles emphasise the idea that anything is possible and, after all, where is the fun in being able to do anything somewhere where anything is already possible. Sucker Punch has expertly used the technology Sony makes available to make the most bad-assly realistic super power game to date.

For those who haven’t already played an Infamous title, the Infamous universe is filled with ordinary people who, through a series of events, have gained control over elements within the world. These people are called Conduits. While the early instalments in the series dealt with your conventional elements such as electricity, Second Son has expanded the idea of what people can be Conduits of greatly. The story follows Delsin Rowe, played by gaming’s greatest actor, Troy Baker (Joel from The Last of Us). Delsin is an anti-establishment artist living on a Native American preserve in Washington State. That is, until the new Military Department for the control of Bio-Terrorists (as they call Conduits), called the DUP, fortifies nearby Seattle. When a transport vehicle crashes in Delsin’s town, he discovers he can sponge the powers of other conduits by touching them. Now a conduit himself, Delsin sets out to stop the DUP.

Sucker Punch use motion capture, the power of the PS4 and the talent of motion capture artists, to create undoubtedly the best realised story in the Infamous series, as well as the best story currently on the PS4. The characters are all well written and performed; and the story, though often a little cheesy, has its own distinct style thematically and tonally. A big part of the story is the ability to allow players to choose if Delsin is going to be the hero or the villain, hence the title Infamous. This morality system plays out beautifully with the gameplay by allowing players a diverse range of ways to play that either lend themselves to good or evil actions. For example: an enemy is surrendering – do you restrain them or execute them? However, despite the success of morality in the gameplay, your moral choices have no real effect on the story beyond moments where the game presents you with good or evil choices. This is a shame, as the story really lends itself towards Delsin being a hero as the canon choice, meaning that, even if you are playing him as evil, the cut scenes and story still feel as though you are playing the good guy.

The story of Second Son is admirable, but the real feat of this game, as I stated earlier, is the gameplay itself. Never in a game have I felt as powerful as Second Son made me feel, or been given so many avenues in which to channel said power. These avenues are the four different powers that you gain throughout your time in Seattle. You first power is “smoke,” which has the aesthetic of a combination of embers, smoke and fire. Playing with smoke has the feel of a shotgunner: you aren’t particularly agile and are most effective at close range. Each of the four powers you gain in the game have their own play style like this, and all of them make you feel a different form of badass. Like Sucker Punch, I won’t give away what the other three powers are because there is a real joy in waiting to find out what you’ll get to do next.

Infamous: Second Son is a very well made game, with a stylised and well performed story backed up by some of the best gameplay available on any platform. The scale, skill and execution of this game meet what I’ve expected, and been waiting for, from a next generation game.