Infamous: Second Son has finally been released into the hands of gamers everywhere. Not only does Second Son revitalize the Infamous franchise, but it also shows just what Sony’s Playstation 4 & it’s next-gen is capable of.

Infamous: Second Son is an action-adventure game developed by Sucker Punch, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is available exclusively on the Playstation 4.

I’ve been a fan of the Infamous franchise since the original game released in what seems like forever ago, but in reality it was released in 2009 and the thing that always amazed me was it’s karma system. Not only did it give you alternative attacks, but it gave the world a different view on who they saw you as. If you were a hero crowds would surround and applaud your actions, but if you were evil you they would from the very sight of you out of sheer fear due to the decisions you’ve made throughout your play through. The emphasis on choice and a more literal sense of good vs evil is what made the Infamous franchise so special. Emotions were turned up slightly higher with Infamous: Second Son’s karma system.

Warning: This review contains complete to near complete spoilers. If you have yet to play Infamous: Second Son, the this review may completely spoil it for you so avoid this review until you have played it. You have been warned folks.

Beautiful Seattle in Next-Gen.

THE GOOD: As previously mentioned, Infamous: Second Son does what it’s always done right, choice, karma, and morality. These are the three central elements that makes the Infamous franchise’s gameplay so special. And with Second Son these three elements are pushed even harder. Depending on your alignment in the world, it will not only affect Delsin’s character, but will also affect his appearance, the story, the world and the characters in it as they see you, and much more.

One of the most awesome moments in Infamous: Second Son.

The graphics engine used in Infamous: Second Son is a prime example of how grand next-gen tech will be within the coming months and years. From the buildings, to the people, to the water. In 1080p HD this game is an absolute monster graphically, and it may be some time before it’s topped. Gameplay was the usual Infamous flare with some much needed tweaks and improvements. The new skill tree was and use of blast shards over XP was also a nice addition.

Delsin’s flame chain action.

Characters such as Fletch & Eugene gave Infamous: Second Son an edge over its’ predecessors due to them having fantastic, legitimate back stories. Don’t get me wrong in the previous entries characters such as Kuo & Nix had back stories, but they weren’t nearly as powerful on an emotional level as Fletch & Eugene’s. Fletch’s whole reasoning behind her murders was due to her drug abuse effectively causing her to kill her brother due to withdrawal symptoms. This caused her to swear vengeance on all drug dealers in what she viewed as the best way to keep them off the streets and others from experiencing her pain. In Eugene’s case he was bullied in high school and sought out to save other conduits who were experiencing similar levels of abuse (albeit a bit more deadly) at the hands of the D.U.P.

“Oh man, wait until you see what I can do now”

THE BAD: While the emphasis of choice, consequences, and morals have always been the strongest part of the Infamous franchise, the story itself has never really been anything great compared to something like Uncharted or The Last of Us. This is really the only thing that holds this otherwise fantastic game back. It’s a shame that Second Son was unfortunate enough to suffer the same draw back as its’ predecessors.

Fletch is the flesh.

THE UGLY: There’s also some petty, nick picky gameplay glitches every now and then, but these can merely be ignored rather easily compared to the story issue.

The glorious Neon powers in action.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Infamous: Second Son does exactly what it sets out to do, and that’s proving that next-gen technology is definitely here. Great gameplay, fantastic graphics, and amazing characters put this above the previous Infamous titles. The excellent emphasis on choice, consequences, and karma is where Infamous shines the most and these three things are key elements to not only the gameplay, but the story and world surrounding Delsin Rowe. Unfortunately, like it’s predecessors’ it’s story holds it back a bit compared to other Sony titles, but the aforementioned gameplay and the like makes this little mishap easily forgivable. There were also nit picky gameplay glitches  that were noticeable at times, but nothing to really care about. Fletch, Eugene, and Reggie were also welcome additions into the Infamous franchise. The new skill tree and blast shards were a nice replacement for the XP in the previous games.