InFamous: Second Son - 10 Reasons It's Dividing Opinion

4. Art For Art's Sake

The graffiti mini-games are... well a bit strange. In some ways it feels like a tacked on extra for showing off the movement sensor in the PS4 controller. As do the swipe movements on the touchpad, and the changing colours of the lightbar (seriously, watching a blue or red reflection in my television screen adds absolutely nothing to immersion in a game). One is left wondering who these tagging mini-games are actually aimed at, it is difficult to imagine any gamer enjoying the challenge (there isn't any), or finding the implementation anything but intrusive and distracting. The prototypical fly on the wall at a planning meeting would probably have overheard something akin to: Sony Suit: "So guys, have you put in something that uses the controller features, touchpad, light bar, motion sensor etc?" Developer: "Er yeah...there's this mini-game where they have to shake it and then point it around the screen. Oh and the light bar changes colour depending if they're good or evil." Sony suit: "That's genius! Make sure to chuck in something that uses the touchpad, maybe opening a door or something? I'm off to the bar anyway. Coming?" Criticism of the implementation apart, the many opportunities for graffiti and the finished pictures demonstrate the validity of the argument that this urban expressional media is an art form. An art form capable of free expression from political dissidents, a statement of a changing zeitgeist that liberates the oppressed masses from feelings of helplessness, placing real-world art within the purvey of the proletariat. No pictures of man or lady-parts then. Lack of genitalia aside, the stages where the tagging is revealed layer by layer is unambiguously a joy to watch, and actually prompts the player to feel 'Hey, I can do that!' Just don't go blaming us at What Culture if you become inspired to take it up!