Infamous: Second Son - 7 Reasons It's Sadly Not A System Seller

4. Combat Feels Like A Regression

inFAMOUS Second Son is the first game in the franchise to not include electricity-based powers. Instead there are four brand new and quite unique-sounding abilities. Despite this, the actual combat - which makes up about 80% of the gameplay - doesn't feel very different (or 'next gen' if you will). It still boils down to standard third person shooter gameplay where weapons are replaced with super powers and Delsin generally controls and feels very similar to how Cole did on the PlayStation 3. The major problem is that none of the new powers have the scope and variety of how players could previously upgrade their electricity powers. Whilst Cole could use his gifts in a similar way to a shotgun, a burst rifle, a rocket launcher, grenades, a sniper rifle or an SMG (to name but a few) most of the Delsin's are limited to one or two of these weapon-types. For example Neon is a more accurate power that you can only really use as a sniper rifle to focus on and accurately shoot certain areas of the body. In contrast if you want a more close range weapon then smoke is better for its blast attack. What we€™re trying to say is that beneath the fancy visuals from a gameplay perspective these powers are not actually that revolutionary and are sadly far more limited in comparison to how versatile electricty was in the earlier games. Another major disadvantage of having four powers is that Delsin is often forced to run away from battles to try and track down the unique source of the specific power he needs given the situation; whereas Cole could drain electricity from many different objects and simply switch between playstyles on the go. Again being forced to run away like this doesn€™t exactly make players feel like they are a super powered god. Of course the main new features of these powers is how they allow players to traverse the city in amazing different ways, which we must give Sucker Punch credit for. It should also be mentioned that the ability to now approach some combat situations with stealth works really well and is very much appreciated. However stealth is only a viable option for one specific power (Video) meaning it's only towards the end of the game that we get the option to use more sneaky tactics. Sadly by the time this power is unlocked, many of the enemies are far too strong to be stealth-killed, making the excellent addition not really very useful at such a late point in the game - a real shame that seems like a bit of a design flaw.