Seeing how the first two titles of the Infamous saga became very dominant in the first-party titles for PlayStation 3, several people including myself were excited about how Sucker Punch was going to bring its Superhero franchise to the still fresh PlayStation 4, and they did not disappoint.

Set 7 years after the events of the Cole McGrath saga of Infamous 1 and 2 with his adventures battling Kessler, and then preparing for the coming of The Beast. Second Son decided to keep most of the mechanics of the first two, but tweaked some of just enough to almost seem like a new experience.

The game is set in the real town of Seattle, Washington, where the first Infamous was in Empire City (Fake New York) and the sequel was in New Marais (Fake New Orleans), but Seattle has only been struck with Martial Law, which is bad, but not as bad as the tragedies beset by the last two games, Empire City was rocked with a massive explosion that ended up changing the world, and giving Cole his powers, and served as a nod to 9/11, and New Marais was hit with a massive flood that swamped half of the world map, and that was pretty obvious that was Hurricane Katrina. Seattle was placed under Martial Law under the D.U.P, who plays into the main story as the protagonists, but also during the entire game, you don't need to worry about new enemies popping up in the new areas, just different troops in the D.U.P army that are sprinkled throughout Seattle.

I believe I can fly, I believe I can conquer the sky

You play as Delsin Rowe, an Akomosh tribe member that is quickly thrust into the world of Bio-Terrorists (The new word for Conduits imposed by the D.U.P as a scare tactic) as he quickly discovers his powers during an event in his village.

Delsin's power is more of a leech/sponge ability, try to think of Rogue from the X-Men, or a closer match would be Peter from the T.V. show Heroes, if you can remember back that far. Shortly after, the head of the D.U.P. who is not very surprisingly a Conduit storms into the village, questions Delsin, then proceeds to use her powers to injure a majority of the village, and the only way to save them from dying is to use the same power, which sets Delsin on the path to Seattle to the main game. He is joined on his trip by his brother Reggie, who in most parts is basically filling in as the role of Zeke from the first two, but they improved the interactions by making the banter very realistic to the fact they sound and act like brothers, the little fights they have rarely sound scripted, considering Reggie is firmly in the camp of "Bio-Terrorists" being nothing but dregs on society.

They did a great job build and animate the character model in second son for sure

There are a couple of scenarios that play out the story of how people are scared of Conduits that really come as in your face, and the first one comes across during the trip to Seattle in the very beginning of the game. Reggie and Delsin come across a destroyed checkpoint, and in it, is a bus that is trapped by debris and can no longer make forward progress. After Delsin gains a new power, and single-handedly clears the way, the people allow Reggie to drive the bus, but make Delsin wait outside and not board. I personally thought this was a attempt at a Rosa Parks reference, and was amused when Delsin himself said so while yelling at his brother. They make other such actions in cutscenes, but none are as heavy-handed as this one, as this early one was more than likely to set the story of what Seattle holds for you.

As most of you know from promotional pictures, and select trailers, that you are graced with Smoke, and Neon powers, and 2 others, but funny enough you only get the last power seconds before the last boss fight, which makes it pretty useless except for the fact it plays into the fight itself. Considering this was the first title on PlayStation 4, I was expecting to see the powers having a different plethra of uses around each power, so using each one could be used in various ways to defeat enemies, but they recycled, for the most part, the same system from the other games in the fact that: You have the basic damage dealing shot, you have the "grenade", you have the missile (which is now called Heavy Ammo), and a dash move for evading. This isn't really a negative, but I was expected something a little different.

You think you have a chance while holding a gun? Eat my inferno punch, jerks...

I also have a problem with the Karma system, but this is a gripe that I've had since the first game. Every good playthrough plays as what any normal person would in those situations, no real paragons of virtue moments, then on the other hand, the evil playthrough makes you seem like some pompous jackass who kills people, no real supervillain moments. Second Son does a better job of making you seem evil in the fact you can corrupt some people you come across and mold them into tools of destruction, and have no regrets in what happens to them.

The open world, sandbox setting is used in a more fluid, and improved way. Seattle isn't overly big, exploring it doesn't seem like a chore, the collectables are easy to find, the side missions are fun, and provide insight into the events of the current Infamous universe. One of the best features, which is more filler then mini-game is the new Sketch Art feature which plays into Delsin's character profile, and might give you ideas on how to be a fledgling tagger.

Overall score: 9.0 /10