inFAMOUS Second Son - neon power

There are some days when you just need to take some mind-blowing superpowers in-hand and engage in a cheerful rampage through waves of enemies in a highly destructible environment. That's where inFAMOUS: Second Son comes in: the next entry in Sucker Punch's comic book style sandbox-styled game franchise, and the first inFAMOUS game to be released exclusively for the PlayStation 4.

The first two inFAMOUS titles rank very highly on the list of superhero/supervillain open world games, mainly because the protagonist can give a massive electric shock to a helpless civilian with a broken leg and the nearby crowd will applaud this action (as every doctor knows, electricity is a good remedy for most ailments), but also because of the amount of detail that's put into the giant playgrounds that Cole is set down in.

In inFAMOUS: Second Son, protagonist Delsin Rowe's stomping ground is Seattle and players will get to explore the city's most noted landmarks without having to wait in any lines. A new set of screenshots posted on the official PlayStation Blog offer another look at some of the environments of inFAMOUS: Second Son, both underground and overground, as well as demonstrating what Delsin's powers look like in action.

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Rather appropriately for an urban superhuman, Delsin can use the power of neon to his advantage, and in these images it seems he's using it as a means of speedy and non-corporeal traversal. He can also transform himself into smoke and pass through ground-level air vents to easily reach the tops of buildings. If that's a little too mind-bending, then fans can rest easy knowing that he also has a basic melee attack in which he whips enemies with a fiery length of chain.

Unlike Cole McGrath of the previous games, who was electric all the way, Delsin has the ability to absorb powers from other Conduits, much like Peter Petrelli in Heroes. This offers a nice opportunity for natural progression of his abilities as he picks up new skills from new enemies, though inFAMOUS: Second Son will also employ a binary moral choice system that unlocks further upgrades, like the previous games. Hopefully this time around it will be a little more complex, as the first two inFAMOUS games had a very black and white (or rather, blue and red) view of ethics.

Infamous Second Son PS4 Trailer

When creating a city environment, it seems that there's a natural inclination for game designers to dip almost exclusively into a palette of greys and browns that look dull not matter what resolution they're being viewed at (the first inFAMOUS game was guilty of this), but luckily it seems Sucker Punch is trying to avoid this in their new game. Obviously Delsin's powers are pretty colorful in their own right, but the E3 gameplay video for Second Son also showed a mix of bright yellow and pastel blue signs, urban greenery and a blend of autumnal colors to keep things looking interesting.

InFAMOUS: Second Son has a considerable burden on its shoulders as one of the PS4's major exclusive launch window titles, but the end result looks to be what we can only assume is an enjoyable game. This title is truly a worm placed upon the hook by Sony in an effort to draw in PS3 owners who are eager to see more of what Sucker Punch has to offer with the series. I'm definitely biting.

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inFAMOUS: Second Son will release in February 2014 for PS4.

Source: PlayStation Blog