Infamous Second Son Delsin Rowe

In the days leading up to release, solid reviews and record-breaking pre-order sales suggested that PS4 exclusive inFamous: Second Son would be a strong success for Sucker Punch Productions. Thanks to its eye-popping visuals, the game had been a favorite among games industry enthusiasts gearing up for next-generation console launches but beautiful screen grabs only go so far - especially if the actual gameplay underwhelms. Nevertheless, strong first week sales, paired with a positive response from critics and casual players alike, proved that Sony's latest open world superhero title had lived up to the pre-launch hype - both in terms of its look and refinements to the already satisfying core inFamous gameplay experience.

Still, massive open world games are notorious for crippling bugs and other game-breaking hiccups - which, previously, plagued both inFamous and inFamous 2. Corrupted game saves and glitched powers, among other problems, caused initial (and a few on-going) frustrations for players attempting to follow Cole McGrath through his adventures in Empire City and New Marais. Now, Sucker Punch is preparing to release their first major update for Second Son - to help squash glitches as well as add some interesting new options.

Posting over on the official PlayStation Blog, Sucker Punch Productions co-founder Brian Fleming thanked players for all their feedback (even the extremely critical ones) - before laying out a list of new options and features that the team is planning to deliver in the next few weeks.

In addition to unspecified bug fixes, Fleming revealed a number of fresh options that will be especially exciting for players who have been capturing images of Second Son's Seattle backdrop:

Change Time-of-Day - Once you beat the game, a new entry will appear on the options menu to allow you to select the time of day! A very popular request indeed, and one we’re excited to enable for you all.

HUD On/Off - Especially for those amazingly talented screenshot taking folks, we’re including an option to let you turn the HUD on and off.

Cap at 30FPS - Internally we prefer the unlocked frame rate, but we recognize that some players find it distressing. So we’ll provide a way to ensure the game is not bumping up over 30FPS, if that’s how you prefer to play.

As mentioned, both the HUD toggle and time of day setting should be enjoyable for fans who have been clambering to the top of buildings to take in-game snapshots of the Seattle sights. For that reason, it's a no-brainer that Sucker Punch was motivated to add the options - given that allowing gamers to adjust the onscreen image, in order to capture gorgeous next-gen photos, will only help spread positive buzz for the title.

Since today (at the time of this writing) is April Fool's Day, some readers wondered if the cap at 30 frames-per-second option was simply a tacked on joke. Yet, while most players don't pay close attention to FPS numbers, at least not outside of comparing cross-platform titles in console war superiority debates, there are legitimate reasons to lock frame rate - especially in expansive open world games.

As mentioned, Sucker Punch might prefer a varied frame rate, which enables the game to adjust depending on how little or how much is happening onscreen, but dramatic shifts in frame-rate can cause unresponsive controls and frustrating visual stutter. For that reason, locking the frame rate at 30 might undercut some of the game's best looking moments but, as a trade off, result in overall smoother performance. A personal preference, no doubt, but it's great to see the studio providing options for gamers to adjust the Second Son experience to their individual taste.

Unfortunately, Fleming does not give a solid estimated time of arrival for the forthcoming update - only stating that, at the very earliest, the patch could arrive in two weeks time. That said, considering bug fixes (and possibly other features) will be included - it's good to know the developer is flexible about their delivery date - to ensure their patch adds options and solves problems (not causes even more issues).

In the meantime, studio director Nate Fox is already talking-up how Sucker Punch might approach future inFamous franchise sequels - so, while you wait for the Second Son update, make sure to weigh-in on what you'd like to see in a follow-up.

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MORE: Read our inFamous: Second Son Review

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inFamous: Second Son is now available exclusively for the PS4.

Follow me on Twitter @benkendrick.

Source: PlayStation Blog