Infamous 2
Encyclopedia
Infamous 2, stylized as inFAMOUS 2, is a 2011 open world
video game for the PlayStation 3
video game console developed by Sucker Punch Productions
and published by Sony Computer Entertainment
. Announced on June 4, 2010 the game is the sequel to the 2009 video game Infamous.
) prepares to face the Beast, an entity of untold power whose coming was foretold by Kessler. Cole and his friend Zeke (Caleb Moody) meet with NSA agent Lucy Kuo (Dawn Olivieri
) who tells them she can lead them to Dr. Sebastian Wolfe (Michael Ensign
), a scientist who worked on the development of the Ray Sphere which granted Cole his powers, and who claims he can make Cole even stronger. As they are about to leave, they are confronted by the Beast. Cole fights the Beast but proves to be no match and is severely weakened as a result. Cole, Zeke and Kuo escape to New Marais to find Wolfe while the Beast pursues them, destroying everything in its path.
In New Marais, they find the city under the control of wealthy industrialist Joseph Bertrand III (Graham McTavish
) and his anti-conduit militia. Aware of Cole's arrival and abilities, Bertrand wages a propaganda campaign against him. Before Cole can meet Wolfe, his lab is destroyed, spreading Blast Cores across the city. Wolfe survives the explosion and explains to Cole that by finding and absorbing the power of the Blast Cores he can boost his powers to a point where he can activate the RFI (Ray Field Inhibitor) which would allow him to defeat the Beast. Wolfe is captured by the Militia and a rescue attempt fails, resulting in Wolfe's death and Kuo's capture. Cole and Zeke meet two new allies: Laroche, leader of an anti-militia resistance group, and Nix (Nika Futterman
), a Conduit who dwells in the swamp. Together they locate Kuo trapped in a facility where she has been infused with ice-based abilities. Cole frees her but inadvertently unleashes an army of mercenaries also imbued with ice-powers.
Cole and his allies attack Bertrand's operations before eventually learning that Bertrand is himself a Conduit, able to transform into a building-sized monster and convert humans into monstrosities. In the past, he had used a Ray Sphere to gain abilities, believing himself destined for greatness. The activated Ray Sphere kills many but also grants Nix her abilities. Disgusted by the powers he receives and now believing Conduits to be evil, he attempts to incite a Conduit genocide using the power of the Conduit mercenaries he helped develop to instill fear in the populace. Meanwhile he uses his monsters to justify the protection of his militia to New Marais. Cole and his allies eventually coax Bertrand into again transforming, where he loses self control. Cole is able to kill Bertrand, ending his plan.
During this time, the Beast has arrived in New Marais. While on recon Cole encounters John White (Phil LaMarr
), an NSA agent whom had seemingly died in a Ray Sphere explosion in Empire City. John reveals himself as the Beast. He shows Cole that a plague, created when the Ray Sphere was first activated in Empire City to empower Cole, has been spreading across the country. The plague is killing humans but Conduits are immune, and John is using his powers to find and empower potential Conduits, sparing them at the cost of countless human lives each time. Believing humanity is lost, John implores Cole to help him find and convert the Conduits so that some may survive. After finding all of the Blast Cores, Cole prepares to activate the RFI. However, he learns that the device will not just weaken the Beast but kill all Conduits, but it could also nullify the Ray Sphere radiation, ending the plague. The story diverges from this point dependent on whether the player chooses to activate the RFI, sacrificing Cole and thousands of Conduits but saving millions of humans, including Zeke who has contracted the plague, or work with the Beast to save the Conduits while the rest of humanity will perish.
If Cole chooses to work with the Beast to save the Conduits, Nix refuses to work with them, steals the RFI and leaves. Kuo gives chase while Cole and the Beast rampage through New Marais in pursuit. Nix attempts to use the RFI to stop them, not wanting everyone to be Conduits and make her less special. Cole is forced to kill her. Zeke confronts Cole and is also killed. Cole then destroys the RFI. The Beast states that he can no longer continue, having grown weary of the killing. Cole is initially angry at having sacrificed so much in vain but the Beast grants Cole all of his power before allowing himself to die. In the aftermath, Cole and Kuo begin activating Conduits at the expense of humanity. The scene ends as Cole laughs at how he was originally granted powers to defeat the Beast, yet he has become the very thing he was destined to destroy.
post made by actor David Sullivan
reporting on auditioning for the role of Cole in the game's sequel. In April 2010 it was reported that Sony had purchased the domain name 'infamousthegame.com', increasing speculation that a sequel was in development. The game was unveiled when Game Informer
released the cover for their July 2010 issue which features a preview of the game.
The design of the main character, Cole, initially underwent many changes, to the extent of making him look like a different character. However, after being "taken aback by the uproar of fan support for the original Cole," Sucker Punch combined elements of the original with the new design. Some of Cole's clothing was changed to suit the new setting of the game. Eric Ladin
was also brought in to replace Jason Cottle as the voice of Cole because Sucker Punch felt that they needed someone who could perform Cole's physical reactions as well as his voice to improve the use of their new motion capture technology.
The cutscene
s have been improved with motion capture technology to create a more cinematic experience. The stylized cut scenes from the first carried over into the sequel, they were reserved for bigger moments in the game.
In addition to the cut scenes, the popular moral element that was introduced in the original also transferred over to the sequel, but with a higher emphasis on overall route of the game, whereas in the original the moral factor only influenced minor results in the game, but ultimately led to the same final boss, with a different epilogue. As seen, the moral element will influence Cole's shirt, pants, and power color, with the classic hero blue and villain red returning. It will also influence Cole's skin condition, with heroic choices clearing his complexion and removing the scar on his face almost completely, whereas villainous choices will exaggerate his facial scars and cover his skin with tattoos. The karma choices also appear to influence what extra power Cole will begin to develop.
Sucker Punch has worked to improve on the open world
aspect of the gameplay. This includes expanding the players' effect on the city in general. In the sequel, phone booths, telephone poles and buildings, can be affected by the way Cole's powers are used. The city's populace will also react in a more realistic manner than in Infamous.
The melee combat in the game has been redesigned from the original, changing the experience to be more smooth and involving. Cole's powers have also been re-imagined to include the use of the ice element. Sucker Punch also insinuated that the players' ethical decisions in the first game may also affect the second, saying that they wouldn't want to "disappoint" fans who may have spent hours earning their reputation, but would also need to factor in if the player had not played the first game.
Sucker Punch was using around 30% of the cell processor by the end of Infamous, and that for Infamous 2, they were "creeping up over 50 and 60%, because [they] know how to put things on to the Cell processor."
On March 1, 2011 Sucker Punch announced a mission creation feature for Infamous 2 that had been in development since 2009. A limited beta for testing this feature was released in April, 2011 and details for signing up for the beta became available on the official Infamous website on March 13.
On October 2011, it announced that PlayStation Move support would cover the whole game, and is part of an update which will come out sometime after Infamous: Festival of Blood is released, along with a new cutscene creator tool for the UGC creator.
On August 16, 2011 at Gamescom in Germany, Infamous 2: Festival of Blood was announced as a downloadable title heading to the PlayStation Network. It will be a standalone game and not require Infamous 2 to play. Vampires have swarmed New Marais, and revered superhero Cole MacGrath has been bitten. To save his soul – and the city – he has just one night to find and kill the head vampire. Showing a clear adult emphasis, the first trailer showed Cole as a vampire biting his victims as blood sprayed from the wound. As such, Festival of Blood was suspected to be rated ESRB Mature and PEGI 18, although new trailers show a rating of T in the ESRB and 16 Pegi like its predecessors. It has been confirmed that the game will "feature new missions, themed environment settings, plus new characters and enemies". Also, it has been stated that Festival of Blood will "explore the darker side of the Infamous universe". It was released on October 25, 2011 in North America and a day later in Europe.
cane, a samurai sword and a caveman club.
The Hero Edition from Amazon came with all of the DLC except for the Stalker Grenades and the Sniper Blast powers and the three extra Subway Missions, which are now all available via the PlayStation Store.
when it was reviewed by Colin Moriarty who awarded the game a score of 9 out of 10. Moriarty praised the game's long play time, deep story and updated graphics but criticized the camera during melee combat. The title was not as well received at GameSpot
where they gave the title a 7.5/10. The reviewer stated that "Small problems hold Infamous 2 back from greatness, but there's still a lot of electrifying fun to be had in Cole's latest adventure." The review from GamePro gave it a 3.5 stars out of 5, saying "camera issues in melee combat; confused navigation; less detailed than original; annoying combat."
Open world
An open world is a type of video game level design where a player can roam freely through a virtual world and is given considerable freedom in choosing how to approach objectives...
video game for the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
video game console developed by Sucker Punch Productions
Sucker Punch Productions
Sucker Punch Productions is an American production company founded in 1997 and based in Bellevue, Washington. It was an independent company until August 2011, but had worked exclusively with Sony Computer Entertainment since 2000. Sony acquired Sucker Punch on August 2, 2011.-History:In late 1999,...
and published by Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
. Announced on June 4, 2010 the game is the sequel to the 2009 video game Infamous.
Setting
Infamous 2 takes place in a modern-day world where people with super human abilities, called Conduits, exist—created by a device called the Ray Sphere. The Ray Sphere unlocks these abilities in rare humans who possess the Conduit gene by siphoning away the energy of regular humans, killing them. The first such event granted electric-based abilities to Cole MacGrath, but devastated his home of Empire City. The event is revealed to be part of a scheme instigated by Kessler, revealed to be Cole from an alternate future where a creature known only as the Beast has ravaged the world. Kessler fled the Beast with his family and they died as a result, forcing Kessler to use his time-based powers to come back and better prepare the Cole of the present. Clandestine organisations attempt to create and use Conduits for their own purposes and see Cole as one of the most powerful, attempting to gain his aid or eliminate him.Plot
In the months following the events of Infamous, Cole (Eric LadinEric Ladin
Eric Ladin is an American actor who has guest-starred on multiple episodes of the AMC show Mad Men and the HBO miniseries Generation Kill as Corporal James Chaffin. He also appeared in the movies Toolbox Murders, Cursed, Left in Darkness...
) prepares to face the Beast, an entity of untold power whose coming was foretold by Kessler. Cole and his friend Zeke (Caleb Moody) meet with NSA agent Lucy Kuo (Dawn Olivieri
Dawn Olivieri
Dawn Olivieri is an American actress who has appeared in a number of television shows and feature films. She most recently has been cast as "Janice Herveaux" in the third season of the HBO series True Blood...
) who tells them she can lead them to Dr. Sebastian Wolfe (Michael Ensign
Michael Ensign
- Early life :Ensign was born in Safford, Arizona and was raised in both the United States and England. He trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and spent the first ten years of his professional career working in the theatre in Britain.- Career :...
), a scientist who worked on the development of the Ray Sphere which granted Cole his powers, and who claims he can make Cole even stronger. As they are about to leave, they are confronted by the Beast. Cole fights the Beast but proves to be no match and is severely weakened as a result. Cole, Zeke and Kuo escape to New Marais to find Wolfe while the Beast pursues them, destroying everything in its path.
In New Marais, they find the city under the control of wealthy industrialist Joseph Bertrand III (Graham McTavish
Graham McTavish
Graham McTavish is a Scottish television and film actor.He has played the character Warden Ackerman in Red Dwarf in five episodes of series 8. McTavish has also had many supporting roles in British dramas and films such as Casualty, Jekyll, The Bill, Taggart and Sisterhood...
) and his anti-conduit militia. Aware of Cole's arrival and abilities, Bertrand wages a propaganda campaign against him. Before Cole can meet Wolfe, his lab is destroyed, spreading Blast Cores across the city. Wolfe survives the explosion and explains to Cole that by finding and absorbing the power of the Blast Cores he can boost his powers to a point where he can activate the RFI (Ray Field Inhibitor) which would allow him to defeat the Beast. Wolfe is captured by the Militia and a rescue attempt fails, resulting in Wolfe's death and Kuo's capture. Cole and Zeke meet two new allies: Laroche, leader of an anti-militia resistance group, and Nix (Nika Futterman
Nika Futterman
Nika Futterman is an American actress, singer, voice artist, and comedienne.She did the vocals "Give it to me, baby" in The Offspring hit single "Pretty Fly ."-Animated Series:...
), a Conduit who dwells in the swamp. Together they locate Kuo trapped in a facility where she has been infused with ice-based abilities. Cole frees her but inadvertently unleashes an army of mercenaries also imbued with ice-powers.
Cole and his allies attack Bertrand's operations before eventually learning that Bertrand is himself a Conduit, able to transform into a building-sized monster and convert humans into monstrosities. In the past, he had used a Ray Sphere to gain abilities, believing himself destined for greatness. The activated Ray Sphere kills many but also grants Nix her abilities. Disgusted by the powers he receives and now believing Conduits to be evil, he attempts to incite a Conduit genocide using the power of the Conduit mercenaries he helped develop to instill fear in the populace. Meanwhile he uses his monsters to justify the protection of his militia to New Marais. Cole and his allies eventually coax Bertrand into again transforming, where he loses self control. Cole is able to kill Bertrand, ending his plan.
During this time, the Beast has arrived in New Marais. While on recon Cole encounters John White (Phil LaMarr
Phil LaMarr
Phillip "Phil" LaMarr is an American actor, comedian and voice actor. One of the original cast members on the sketch comedy series MADtv, he is also known for his small, but memorable role as Marvin in Pulp Fiction...
), an NSA agent whom had seemingly died in a Ray Sphere explosion in Empire City. John reveals himself as the Beast. He shows Cole that a plague, created when the Ray Sphere was first activated in Empire City to empower Cole, has been spreading across the country. The plague is killing humans but Conduits are immune, and John is using his powers to find and empower potential Conduits, sparing them at the cost of countless human lives each time. Believing humanity is lost, John implores Cole to help him find and convert the Conduits so that some may survive. After finding all of the Blast Cores, Cole prepares to activate the RFI. However, he learns that the device will not just weaken the Beast but kill all Conduits, but it could also nullify the Ray Sphere radiation, ending the plague. The story diverges from this point dependent on whether the player chooses to activate the RFI, sacrificing Cole and thousands of Conduits but saving millions of humans, including Zeke who has contracted the plague, or work with the Beast to save the Conduits while the rest of humanity will perish.
Ending
If Cole chooses to save humanity, Kuo leaves to join the Beast. While Cole and Zeke attempt to fully charge the RFI, the Beast begins his attack. Laroche and many of his men die in the battle and Cole is forced to fight Kuo. Nix sacrifices her life to weaken the Beast and give Cole more time. With the RFI fully charged, Kuo apologizes to Cole, admitting she joined the Beast out of fear of dying. Cole admits he too is afraid but activates the RFI. In the aftermath, the plague is wiped out and humanity is saved, but the Conduits, even non-activated ones carrying the Conduit gene, die. Aware of Cole's actions, the people of New Marais revere him as "The Patron Saint of New Marais". Zeke takes Cole's body offshore in a boat to bid him farewell in private, positing that Conduits are no different than humans as no one had more humanity than Cole. The scene ends with a lightning bolt striking the sea in the distance.If Cole chooses to work with the Beast to save the Conduits, Nix refuses to work with them, steals the RFI and leaves. Kuo gives chase while Cole and the Beast rampage through New Marais in pursuit. Nix attempts to use the RFI to stop them, not wanting everyone to be Conduits and make her less special. Cole is forced to kill her. Zeke confronts Cole and is also killed. Cole then destroys the RFI. The Beast states that he can no longer continue, having grown weary of the killing. Cole is initially angry at having sacrificed so much in vain but the Beast grants Cole all of his power before allowing himself to die. In the aftermath, Cole and Kuo begin activating Conduits at the expense of humanity. The scene ends as Cole laughs at how he was originally granted powers to defeat the Beast, yet he has become the very thing he was destined to destroy.
Development
Gaming journals reported the likelihood of a sequel to Infamous due to a TwitterTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
post made by actor David Sullivan
David Sullivan (actor)
David "Sully" Sullivan is an American film and television actor.-Biography:Sullivan was born in Tyler, Texas and grew up in Longview, and attended Spring Hill Schools where he graduated in 1996. He went on to attend Baylor University and majored in marketing and corporate communications,...
reporting on auditioning for the role of Cole in the game's sequel. In April 2010 it was reported that Sony had purchased the domain name 'infamousthegame.com', increasing speculation that a sequel was in development. The game was unveiled when Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
released the cover for their July 2010 issue which features a preview of the game.
The design of the main character, Cole, initially underwent many changes, to the extent of making him look like a different character. However, after being "taken aback by the uproar of fan support for the original Cole," Sucker Punch combined elements of the original with the new design. Some of Cole's clothing was changed to suit the new setting of the game. Eric Ladin
Eric Ladin
Eric Ladin is an American actor who has guest-starred on multiple episodes of the AMC show Mad Men and the HBO miniseries Generation Kill as Corporal James Chaffin. He also appeared in the movies Toolbox Murders, Cursed, Left in Darkness...
was also brought in to replace Jason Cottle as the voice of Cole because Sucker Punch felt that they needed someone who could perform Cole's physical reactions as well as his voice to improve the use of their new motion capture technology.
The cutscene
Cutscene
A cutscene is a sequence in a video game over which the player has no or only limited control, breaking up the gameplay and used to advance the plot, strengthen the main character's development, introduces enemy characters, and provide background information, atmosphere, dialogue, and clues...
s have been improved with motion capture technology to create a more cinematic experience. The stylized cut scenes from the first carried over into the sequel, they were reserved for bigger moments in the game.
In addition to the cut scenes, the popular moral element that was introduced in the original also transferred over to the sequel, but with a higher emphasis on overall route of the game, whereas in the original the moral factor only influenced minor results in the game, but ultimately led to the same final boss, with a different epilogue. As seen, the moral element will influence Cole's shirt, pants, and power color, with the classic hero blue and villain red returning. It will also influence Cole's skin condition, with heroic choices clearing his complexion and removing the scar on his face almost completely, whereas villainous choices will exaggerate his facial scars and cover his skin with tattoos. The karma choices also appear to influence what extra power Cole will begin to develop.
Sucker Punch has worked to improve on the open world
Open world
An open world is a type of video game level design where a player can roam freely through a virtual world and is given considerable freedom in choosing how to approach objectives...
aspect of the gameplay. This includes expanding the players' effect on the city in general. In the sequel, phone booths, telephone poles and buildings, can be affected by the way Cole's powers are used. The city's populace will also react in a more realistic manner than in Infamous.
The melee combat in the game has been redesigned from the original, changing the experience to be more smooth and involving. Cole's powers have also been re-imagined to include the use of the ice element. Sucker Punch also insinuated that the players' ethical decisions in the first game may also affect the second, saying that they wouldn't want to "disappoint" fans who may have spent hours earning their reputation, but would also need to factor in if the player had not played the first game.
Sucker Punch was using around 30% of the cell processor by the end of Infamous, and that for Infamous 2, they were "creeping up over 50 and 60%, because [they] know how to put things on to the Cell processor."
On March 1, 2011 Sucker Punch announced a mission creation feature for Infamous 2 that had been in development since 2009. A limited beta for testing this feature was released in April, 2011 and details for signing up for the beta became available on the official Infamous website on March 13.
On October 2011, it announced that PlayStation Move support would cover the whole game, and is part of an update which will come out sometime after Infamous: Festival of Blood is released, along with a new cutscene creator tool for the UGC creator.
Infamous 2: Festival of Blood
On August 16, 2011 at Gamescom in Germany, Infamous 2: Festival of Blood was announced as a downloadable title heading to the PlayStation Network. It will be a standalone game and not require Infamous 2 to play. Vampires have swarmed New Marais, and revered superhero Cole MacGrath has been bitten. To save his soul – and the city – he has just one night to find and kill the head vampire. Showing a clear adult emphasis, the first trailer showed Cole as a vampire biting his victims as blood sprayed from the wound. As such, Festival of Blood was suspected to be rated ESRB Mature and PEGI 18, although new trailers show a rating of T in the ESRB and 16 Pegi like its predecessors. It has been confirmed that the game will "feature new missions, themed environment settings, plus new characters and enemies". Also, it has been stated that Festival of Blood will "explore the darker side of the Infamous universe". It was released on October 25, 2011 in North America and a day later in Europe.
Hero Edition
On February 18, 2011, a Hero Edition was announced for pre-order including a Cole MacGrath statue, a sportable sling pack modeled after Cole’s, the Infamous #1 mini comic from DC Comics, the Infamous 2 soundtrack and a voucher code, which unlocks new content from the start of the game based on retailer. DLC includes the 24k Gold Amp, a Kessler skin, the Lightning Hook power, and the Electrocution Grenade power. Also, two skins are available, including a Kessler and the Infamous jacket from the previous installment. Another DLC pack will be released featuring a Reaper skin from the first game and three alternative models for the Amp including Sly Cooper'sSly Cooper (character)
Sly Cooper is the main protagonist of the Sly Cooper video game series and hero of three platform games developed by Sucker Punch Productions for the Sony PlayStation 2. Sly is voiced by Kevin Miller...
cane, a samurai sword and a caveman club.
The Hero Edition from Amazon came with all of the DLC except for the Stalker Grenades and the Sniper Blast powers and the three extra Subway Missions, which are now all available via the PlayStation Store.
Reception
Infamous 2 was well received at IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
when it was reviewed by Colin Moriarty who awarded the game a score of 9 out of 10. Moriarty praised the game's long play time, deep story and updated graphics but criticized the camera during melee combat. The title was not as well received at GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
where they gave the title a 7.5/10. The reviewer stated that "Small problems hold Infamous 2 back from greatness, but there's still a lot of electrifying fun to be had in Cole's latest adventure." The review from GamePro gave it a 3.5 stars out of 5, saying "camera issues in melee combat; confused navigation; less detailed than original; annoying combat."
External links
- Infamous 2 at PlayStation.com