Infamous: Second Son

About Infamous: Second Son

Infamous: Second Son arrived on PlayStation 4 in March 2014 as a standalone action title from Sucker Punch Productions. You play as Delsin Rowe, a 24-year-old graffiti artist who gains the ability to mimic superpowers after a car crash. The story follows his journey from the Akomish reservation into a Seattle locked down by the Department of Unified Protection. This agency hunts people with powers and labels them bioterrorists. You roam an open world city, using gravity-defying movement and elemental attacks to fight back against overwhelming military forces. It is a single-player adventure that focuses on personal freedom versus government control while offering distinct power sets to explore.

Gameplay

Movement defines every minute of this experience. You sprint up buildings, slide across rooftops, and jump between skyscrapers with fluid momentum. Combat starts by absorbing powers from defeated enemies or specific locations. Smoke lets you turn into a cloud to dodge attacks or suffocate foes. Neon allows you to dash through the air at high speeds while shooting electric beams. Concrete creates barriers for cover, while Video turns digital objects into physical weapons. You switch between these four styles instantly during fights to adapt to situations. The game tracks your progress by letting you upgrade specific abilities within each power set. Side activities involve collecting graffiti tags and completing challenges scattered across the map.

What Players Think

Players on PlayPile rate this title with an IGDB score of 78.5 out of 100 based on 515 ratings. The community mood leans heavily toward Intense, with four votes citing that vibe compared to one vote for Atmospheric. Users note a high completion rate among those who finish the main story, though average playtime varies based on how much time is spent collecting side content. Review snippets often mention the visual spectacle of the neon and smoke effects during combat sequences. Some players feel the narrative pacing drags in the middle section. The consensus suggests the core loop remains engaging even if the plot follows familiar superhero tropes. Achievement hunters can unlock titles for mastering each specific power style.

PlayPile's Take

This game works best for people who want fast-paced movement and variety in combat rather than deep strategic layers. At its launch price, it offered solid value for a single-player experience on PlayStation 4. You will appreciate the freedom to tackle missions using different powers. However, you might find the story predictable if you have played similar superhero titles before. The achievement list rewards thorough exploration of the city and mastery of all four power sets. Skip this if you prefer tight linear levels or multiplayer focus. It is a solid platformer shooter that relies on momentum to keep things fresh throughout the campaign.

Storyline

Second Son takes place in 2016, seven years after Infamous 2's Conduit protagonist Cole MacGrath sacrifices himself to cure humanity of a plague and destroy The Beast. Cole uses the powerful Ray Field Inhibitor weapon, which kills him and most of the other Conduits. The U.S. government establishes the D.U.P. to hunt down and capture the world's remaining Conduits, dubbing Conduits with the pejorative "Bioterrorists ". The protagonist is Delsin Rowe (Troy Baker), a 24 year old graffiti artist and the local delinquent of the Akomish reservation. Delsin has the unique Conduit ability of Power Mimicry, allowing him to copy the powers of any Conduit he comes into contact with. His brother, Reggie (Travis Willingham), is the local sheriff, and often arrests Delsin for his acts of vandalism. Both are Akomish Native Americans, whose territory lies at the shore of Salmon Bay, Washington. The antagonist is Brooke Augustine (Christine Dunford), the director of the D.U.P. and a Conduit with power over Concrete. Her actions in the Akomish reservation drive Delsin to travel to Seattle, now under lockdown by D.U.P. forces. Delsin and Reggie encounter three other Conduits: Henry "Hank" Daughtry (David Stanbra), a convict with control over Smoke; Abigail "Fetch" Walker (Laura Bailey), an ex-junkie who uses her Neon powers to hunt down illegal drug dealers in Seattle; and Eugene Sims (Alex Walsh), a reclusive video game addict who uses his Video (digital materialization) powers to save suspected Conduits from the D.U.P. after Reggie catches Delsin vandalizing a billboard, their subsequent argument is interrupted when a military truck carrying three Conduit prisoners crashes on the Akomish reservation. Two of the Conduits escape, but Delsin manages to pull the third one, Hank, out of the wreckage, inadvertently absorbing his smoke powers in the process. Shocked and frightened, Delsin pursues Hank in an effort to figure out what has happened and how to control his powers. However, they are both cornered by Brooke Augustine. She encases Hank in concrete and questions Delsin, suspecting him of hiding something. Delsin can choose to either tell Augustine the truth about his powers or say nothing. Regardless of Delsin's choice, Augustine knocks him out before moving on to the other tribe members. Delsin awakens a week later and discovers that Augustine has tortured the rest of the tribe in an unsuccessful bid to gain information. However, she has left them to gradually die from concrete shards buried into their bodies, including their leader Betty (Karen Austin). Reggie, who was spared from the torture, learns that the only way to remove the shards is to use Augustine's power on them. Delsin realizes that he can absorb Conduit powers and resolves to go to Seattle to take Augustine's powers and save the tribe. Reggie reluctantly accompanies Delsin to keep an eye on him. They reach Seattle and find that it has been put under strict martial law by the D.U.P. in order to find the other escaped Conduits. With Reggie's help, Delsin battles D.U.P. forces and tracks down core fragments to develop his powers. He eventually encounters the other two escaped Conduits, Fetch and Eugene, and absorbs their powers. After both confrontations, Delsin defends the Conduits from Reggie, who initially views them as "freaks", and can choose to either redeem or corrupt them.