In the early 1800s, Dr. John Snow presented the idea of Epidemiology. It’s the idea of said epidemic, not just the epicenter of it, but what happens when it spreads and how it affects areas differently in comparison to the original location. If we delve into the world of Sucker Punch’s InFamous, we find an Armageddon-esque situation. However, my favorite aspect comes from its sequel, which is how it records the ruins of New Marais and how the events of the first game affected the cast and the entire world. To understand the palimpsest of the narrative, we must survey the combat, art direction, and narrative to conceptualize just how great this game is.

   InFamous 2 reinvents a good majority of its approach to combat. Most of Cole MacGrath’s distance-based combat stayed the same. One of my favorite overhauls and aspects of this new title is its hand-to-hand combat. Instead of using the same ineffective punch and kick combo, Cole is now equipped with The Amp, a club that looks like the top of a power pole, but also a rebar club. It’s super unique and the randomized combos players use are masterful, especially when players get the upgrades which increase the length of each combo, and add in critical attacks and AOE’s. The movement on display is pretty much the same, with better-fitting settings, since New Marais (Sucker Punch’s interpretation of New Orleans) is flooded throughout the game, meaning players are urged to traverse returning powerline grinding instead of using the floaty climbing mechanics. Probably my favorite addition to the game is its variety of bosses and mini-bosses, which rival the lesser dynamic ones presented in the antecedent release. While the different colours of lightning return from the original game, obviously, depending on the players’ karma. However, midway through the story, players have to make a decision on which of their partner’s powers Cole should inherit. By sacrificing Lucy Kuo, players obtain her ice conduit, and by sacrificing Nix, her napalm powers. This breaks up the monotony of Cole’s well-established lighting conduit, which forms the foundation of the entire game.

   Author of an article about InFamous 2, Flenin, “As an open world game, Infamous 2 gets a lot right.” They continue by stating, “It has a unique sense of place with plenty of activities to keep you busy until the end of the story (and beyond).”

   The second title is a continuation from its predecessor as Cole MacGrath flees to the city of New Marais to find a way to defeat the Beast, a powerful entity that destroyed his home city, Empire City. Along the way, Cole must upgrade his electrical powers, navigate the city of New Marais, and make karma choices that affect his abilities and the narrative’s direction. The story is a great expansion and one that (like I said in the beginning) covers in great detail how events from the first game have affected the outside world.

   “I hold the first two games at a very similar level of writing strength. They both have their own strengths and weaknesses. In my opinion, InFamous 2 has much more relatable and likeable characters,” user of the r/InFamous subreddit Ki said.

   The art direction stayed the same in between releases, with the character designs being less stylistic and smoother. A good majority of the cast were mo-capped, so a lot of the animations seemed smooth and obviously felt like they were human. One of the bigger contentions affirming this game’s design is its variety of areas and enemies. Even though the scaling difficulty characteristic was lost in this game, the enemy variety didn’t. Between the main three: Militia, Vermaak 88, and the Corrupted, all look fantastic, especially the corrupted, which is a nice break from the human enemies throughout both games. New Marais proper feels like an older town that has been worn down. Its skyline has a beautiful yellow and blue palette to show how the bomb controlled the atmosphere. New Mariais’ red light district, Vile Cochon, is filled with neon lights, and especially beautiful at night, while flexing the Unreal Engine’s stylistic muscles.

   A member of the Sucker Punch Games FAQ, known as Warfiplier, loves the artwork so much, they tried to replicate it. “I always loved this art style in cut-scenes in Infamous 2, especially with the paint droplet effects going on. Because of that, I have wanted to learn how to replicate it.”

   Overall, this title is a perfect follow-up with a lot of great inventions. The sheer overhauls make this a timeless game, even within the context of it being released in the PlayStation 3 generation. Narratively, a near-perfect illustration of a hero’s end and how Sucker Punch can effectively take a story to new highs and new lows. The mastery of Sucker Punch has been unaccounted for for a long time. But just because we as players might not have seen it, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t already there.