What We'd Want to See in an inFamous sequel

I think I liked inFamous. I can’t really remember. It blends together with Prototype in my head. I’m pretty sure I liked it. Sure, it was kind of too static for my tastes, especially compared to the chaotic Prototype, but the game was interestingly plotted and had a compelling open world experience. So sure, why the hell not.

It’s sequel is slowly moving out of being the worst kept secret in the world and into reality, and it now has an official website. Something you usually do after you announce a game, but whatever.

What do we want in a sequel? That’s why we have a “Read More” button. It’s right down the page!

1. Weapons that aren’t weapons

The thing that got me hardest about inFamous was how you were this guy with absolutely amazing powers, the ability to control electricity, and you were able to do such boring things with it. You got…an electric pistol, and an electric shotgun, and an electric sniper rifle. The coolest thing you got was the ability for lightning to chain from one enemy to another, and even that was underwhelming (and you were forced to be evil, if I recall. Or Infamous. Sure.)

The #1 thing that would improve the game are some bigger powers. Cole’s survived a whole game, he should be able to do some awesome things. Emperor Palpatine style lightning lifts, a radial explosion, et cetera. Now, I’m not the most creative person here, but both of those powers sound cooler than a lightning shotgun. And this goes into my next point…

2. Destructable Environments

The feature. We here on Nightmare Mode has a saying: destructable environments make any game worth playing. Well, no, that’s actually the first time anyone’s ever said that, but it’s true. Battlefield: Bad Company was an enjoyable (series of) games in no large part because the environments could break apart under gunfire. Red Faction: Guerrilla, a mediocre game, was redeemed entirely by the presence of buildings you could break.

Smashing things is fun. Smashing things with electricity could be even more fun. Being able to leave your mark on the world makes open world games more fun, and inFamous is a game that, I think, could benefit greatly from this. I don’t know quite how they’d deal with it, but they’re getting paid to figure it out. I’m not getting paid to tell them they should figure it out.

3. More (Consistent) Story, More Mystery

I really enjoyed the story line of inFamous. I did. There was a good balance of immediate plot and backstory, and the two came together to make something that worked pretty well. But the thing it absolutely needed, I feel, was better pacing. You had to beat all these little gang outposts to free up the map and really unlock the ability to move forward, and that kind of killed the pace of the game for me.

They should keep the whole searching for audio diary thing (I like collectibles when I get something out of them. Less so when I don’t), and make the big plot a little more…immediate, quicker. The beginning of the game was neat in the sense that you were trying to save the city and help people, but I feel like bringing in the big bads quicker could make the game a little more fluid.

I feel like inFamous was one of the more underrated games of last year, so I’m hoping the sequel is better and less forgettable. And while we won’t know anything until E3, probably, it’s a game I’ll be looking out for.