Sequel Bait - InFamous | Phenixx Gaming

With Sony’s Spider-Man 2 releasing soon, I thought now would be a good time to look back on a superhero game series that has seemingly fallen into obscurity. I find the disappearance of Infamous from the modern gaming market quite baffling given the popularity of superhero media has never been higher. The last game in the series, inFamous: Second Son was released almost ten years ago back in 2014.

Despite the game selling over one million copies nine days following launch and being the best-performing game in the series there hasn’t been a hint of anything new coming soon. This is even more strange when you consider that the series was one of PlayStation’s biggest exclusive franchises alongside God of War, Uncharted, and more. Even with the launch of a new console generation there still hasn’t been a new InFamous game. Here is what I’m hoping to see if the game series ever does decide to come back.

If by chance you are unfamiliar with InFamous, it is a third-person action-adventure title developed by Sucker Punch. The game was first released in 2009 and received a direct sequel in 2011 before releasing the final game in 2014. The first two games place you in control of Cole McGrath, a man who receives electrical-based superpowers after being exposed to a device called the Ray Sphere.

Along with an original premise and edgy tone, InFamous distinguished itself from other superhero titles with its morality system, which was revolutionary at the time but has now become an industry standard for action RPGs. In Second Son, you take on the role of a graffiti artist named Delsin Rowe who has the ability to absorb powers from others. This allows players to swap between four separate powers over the course of the adventure.

InFamous was one of the first games to really get superhero games right. It gave you the creative freedom to be whatever kind of person you wanted, placed you in a sandbox, and used superpowers in creative and visually exciting ways while delivering smooth combat. The franchise also showed that you could do more with the superhero genre than provide simple licensed retellings of comic narratives.

In that regard, it broke through some of the blandness surrounding the heroic narrative structure of the time. Superheroes have come a long way since then. It could be quite easy for a new InFamous game to become nothing more than a dated homogenous mess rather than something fresh in today’s market. With that being said, let’s go dig a little deeper.

The first place I’m starting with is the story. Now there are two routes here that developers could go with. They could either bring back Cole once again or begin with a customized avatar. Personally, I think the best option would be the latter as I think the best way to revive the series is to pitch it as the ultimate superhero sim. I’d like to have full customization over a variety of character backgrounds, power sets, and visual aesthetics.

I also feel this would be a natural choice given the way Second Son’s story focused on expanding the world and introducing widespread super-powered individuals. I’d also like for the narrative to include the first hints of costumed heroes but through a cynical lens. I’m picturing something similar to The Boys, where certain Conduits become employed by governments as publicity symbols or weapons used for oppression.

Perhaps, in contrast, the true heroes become vigilantes in a world that seeks to abuse their abilities or regulate them in inhumane ways. It’s an angle I think would fit quite well with the very grounded universe crafted by the previous titles.

However, I don’t want to completely throw the past characters out the window. Instead, I’d like players to encounter old characters such as Cole, Delsin, or Fetch within the game’s story. Perhaps these people can be recruited as potential allies or even appear as enemies depending on your character’s actions. Certain missions or questlines might even allow you to shift control over to them for short stints of time.

In terms of gameplay, I don’t think much needs to change. The third-person action is easily the best choice to allow for fun visuals to fill the screen. However, I think more diversity amongst powers is necessary. Second Son had four different powers but for the most part, they were simply palette swaps with each only having a few unique things it could do.

I’m hoping the next potential InFamous title can really raise the bar with powers that feel truly distinct and are fleshed out with deep upgrade paths. In order to enhance replay value and emphasize the importance of character creation, I think it would be wise to lock players into only one or two powers over the course of a playthrough.

I’d also like to see powers take different forms rather than always being linked to specific energy and matter manipulation. These types of abilities make the most sense given the nature of how superpowers are acquired in this world but it would still be nice to have access to classic abilities such as super strength, shapeshifting, or telekinesis.

Perhaps the explanation could simply be that conduits have simply evolved over the years leading to more complex abilities. This could also allow for new kinds of weapon options and support gear that can further enhance the feeling of creating your unique hero.

Next, let’s talk scale. I have always found that InFamous games have nailed this aspect by simply taking a city and building a lifelike representation that acts as a perfect playground for the larger narrative and myriad of side quests. I would want them to keep this going forward. The slight addition I propose is the introduction of multiplayer in some way.

It would be nice to allow friends to accompany you on certain missions or duke it out against one another in an arena battle mode. This would simply add more content to the game on release rather than relying on DLC story expansions. I still think DLC is a good option as well but it’s always nice to have more things to do given these games have always been somewhat short compared to other games in the genre.

Lastly, the morality system desperately needs some attention here. One of the biggest issues with Second Son was how black and white the options were for a modern big-budget title of the time. You could either be an upstanding citizen or a heartless scumbag with no options in between. In the past, given the limitations of technology, this system made sense. However, numerous other games have shown that a more nuanced system is possible if you put in the time and budget.

Infamous is one of those game series that I feel still has a good chance to return in a few years. Hopefully, some of these changes and adjustments can ensure that the series can become a more consistent force within the PlayStation catalog once again.