inFAMOUS 2

I'll just throw this out there right now: To me, inFAMOUS 2 is on a similar level as Assassin's Creed II in that it does a lot more improving on what made the original game so much fun. Having much of the same powers from the first game, then adding more to that does give you a feeling of actually being powerful. But more about all of that later.

The story seemingly picks up after then ending of the first game, which is all new to me since I never finished the original inFAMOUS. But this game does a pretty decent job at filling in players as to events of the original, leading up to a crazy battle against The Beast.

Sorry a random note here: Couldn't someone have come up with a name a little more thoughtful then The Beast? I didn't and still have not taken this bad guy seriously because of it, because to me whenever I hear someone say "The Beast," I recall that dog from the old baseball kids movie The Sandlot, where much of the plot revolves around a dog named "The Beast."

Moving along...

So the whole purpose of coming to this new area (New Marais) is so Cole can acquire more power to fight The Beast. Simple enough, no?

The combat in the game is about the same as the original game, with the only changes I've noticed were the buttons being mapped a little differently on the controller. Okay and there is the Amp, which is a weapon that Cole uses that does feel a little better then just punching bad guys out. Personally, I prefer the Katana but the Amp is pretty awesome in it's own right too. Otherwise everything feels right at home on this front.

The starting set of powers is just about everything there was from the original, though some powers are missing until later in the game. The upgrades for these powers are okay, if maybe a little generic to be truthful. Things didn't really pick up for me until later, when you actually acquire some new elemental tricks...

The one aspect that also caught me off guard was the change in voice actors for the game's main character Cole McGrath. I don't really know how to describe the change in his voice, other then to say that this time around he actually sounds a bit younger. Maybe less gruff? Anyway this is ultimately a minor gripe, one that even I've forgotten about as I progress further into the story.

The karma system is still pretty unchanged from the original game, though to go either good or bad is pretty black and white to be sure. If you want to be the hero, just save the people from being mugged or captured and heal people that are in need of a healing hand (though there aren't bodies littering every street corner like there was in the first game). 

As far as glitches are concerned, I haven't really run into anything noticeable as of yet. About the only thing I've encountered was sometimes getting Cole stuck in/on the enemy turret guns. Luckily it hasn't been the type of glitch that forces you to have to restart the game.

The only real problem I have with this is the change in the way the people interact with Cole. They still do run up and generally cheer you and what not, that has not changed. What has changed is when you hit the status of Hero, civilians tend to run into battle and attack the enemies you are trying to fight. I've been tagged countless times with bad karma points already because of stray shots that end up nailing a person running in the way to chase after the bad guys.