Infamous: Second Sundae

I do online classes with Full Sail University, hopefully to get a degree in game design. I only take one class a month and this month is a math class. Math and I do not get along well. In fact, we are not friends. If math was a real person, it would be that guy that borrows money from you all the time and when you actually need something from him, he's nowhere to be seen. Anyways, since I have had my fill of a horrible thing, it's time to talk about something fun: video games!

This about sums it up.

As an early birthday present, my wonderful wife got me a Playstation 4. I opened it up, plugged it in and immediately started to play around with the features. The dashboard is way different than what I am used to. Instead of everything in row by row selections, there's a bar at the top that gives you access to all of the options and profile information. I like that all being on the top. It seems to give everything a nice, tidy feel.

Such a funny word. Tidy.

I picked up Infamous: Second Son on a whim. Dying Light has been delayed (again!), so I went for a type of game that I have not tried in a long time: a platformer. I love platforming games, but alas, my gaming interests in the last few years have been in the horror and RPGs, so I figured, why not go back to what brought me into the gaming world in the first place? If it wasn't for platformers like Mario and Mega Man, I wouldn't be writing this right now.

Glorious.

Second Son turned out to be way more fun than I had anticipated. Seeing as how I did not play the first two, I had no idea what to expect. You play as Delsin Rowe, a young whipper-snapper who finds out that he is a conduit: one who can absorb the powers of other super-powered whipper-snappers. Using your new found abilities, you go on the hunt for Brooke Augustine, the leader of a government-funded tactical squad with the sole purpose of rounding up other conduits. In catching her, you hope to fix the damage she has done to your town and your family.

Boo!

I'll admit it, I didn't know what to expect out of Second Son, seeing how it is an open-world platformer, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good this game actually is. the controls are very well done, the graphics are amazing, and the story is quite compelling. It's not the deepest game I've ever played, but it's also not afraid to poke fun at itself. The karma system is well done also, allowing you to only purchase certain abilities with different karma. However, it was REALLY easy to get to the top of the bad karma ladder. Kick a few pedestrians and you will pay for it.

Pictured above: Karma Ladder

I have to admit, my absolute favorite thing about Second Son is the stenciling. You can find locations all over the map to spray paint and tag, and what you decide to stencil will affect your karma. It may not mean anything to anyone else, but I loved doing this. It really made me feel like I was in Delsin's shoes, showing my disdain for the man.

Fight the power!

All in all, Second Son is a really fun game and a great kickoff to the PS4. Hopefully, Infamous will be the start of a trend of great games for the Playstation. If Dying Light ever gets to see the light of day(heh), we might get to see how great horror games will look on this amazing next-gen console. If you happen to find yourself in a position where you have a PS4, and you don't know what game to buy; pick up Second Son. It's a purchase you won't soon regret.