Infamous is a PlayStation exclusive action-adventure game series set in an open world environment and played from a third-person perspective. Players control the main character, who can parkour-style climb vertical surfaces like high-rise buildings. Since the series inception, there has been a new game released every 2-3 years. Infamous: Second Son was released a little over three years ago on March 21, 2014, to much success. Considering that Sucker Punch has confirmed that they have been working on a new game for a few years and that a new Infamous title was not shown at E3 this year, its safe to assume that the game will be unveiled at the PlayStation Experience on December 9, 2017. However, this still leaves many questions about the game’s timeline, location, characters, and powers.
(Beware as there are spoilers for the Infamous games below.)
Where And When Will The Game Take Place?
Following the same format of Rockstar’s GTA series, Sucker Punch uses fake cities based on real-world major cities. In Infamous we got Empire City which was modeled after New York and in Infamous 2 we got New Marais which was modeled after New Orleans. This changed in Infamous: Second Son with the use of Seattle, Washington. Hopefully, the trend continues and the next Infamous game is set in another real-world city. Los Angeles, Toronto, and Atlanta would make for good settings for the next game in the series. All are major cities will a lot of land and culture to explore. Some choices may be more logical than others depending on where Sucker Punch decides to go with the series. Which leads me to my next question…
Will Delsin Rowe Return?
The Native American protagonist of Infamous: Second Son was well liked by fans. He was different from Cole in that he was younger and had more attitude. He is likely a shoe-in to return, but many fans would like to see the return of Cole McGrath. Possibly returning to aid Delsin in the future installment or becoming an enemy and taking on the Kessler moniker he tried to avoid in the first set of games. This may be a stretch as the character apparently died during the canon ending of Infamous 2, but you never know. Fans of Infamous: First Light would also be happy to play as Abigail “Fetch” Walker again. She became the first female main character in an Infamous game and hopefully she is not the last. There is also the possibility that we may get an entirely new character to play with and have Cole, Delsin, and Abigail make extended cameos. Whatever the case ends up being, I’m sure Sucker Punch will deliver.
What New Powers Will We Get?
The best thing about the Infamous series are the powers. Each conduit has a unique power that they can use in the game. Some of these powers can even be copied unto lesser conduits as seen with the D.U.P. and the Vermaak 88. In Infamous: Second Son, Delsin Rowe had the ability to absorb other conduit’s powers after making physical contact with them. While some of the powers we had access to in the game were great others were not completely fleshed out.
At the end of the game, players gain the power to control concrete, yet the only way to refuel this power is by taking down D.U.P. soldiers. This was a mistake as D.U.P. soldiers are scarce after beating the game. Also, all of the streets are made of concrete so it would’ve made sense to draw powers from there. Another misstep was the “Paper Trail” DLC side missions. Players spent hours completing the online based puzzles only to get a rabbit mask. Players were ready to be able to transform into paper planes and fight with origami shurikens. This would have made for more interesting combat as Cecilia’s paper conduit powers allowed her to move faster than Delsin while using his neon powers.
Other conduit abilities that have been explored in the Infamous series include:
- Tar Manipulation
- Telekinesis
- Aura Projection
- Teleportation
- Shockwave Generation
- Shapeshifting
- Electricity Manipulation
- Time Travel
- Cryokinesis
- Napalm Manipulation
- Forced Mutation
- Bat Swarm
- Kaiju Transformation
- Smoke Manipulation
- Pyrokinesis
- Video Manipulation
I believe that the newer game should get back to some of the more extravagant conduit powers instead of focusing on the elemental based ones. It would be nice to see a main character with the ability of telekinesis or aura projection. This would add a new element of gameplay for players to enjoy. Also, I think they should eliminate the necessity for conduits to need free hands to use their powers. This was only seen in Infamous: Second Son and didn’t make much sense considering some of the conduit powers seen in previous installments. Hopefully, Sony and Sucker Punch release new information soon as December is right around the corner.
Are you ready for a new Infamous game? Leave your comments below.