Put like 6 hours in and I still don't have the second power lulz. Game's fun.
- The side busywork (I won't call them side missions) is Ubisoft tier...
- ...BUT the movement is so fun you almost, almost don't think about it. Seriously, the vent jumps and continuous vent hopping on roofs is one of the most satisfying forms of traversal I've ever seen or felt in a game. They absolutely nailed the animations on that + the particles look amazing.
- Speaking of particles, doing the smoke dive bomb karma move on a crowded street is incredible to watch. So much carnage, and the embers floating in the air afterwards look great. The game really is a stunner visually, and makes me excited for what teams will be doing in 2 or 3 years.
- Combat improves a hell of a lot after you get the good karma ability to regain health from vents + subdued enemies, and filling the karma meter with headshots is satisfying. Enemies are pretty active and can destroy you in the blink of an eye even on normal so that keeps combat hectic and tense .....Until you bust out the karma super move and everything goes boom. It's a nice loop.
- Their version of Seattle looks great, but like Empire City and New Marais before it, is still just a playground for the player and combat. It doesn't feel like a world built to be immersive as much as it's a world where every element serves to facilitate combat, traversal, and the karma system. On one hand that's a good thing, but it leads a situation where: Cars aren't vehicles with people in them, they're just launching pads and bombs. Pedestrians aren't really "alive," they're fodder for the evil path and a challenge to work around for the good path. Police aren't authority figures, they're simply around for the shootout "random event" with criminals. Likewise, criminals aren't really criminals, they're just around for the drug bust activity. Districts aren't really different areas with different resources, sounds, and moods; they're just an excuse to change the architecture providing platforming variety., etc., etc. It's not a world where you can sit back and watch dynamic things happen and have it feel alive. The lack of a real day/night cycle heightens that artificiality, even though I completely understand their reasoning for doing so.
- Audio....I don't know what it is- not just with Sucker Punch but open world games in general- but It's so soft. The individual effects are good, and everything has a distinct sound, but it's all mixed so much lower than I'd personally like aside from most dialogue and the camera alarms. Although it's an improvement from the first two games, it's still not loud enough, both combat and city noise, and sound effects trail off far too quickly moving only a few feet away from the source, or even just turning the camera. Message to all open world devs: TURN IT UP TO 11
- Soundtrack's good. Lots of guitars and strong themes for exploration, combat, and missions.
- Writing is improved. Though Delsin sometimes quips his way between entertaining and try-hard rebel, on the whole it's much more engaging than the first 2 titles, thanks in no small part to the fantastic motion capture during cutscenes.
- Lastly, the tagging motion controls are FAR more entertaining than they have any right to be. Why does this work so well?
So yeah, all in all, it's been a good time so far. It's Super Infamous Turbo Edition, warts and all.