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[MoonsaultSlayer]

I completely disagree about the city. Both on that it lacks character, and that it should have character by the means you mention. It's a backdrop with an identity stemming from a lack of identity. The focus is on Cole, not on a building in the background, and even the muted, dusty look works to enhance the feel of being a unique character in a place gone to shit. There's plausible detail (building signs, laundry between windows) and a few standout buildings, and much of the environment feels borrowed from old town areas of certain famous, major cities. I deeply hope that they do not decide to make the city a character, and keep the grimy, desaturated look.

The one thing it lacks is a sense of life in the illuminated areas, that much I can agree with.

I agree. I was playing earlier after beating the game and realized how much personality the city and the people already have.

I'd only change how NPCs load in and out. I didn't like seeing injured civilians lying on the ground that I had every intention to save and have them disappear when I return just because I rounded a corner. The same goes for when I'm looking in the distance and I see a pedestrian crossing the street completely vanish lol.

I've been trying to get the stunt that requires you to use the shock wave to repel an enemies grenade and hit them with it. First of all, it's hard just finding an enemy who throws grenades. And second... when I did find one, he stopped after throwing 2 but I just sat their dodging his bullets and it was AMAZING watching him do his thing. Reloading, taking cover, running, and the best of all? Watching him cap random pedestrians that got too close. Holy fuck it was sweet. To go along with that, I loved a moment when I was just walking around and came across a gang in an alley holding up a civilian and once I started cracking heads, 2 of them immediately turned and killed the poor dude. WOW.

 

[Mejilan]

I don't mind the dusty, defeated, drained look to the city. And much of that kind of disappears anyway, since tagging out a couple of random yellow mission signals on your HUD erases all worry and care from the inhabitants! It's so... binary. And fake.

My problem is more with the form and function. The platforming becomes incredibly boring very early on because there's no variety to it. And with the vacuuming, it's too automated at times. You're scaling and climbing exactly the same buildings in hour 15 as you were in hour 1. Because instead of a variety of unique neighborhoods, every single "block" of every single island is basically identical to any other, with the exception of the occasional standout large feature, like ground zero or the parks.

I'm not asking for this chipper, vibrant urban utopia. I'm asking for a residential district that has a different look, a different set of enemies, a different set of side/karmic missions, and a completely different range of building types and platforms to navigate. I want actual differentiation!

Fuck, if you want, outright DESTROY some of these neighborhoods. That can only spruce up the platforming and environments. No matter where you are in Empire City, it all feels so homogeneous, with the occasionally "reskinning" of the building textures standing in for true variety.

For certain, navigating the Neon district was no different than the Slums or the Historic district. And it should have been. With the occasional addition of dark water or tar truck missions, the side missions in one district were basically the same as that of the other two. And what little variety was introduced (usually in the form of stripped down versions of recently completed main missions) tended to be introduced in clumps. Like beating the tar truck main mission simultaneously spawning 3-5 smaller tar truck side missions in that district.

I'm not looking for a revitalized Empire (or whatever) City next time around, just a better differentiated one. And you can't tell me that the idea of multiple factions duking it out, or you taking on multiple factions at once, isn't at all exciting. The game kind of skirted around that once or twice, but never quite got there. The idea of more dynamic, less binary zones of control can only juice up the exploration and setting. And, to a certain extent, it can be optional like much of it already is in Infamous 1.

 

[MoonsaultSlayer]

Spoiler

I don't think so. Cole still has to escape Empire city and Moya, and the government know of him very well. He can't simply wait for the Red Beast with the quarantine coming to an end. Also Alden and Sasha (?) are still alive so they may have a greater role yet. IMO the sequel should focus on Cole escaping from Empire City and finding out what to do next. He's lost everything and Moya and the Government obviously want his powers.


I still think Zeke would turn out to be the Red Beast, it is possible that Kessler didn't know it was Zeke was the beast but also when Kessler fled the Beast there was no mention of Zeke in there. We know that he would do anything to get powers liek Cole....Oooomaybe the government tries to recreate the Ray Sphere and Zeke is their test subject thus creating the Red Beast?

You must not have watched the bit after the credits....

Spoiler

Cole says he realizes the city is his home and he has a duty to protect it. He ain't leaving. He says he doesn't know what Zeke and Moya are up to. Then again, I've only seen the good guy ending....

 

[AFreak]

for the "bio leech 100 enemies" achievement, do civilians count?

Nope, pedestrians aren't enemies.

 

[AltogetherAndrews]

I don't mind the dusty, defeated, drained look to the city. And much of that kind of disappears anyway, since tagging out a couple of random yellow mission signals on your HUD erases all worry and care from the inhabitants! It's so... binary. And fake.

My problem is more with the form and function. The platforming becomes incredibly boring very early on because there's no variety to it. And with the vacuuming, it's too automated at times. You're scaling and climbing exactly the same buildings in hour 15 as you were in hour 1. Because instead of a variety of unique neighborhoods, every single "block" of every single island is basically identical to any other, with the exception of the occasional standout large feature, like ground zero or the parks.

I'm not asking for this chipper, vibrant urban utopia. I'm asking for a residential district that has a different look, a different set of enemies, a different set of side/karmic missions, and a completely different range of building types and platforms to navigate. I want actual differentiation!

Fuck, if you want, outright DESTROY some of these neighborhoods. That can only spruce up the platforming and environments. No matter where you are in Empire City, it all feels so homogeneous, with the occasionally "reskinning" of the building textures standing in for true variety.

Fair enough, I just really don't want it to be equally as much about the city as it is about my own character. There already is an open world game like that, and I have a feeling that supplying super-power-based gameplay, scenarios that feel more like action-adventure moments than typical open world missions and a full featured city is too daunting of an undertaking for any one component to be great.

And the prison building is still one of the most impressive buildings I've seen in a game. Very Gotham City. Not sure if it would be as impressive if everything aimed for character. The bridges are cool, too.

 

[jax (old)]

Then again, I also honestly feel that for as much fun as it is to grind on wires and float through the air, I think I would prefer it if Sucker Punch ditched the open world bit and focused everything on the action, in more linear settings. During missions, I mostly forget that it even is an open world game, and the format hasn't seemed necessary at all. And honestly, the compromises are too blatant for me to ever be happy about said format.

nah.

I disagree. The mission where you had to chase the ballons across the map was excellent. I was like "go after them asap.. grind grind, fly fly. get to it." I also liked how it was a vertical challenge. Up in the air. Not many games do this. It was a highlight. I was like, this is amazing how they make you go across the islands. And I'm someone that don't like open world games much.

There was a palpable sense of tension which leads me to this:

Note to Suckerpunch

as much as I hate to say this - I think some of the missions should have a timer because one of the things about this game I observed was

a) the lack of repercussions.
timing the missions vs success/failure and give according XP would be a great thing for the sequel. The fact that some of the missions could have a time factor (eg. ballon mission - time limit it to completion would add tension, impetus to complete, reward good play). The fact that no one suffers/etc per mission makes it a tad easy to try and try again with no real impact. And this is a game the focuses on repercussions. I guess this comment could be applied to all openworld games. GTA/SAINTSROW/CRACKDOWN all had this issue. Plus Infamous is XP driven. Given 100 for all sidemissions is a bit stupid. reward with more XP for good play. The only time the game sort of does this is during the prisoner/hostage missions.

b) the ease of mid level checkpoints - imo a tad too generous. Although... I could be wrong. It could be balanced just right but to me, you can almost gauge when a game checkpoints mid mission. And then if you die, it moves you right next to the next objective making it a strategic/smart choice to grenade death so you don't have to traverse the map. eg of this are the plane/ballon/bus missions.

 

[Everdred]

How different is the story/dialog for each side? I'm playing evil right now and want to know if it be worth it to play through the good side. Worth it in a story/different experience way.

 

[Mejilan]

Fair enough, I just really don't want it to be equally as much about the city as it is about my own character. There already is an open world game like that, and I have a feeling that supplying super-power-based gameplay, scenarios that feel more like action-adventure moments than typical open world missions and a full featured city is too daunting of an undertaking for any one component to be great.

And the prison building is still one of the most impressive buildings I've seen in a game. Very Gotham City. Not sure if it would be as impressive if everything aimed for character. The bridges are cool, too.

I understand (and appreciate) that the focus is more on Cole and the narrative (and going along with that, the incredibly well-designed main missions). It's part of what makes Infamous so awesome, and so much better than the typical open-world game action game (which I tend to largely ignore). I'm certainly not asking for Sucker Punch to sacrifice those elements that I did love. It's just that the open-world design itself feels so cookie cutter, and basically like an after-thought.

Your idea of perhaps eschewing an open world game for a larger, more robust, more scripted action game isn't a bad idea either. The game's at it's finest when it's following Cole and the narrative. I think you and I agree. I was just proposing some ways they could spice up what I feel is the weakest part of the game. Another tactic would be to cut the weak elements entirely, and focus on making what worked, work better.

I do think, however, that going from the pseudo open-world game they have now to a more focused action game might piss off as many people as it pleases. Improving the open-world aspects by further differentiating the setting, missions, and platforming can only please people, I think. Assuming, of course, it doesn't compromise the core strengths of the game, which I think you and I are perfectly in agreement over.

Assuming that they don't waste time and resources "reinventing the wheel," and instead use the current engine and tools to instead focus on content, I think expanding on the open-world elements can be done quite easily without losing what made the original so special.

As much as I loved Crackdown, there was a reason why I never finished that, despite owning it for the better part of a year. Infamous perfectly highlights how to give an open-world game a tighter focus, narrative, and structure. Ultimately, that's what I need to finish my games.

Edit - And for what it's worth, I fucking loved the prison. I scaled that mofo and leached all shards and dead drops from it well before the game invited me to explore it! What I propose is having more of THOSE moments, and less climbing up on the same cookie-cutter box-like buildings!

 

[AFreak]

Note to Sucker punch: Chang nothing about the checkpoint system, you have the best checkpoint system ever.

Sorry buddy, but the checkpoint may be generous, but it's still better than having to go back through 20 minutes of bullshit because you messed up at one spot in a 25 minute mission. Sucker punch has the best checkpoint system ever IMO, the game was hard, but not bullshit hard. I never felt like throwing my controller against a wall, and that's a good thing.

I'm playing Prototype now, and besides not liking the controls in Prototype(very convoluted compared to InFamous), but the Checkpoint system isn't as good to me either. I died once after running for about a minute to get to a place that I died at, so why not just let me start at the place I died instead of having me waste another minute to run back there?

 

[Mejilan]

I didn't have any issue with the checkpoint system. Perhaps it was a bit too generous at times, but I prefer that to the alternative. The game was brain-dead easy though. I played as a Hero on medium, and I barely ever died. I'll be hitting up hard mode on my Evil playthrough. I think I was already a Hero before I was half-done with the Slums, and had all upgrades purchased before I was half-done with the Historic district (except for that one power that required all 15 good missions completed. That one was purchased near the end, for obvious reasons.)

 

[Totobeni]

Note to Sucker punch: Chang nothing about the checkpoint system, you have the best checkpoint system ever.

Sorry buddy, but the checkpoint may be generous, but it's still better than having to go back through 20 minutes of bullshit because you messed up at one spot in a 25 minute mission. Sucker punch has the best checkpoint system ever IMO, the game was hard, but not bullshit hard. I never felt like throwing my controller against a wall, and that's a good thing.

yeah I agree , I hope more devs learn , Infamous checkpoint system is one of the best .

 

[kle89]

You must not have watched the bit after the credits....

Spoiler

Cole says he realizes the city is his home and he has a duty to protect it. He ain't leaving. He says he doesn't know what Zeke and Moya are up to. Then again, I've only seen the good guy ending....

Spoiler

Actually, is he physically capable of leaving the city? Every time when he enters an area without the electric generator on, he gets tired and fatigued until it's switched on

 

[Raist]

I guess I'm getting too old for long games, because this is starting to feel repetitive

Spoiler

Don't hurt me

 

[KZObsessed]

Hello Raist, where you up to? The end of the Warren and the beginning of the Historic district are the parts that really elevate this game.

 

[endlessflood]

Damn, one missing...are there shards on the trash tower?

There are no shards on the trash tower itself, although there are some near the base of it

Spoiler

where you fight the dustman conduit/golem the first time

.

If you're missing one shard then on the first island

Spoiler

check the poles out in the water on the eastern side of the island, you'll need to use your thrusters to get out there

. On the second island,

Spoiler

at least one shard is totally obscured by a side mission indicator; it's on the south side of the island, directly north from a gas station. I was missing one shard on the second island and that turned out to be the one for me

. Just do a side mission and then

Spoiler

scan that spot again once you've removed the indicator

. Other places to check on the second island are

Spoiler

the container area where you have to rescue zeke, and the higher/highest levels of the prison since a scan from the bottom won't reveal a shard at the very top (too far vertically, out of range)

.

 

[TTP]

I was missing one shard on the second island and that turned out to be the one for me.

How do you know WHERE you are missing a shard? Is there any indicator about which island has yet to be 100% cleaned?

 

[Pai Pai Master]

Just did

Spoiler

the balloon mission

. I'm loving this game. Can't wait to beat it and start my Evil playthrough.

 

[methane47]

Beat game... missing ONE shard

already have the one on the poles in the water at first island already checked prison, already checked trashman block

 

[Raist]

Hello Raist, where you up to? The end of the Warren and the beginning of the Historic district are the parts that really elevate this game.

Hmm, last story mission I've done IIRC is the one where you have to rescue hostages on boats. I guess I should give up with side missions for now.

 

[Khalifa Jayy]

Started my "Good" play through.

I miss my thrusters.

 

[Unknown One]

Beat game... missing ONE shard

already have the one on the poles in the water at first island already checked prison, already checked trashman block

This situation is worst then missing the pole ones you mentioned. All that is left is to run around every district and L3 every building in sight :lol

 

[endlessflood]

How do you know WHERE you are missing a shard? Is there any indicator about which island has yet to be 100% cleaned?

You count as you collect the shards one island at a time. I had 147 form the first island, but could only find 281 after the second (needed to be 282), so I knew I had missed one on the second island.

If you haven't been clearing them one island at a time, then sorry but there is no way to tell which islands the missing ones are from.

 

[netguy503]

Does someone have an extra code for the pre-oder blades? Please?

 

[neojubei]

Note to Sucker punch: Chang nothing about the checkpoint system, you have the best checkpoint system ever.

Sorry buddy, but the checkpoint may be generous, but it's still better than having to go back through 20 minutes of bullshit because you messed up at one spot in a 25 minute mission. Sucker punch has the best checkpoint system ever IMO, the game was hard, but not bullshit hard. I never felt like throwing my controller against a wall, and that's a good thing.

I'm playing Prototype now, and besides not liking the controls in Prototype(very convoluted compared to InFamous), but the Checkpoint system isn't as good to me either. I died once after running for about a minute to get to a place that I died at, so why not just let me start at the place I died instead of having me waste another minute to run back there?

Agreed!

 

[Greg]

Finally got around to renting this, and I just finished it up. I did absolutely no side missions, and it took me ~8 hours to end.

It was definitely a lot better than I expected and the pacing was great. When the missions were just developing they threw new powers at me to keep things interesting... and once there were no new powers, they bumped all the missions up a notch and the diversity of the levels really started to show. The entire first island was pretty much a tutorial and I wasn't looking forward to playing more of the same, but then the whole game seemed to shift gears and really impress me.

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

Without spoiling it...yes or no answer please......is there a mission someplace that will allow me to get that one trophy where you have to 'kill 25 enemies while riding on top of the train' easy? I just cant seem to randomly come across enemies while riding the train on a regular basis...

 

[jmd494]

In the third city, I can't seem to get the last 4 -5 territory missions to appear. I wander around and kill all the dudes but no side missions seem to open up.

This started after what I think might be a glitch:

There was this one side mission where you had to escort a bus somewhere. The bus drove to the dock and the mission seemed to be over (other missions showed up on the map). But it never said the mission was accomplished or failed.

Anyone else experience this?

 

[Unknown One]

In the third city, I can't seem to get the last 4 -5 territory missions to appear. I wander around and kill all the dudes but no side missions seem to open up.

This started after what I think might be a glitch:

There was this one side mission where you had to escort a bus somewhere. The bus drove to the dock and the mission seemed to be over (other missions showed up on the map). But it never said the mission was accomplished or failed.

Anyone else experience this?

I've experienced this about 2 times out of my 3 play through.

I actually got a mission accomplished on the third and I was surprised.

 

[MvmntInGrn]

In the third city, I can't seem to get the last 4 -5 territory missions to appear. I wander around and kill all the dudes but no side missions seem to open up.

This started after what I think might be a glitch:

There was this one side mission where you had to escort a bus somewhere. The bus drove to the dock and the mission seemed to be over (other missions showed up on the map). But it never said the mission was accomplished or failed.

Anyone else experience this?

I think this happened to me an is normal for that mission. Not sure though.

As for your first concern. Are the territories connected? Have you beaten the final mission?

 

[jmd494]

I actually JUST beat the final mission and it

Spoiler

split the territories into two left

.

Going to check them out now.

 

[Khalifa Jayy]

In the third city, I can't seem to get the last 4 -5 territory missions to appear. I wander around and kill all the dudes but no side missions seem to open up.

This started after what I think might be a glitch:

There was this one side mission where you had to escort a bus somewhere. The bus drove to the dock and the mission seemed to be over (other missions showed up on the map). But it never said the mission was accomplished or failed.

Anyone else experience this?

Happened to me too!! I was flipping out... Where's my damn XP!?! :lol

Also, my new game started at 73% completion...?!
Shit is getting real weird around here.

 

[MvmntInGrn]

Happened to me too!! I was flipping out... Where's my damn XP!?! :lol

Also, my new game started at 73% completion...?!
Shit is getting real weird around here.

Mine started at 85, not sure why.

The game has a few weird quirks. :lol

 

[AltogetherAndrews]

One more thing they deserve credit for is an install that actually feels justified. Comparing this to another recent open world game really makes me appreciate the minimal loading (as well as the checkpoint system).

This is currently tied with Mirror's Edge as my favorite game of this generation. Much like that game, it is far, far from perfect, but it's incredibly fun, engaging and something well out of the ordinary.

 

[Dubbedinenglish]

You must not have watched the bit after the credits....

Spoiler

Cole says he realizes the city is his home and he has a duty to protect it. He ain't leaving. He says he doesn't know what Zeke and Moya are up to. Then again, I've only seen the good guy ending....

Spoiler

At the end the News caster said the quarantine would lift in 24hrs. People would flow in and out, more importantly the military and Feds would start rolling in. Without a doubt to capture Cole as well, as was hinted before.

 

[calder]

Finally got all the shards. Now my main playthrough just lacks about 3000 xp for the final upgrade and the ONE LAST STUNT. For the love of god, I played for almost 2 hours tonight cruising around getting my last 10 shards and killing every enemy I saw for the XP, and I did not encounter ONE conduit of any kind. So bloody annoying, I'll never get that damn stunt done.

Played a bit more on evil, man it's going to be easy to crank through the game again on normal. Anyone know if I can get the "all evil upgrades" trophy by only upgrading the skills with good/evil parts to them? Like if I skip the shield upgrades or whatever and only upgrade the evil skills will I get the trophy? If so that would save me a lot of time at the end of the game playing the side missions for xp just for that.

 

[Unknown One]

Finally got all the shards. Now my main playthrough just lacks about 3000 xp for the final upgrade and the ONE LAST STUNT. For the love of god, I played for almost 2 hours tonight cruising around getting my last 10 shards and killing every enemy I saw for the XP, and I did not encounter ONE conduit of any kind. So bloody annoying, I'll never get that damn stunt done.

Played a bit more on evil, man it's going to be easy to crank through the game again on normal. Anyone know if I can get the "all evil upgrades" trophy by only upgrading the skills with good/evil parts to them? Like if I skip the shield upgrades or whatever and only upgrade the evil skills will I get the trophy? If so that would save me a lot of time at the end of the game playing the side missions for xp just for that.

Answer is yes.

 

[endlessflood]

Now my main playthrough just lacks about 3000 xp for the final upgrade and the ONE LAST STUNT. For the love of god, I played for almost 2 hours tonight cruising around getting my last 10 shards and killing every enemy I saw for the XP, and I did not encounter ONE conduit of any kind. So bloody annoying, I'll never get that damn stunt done.

On the second island, from the southern end ride the train tracks north on the eastern side of the island. Just before you come to the tunnel you should see a dustman conduit (spider spawner) on the right hand side. Enjoy.

If the stunt you're after is the thunderdrop on conduit one as I assume it is, then you'll be in nice position from the train tracks. Good luck.

 

[calder]

Answer is yes.

Great news, thanks.

On the second island, from the southern end ride the train tracks north on the eastern side of the island. Just before you come to the tunnel you should see a dustman conduit (spider spawner) on the right hand side. Enjoy.

If the stunt you're after is the thunderdrop on conduit one as I assume it is, then you'll be in nice position from the train tracks. Good luck.

Thanks for the tip, I'll check that out first thing!

 

[Deleted member 30609]

I was doing the same thing, I put it off for a week and without spoiling anything

HOLY FUCKING SHIT PLAY IT.

GotY easily so far for me.

I'm about to play now. I'm almost dreading it. :lol

 

[hukasmokincaterpillar]

One more thing they deserve credit for is an install that actually feels justified. Comparing this to another recent open world game really makes me appreciate the minimal loading (as well as the checkpoint system).

When I dropped into the first sewer, I was pretty much conditioned to expect a loading screen in that situation (especially for this genre). When it didn't arrive I actually thought the game froze or something. :lol

Just got to the Warren. I'm really digging how the upgraded powers are starting to compliment and even compound eachother. Ya get the sense they really thought the arsenal and progression through (and tuned the crap out of it).

 

[Deleted member 30609]

haha, well played Sucker Punch.

great game, great ending. Bring on Infamous 2!

 

[AltogetherAndrews]

When I dropped into the first sewer, I was pretty much conditioned to expect a loading screen in that situation (especially for this genre). When it didn't arrive I actually thought the game froze or something. :lol

Just got to the Warren. I'm really digging how the upgraded powers are starting to compliment and even compound eachother. Ya get the sense they really thought the arsenal and progression through (and tuned the crap out of it).

Yeah, the sense of progression and balance over the past few hours has been near perfect. I think I'm reaching the end of Warren, can't wait to check out the next region. Most amazing is that it's one of the more enjoyable shooters I've played in a while, and it still manages to not really be a shooter. Advanced cover (climbing) based rocket lightning orb launcher action ftw.

 

[Loudninja]

Go to every medical clinic and revive all the injure people if you having trouble finding xp.

Also the blackout areas is a great place to get tons and tons of XP.

 

[Everdred]

Just finished the game. Great ending! Thought the whole game was great but I'm not sure if I'm going to go through it as the other side. Decisions, decisions.

 

[Unknown One]

Note to people who's starting over.

Melee the 5 cops in the beginning. Best chance to melee 5 people to death/knockout stunt.

 

[Dante]

Note to people who's starting over.

Melee the 5 cops in the beginning. Best chance to melee 5 people to death/knockout stunt.

That or you can just run around on the Warren and melee those little scrap metal monsters, they start to follow you if you keep running.

 

[Unknown One]

That or you can just run around on the Warren and melee those little scrap metal monsters, they start to follow you if you keep running.

Yeah but it's much easier to melee the cops in 30 seconds then melee those trash monsters which constantly runs and leap around.

 

[Thrakier]

Most amazing is that it's one of the more enjoyable shooters I've played in a while, and it still manages to not really be a shooter. Advanced cover (climbing) based rocket lightning orb launcher action ftw.

For me it's the most enjoyable one. I don't know when I had so much fun "shooting" the last time. Zapping enemies is still as much fun as it was the first time. Or throwing cars on them. Or sticky bombs. Or or or...that's the magic of the game.



Eurogamer fail.

 

[CreativeWriter]

Stuck at 349 shards for two days now. Not happy. I did have to grind 9000 pts to get the final evil upgrade, too (mostly by sticky bombing civilians who attacked me), but now there's nothing to do but search. I've looked everywhere several times over. I'm considering just getting them all on my good playthrough, this time counting as I go...

 

[Mistouze]

For me it's the most enjoyable one. I don't know when I had so much fun "shooting" the last time. Zapping enemies is still as much fun as it was the first time. Or throwing cars on them. Or sticky bombs. Or or or...that's the magic of the game.



Eurogamer fail.

I know, that was Uncharted :lol. But yea, playing right now it's a really awesome shooter laced with exciting sandbox roof navigating.

Love too the story stuff that was kept under wrap before release, pretty happy not to have been spoiled on these elements so far.

Just arrived at the second island, my only gripe would that it looks pretty much the same as the first one.