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HOLY-FACE ANIMATIONS!

We’ve known about Infamous: Second Son for a while now, but never did I imagine that the game would look this enticing. Sucker Punch had a strong showing during Sony’s Press Conference with this latest entry into the Infamous universe, and all signs are pointing in the right direction for the series.

Taking place seven years after Infamous 2’s good ending, the world has become extremely averse to the idea of super powered beings. In order to keep people safe, the government has been keeping close tabs on the population, and taking extreme action if they discover people who have superhuman abilities. This brings us to our new hero.

Second Son features a brand new protagonist, Delsin Rowe, a struggling graffiti artist who discovers that he has super powers. One dynamic they displayed early on was Delsin’s relationship with his older brother – a police officer who is often caught up trying to keep Delsin out of trouble and keeping the family name as clean as possible. Delsin however, is rebellious by nature and quite enjoys the powers he’s been endowed with, so you can imagine that there will be a ton of friction in between these two brothers.

This relationship will likely be made even more believable thanks to the amazing performance capture. Just from the trailer alone, you can see how the tech has evolved as Delsin and his brother Reggie emote with extreme realism. Each little smirk, or look of concern is all the more realistic and will hopefully add a lot to the narrative. Though early, I think it’s easy to speculate that Delsin and Reggie’s relationship will be similar to that of Cole and Zeke in that the narrative will be the heart of the story and I’m already interested in their plight based on the trailer.

The demo showed off some interesting points, but overall it looks like the spirit of the original two games is fully intact. Delsin’s ability is specifically tied to powers that he can absorb, but the ability shown off was the smoke power initially unveiled in the reveal trailer. Similar to Cole, Delsin can shoot smoke blasts out to attack enemies from a distance. They showcased how environments will be much more destructible than in previous games. Players can use this to their advantage by destroying ledges or collapsing buildings to get the best of foes. Delsin can also use his smoke abilities for traversal. Not only does the classic hover mechanic return, but he can use air vents to launch himself up into the air for optimal flying height.

Infamous: Second Son looks like an impressive title, and will likely be one of the PS4’s early highlights. I’m looking forward to getting back into the Infamous universe, discovering more about these characters, and diving into Delsin’s abilities.  Infamous: Second Son is slated for a 2014 release.