The sequel to Sucker Punch’s hit PS3 exclusive of 2009, inFAMOUS has finally been revealed. Back in May 2009 we were introduced to Cole McGrath, a man who leads a normal life of a bike courier delivering a package he’ll never forget.

Upon delivering the package he was in the centre of an explosion, which gave him electrical powers. With the power of electricity surging through his body, players were given the choice to use them for the greater good or become a menace.  

In inFAMOUS 2 Cole returns and he’s still living in Empire City. At the start of the sequel Cole meets a powerful enemy known as the Beast, who proves to be too overwhelming for Cole. It is clear from his defeat that Cole is no longer as strong as he thought he was and the fate of the world rests in his hands. So our hero heads to New Marais, a mere clone of New Orleans. 

It is here where the Ray Sphere originated from that gave Cole his powers and learns new abilities to become the greater superhero he needs to be. Melee weapons charged with electricity can now be used in combat. In the gameplay trailer Cole is using a cattle prod to attack New Marias’s invested Monsters, with a slide tackle and a pounding across the face.    

Thanks to newly utilized motion capture and animation, Cole’s movement is more agile and fluid. Parkour elements in the game seem more realistic now and are amazing in action sequences.   

The transition from buildings and the environment as a whole is a lot quicker now, as Cole can leap and hover longer distances. He can grind across walls and charge his way up pipes and objects.

As far as new superpowers are concerned all that’s been showcased is a super charged electric vortex, which sucks in objects and people in the environment. Another rather intriguing power shown is an ability surrounding ice. Although it’s not shown how Cole utilizes this power, it should be interesting to see how an electric man handles frozen water.

Following in there companion’s footsteps (Naughty Dog) Sucker Punch have taken a different approach to cut scenes. In the first game cut scenes were in real-time and important events in the narrative, were portrayed as comic strip style cut scenes. 
In inFAMOUS 2 cut scenes are no longer real-time and are now motion captured.

Comic strip cut scenes make a return in important aspects of the game. Transitions from cut scenes to real-time events make an appearance, as seen in the helicopter sequence of the trailer. Resembling moments in Uncharted 2 such as the Helicopter attack’s and alleyway chases. 

The city of New Marais is said to be more vibrant than Empire City. The population of people has increased rendering more than 100 people on screen at once. Whenever commotion arises in the city, the people run and scream in despair terrified of the gangs and monsters. 

One of the biggest changes in inFAMOUS 2 is the character design and voice actor of Cole. He’s gone from a grizzly voiced 30 year old clothed biker, to an agile youth with a stubble. This time he’s got hair that resembles Nathan Drake (Uncharted protagonist), he wear’s beads, has a few tattoos, wears patterned combats, a black t-shirt and a small rucksack.

Whether this change is for better or worse is yet to be seen but it’s going to take some time to adjust. It was revealed by Sucker Punch’s Nate Fox that there were design decisions, with Cole that didn’t make the final cut in the prequel.

With the first inFAMOUS they weren’t comfortable with creating realistic hair on Cole, in inFAMOUS 2 they took their chances. I guess now that there comfortable developing a game for the PS3, they wanted to explore those ideas scrapped in the first game and expand on them in inFAMOUS 2.

You won’t be seeing inFAMOUS 2 anytime soon, as the game is well under development slated for a 2011 release. It’s shaping up to be an amazing sequel with better technology supporting the title. So long as they’ve fixed those annoying enemies shooting you from miles away, I would watch this space.