While inFamous 2 is a pretty solid game, it's quite disappointing compared to the original.
All joking aside, inFamous 2 was one game that I had high expectations for. Not only was this being made by Sony, but it was a sequel to what I believe is the 2nd best Sony-exclusive game to be released for the PS3. Even after playing the demo, I was pretty much convinced that this was going to be a solid contender for game of the year. Once I started playing, however, I started to notice the little things that made this game inferior to the first. While these aren't all apparent at once, by a few hours in, you'll realize how disappointing this game is compared to the first.
GAMEPLAY - This game plays pretty similarly to the first, but with a few tweaks. There are a plethora of new powers, you have a melee weapon rather than hand-to-hand combat, and the climbing isn't as clumsy-looking. Unfortunately, there are a ton of little things that add up to make this game not nearly as good as the first. I don't agree with all of the Gamespot review's points, but there were a couple things it touched on that were very accurate. For one, there are a lot more enemies in smaller areas here. Normally this wouldn't matter too much, but it can make some fights very annoying when combined with a much more noticeably-bad camera. Along with this, the amount of powers you now have is so extensive that you have to constantly pause and assign what powers you want in the middle of battle. This can really interrupt the flow of things, and almost feels like too much. What's more important is that this game is even more black and white when it comes to morale decisions. For example, if you want to be bad, you must attack street performers and protesters, whereas to be good you just have to save citizens. There's no gray area at all. The missions themselves are also very uninspired and short...even the main story missions. It's like they took the route of LittleBigPlanet and wanted the consumers to design their own missions that are more creative than the actual game. Speaking of which, I haven't messed with the creative tools, but they do seem limited based on what I've played so far. So overall the gameplay is the same as the first, but with some tweaks that aren't for the better. There wasn't nearly as much care that went into this game compared to the first, and I think that shows most of all. - 7/10
STORY - The main story has you resume the role of Cole as you escape the city of the first game and run to New Marais, a city in the south. Basically you travel there in order to improve Cole's skills and prepare for the final battle against the Beast, who is making its way to your location slowly as the game goes along. While I haven't finished the game, I have been kind of turned off by all the little flaws after 4 or 5 hours of playing, and have decided to read the spoilers regardless. After finding out what happens, I can't really say the story is nearly as good as the first. This just feels like a half-decent way to wrap up where the first game left off. It's not that satisfying or interesting, so don't expect much here. - 6/10
GRAPHICS - The graphics have been greatly improved since the first game, luckily. Animations aren't so awkward, NPCs look much more natural, and environments are much more colorful and easier to look at. Unfortunately, great graphics can't save a game, no matter how great they look. - 9/10
SOUND - I have a lot of problems here. While the sound effects are great and the music is, in some ways, better than the first game's, I am deeply disappointed that they have new voice actors for Cole and Zeke. Cole doesn't even same like the same character anymore. He seems much more laid-back in this game when that should be the opposite of where his character development is going. At least the new guy doing Zeke's voice sounds more natural. But yeah, this was a big disappointment for me, amongst other things. - 7.5/10
LENGTH/REPLAY VALUE - Much like the first game, you're going to want to play this through twice to see everything. Maybe this has a little more replay value based on the custom missions and designer, but that's what it has going for it. Length-wise, it seems like it's about the same as the first game...maybe a little bit shorter. Overall though, you're getting a decent value here. It just doesn't have the classic feel of the first game, unfortunately. - 7.5/10
BOTTOM LINE - I may get a lot of hate for this, but Tom McShea was mostly correct with his review here. I just don't think he explained everything well enough to justify the score he gave this, especially since a lot of what he said brought down the first game also. This game is just not as fun as the first. It's uninspired, and very disappointing. Everything that is new feels unneeded and unnecessary. Somehow I think this would have been much better if it was condensed down and released as DLC to the first game. This game just feels like another inFamous for the sake of another inFamous. There's nothing about it that makes it feel like it's anywhere near the stature of the first game. For what it is though, it is still another inFamous game. I'm sure others will still enjoy it for that reason, but I can't help but notice all the flaws and imperfections that shouldn't be here with this game. Sony dropped the ball with this one, and for their sake I hope we don't get the same thing with Uncharted 3. - 7.5/10