inFamous 2, in many ways, is the perfect sequel. Bigger, better and more badass. Ok, maybe not bigger.
inFamous 2 starts a while after the end of the first game with Cole retaining some (but not all) of his abilities). A battle with the villain known only as "The Beast" leaves Cole drained and running for sanctuary. That sanctuary is found in New Marais, Sucker Punch's version of New Orleans.
In many ways New Marais is different to Empire city. There are swamps, and flooded areas to navigate through, as well as high rises and parks. There are certain areas that seem ripped right out of the original, but for the most part, New Marais is a fresh new look for this young series.
The graphics, when compared to the original, are phenomenal. In some ways this is the Uncharted of open world games. It falls a little flat here and there when it comes to hair and animations on NPC characters, but overall the look is exquisite. Sucker Punch have really outdone themselves here.
Cole's powers too have been changed in this game. Shooting regular bolts will drain your energy reserves, albeit in very small amounts, and you can no longer absorb electricity while grinding on electrical wires and train tracks. I'm not sure why this is, but I assume it is to up the challenge.
In lieu of losing certain abilities, Cole now has a total of 3 different types of powers. Electrical, Elemental and Ionic. The electrical powers are the standard fair, while the elemental powers - introduced part way through the game - offer you a choice between fire and ice abilities and in some ways augment your current powers.
As a hero, the one elemental ability that I found myself using over and over again was the Ice Launch. This gives you the ability to launch yourself into a jump a few stories in the air. Coupled with the static thrusters, navigating a massive city has never been more easy or fun.
Ionic powers are the BFG of the inFamous universe. This allows you to store a limited amount of ionic energy (retrieved from certain fallen enemies) and convert it into an all destroying Storm/Blast/Vortex. When you are cornered by a load of enemies, this ability can and will change the course of a battle.
The enemies in inFamous 2 are varied enough (although due to the fact that I live in South Africa I found the voices for the African mercenaries ridiculous) and the monsters, at least initially are an amazing spectacle to behold, with some being a few storeys tall.
The sound is great with music and voice acting hitting the mark, even though some prefer the original voice actor for Cole, and the script writing is both humorous and heartfelt depending on the need. This is a much funnier game than the first, with some great moments between Zeke and Cole.
inFamous 2 will take you a good 20 hours or so to complete as either a hero or a villain, with another 15-20 as the opposing karma. Both karma missions are significantly varied, enough for you to actually want to play through twice and although i haven't actually played with the UGC yet, I have heard there are some very imaginative people in the world ;)
inFamous 2 has its faults, but it is far and away a better game than its predecessor. My biggest issue came in when one of the fantastic users of this site posted a falsely named "review" and gave away the ending. To that individual, I'd like you to know that you didn't spoil my enjoyment of the game, but I nonetheless hope your bowels fall out causing you to trip over them and land face first into the puddle of urine and excrement that you yourself created moments before in a drunken stupor.