At the time, that sounded like a decent wait but with nearly two months since the PS4 launch, gamers will soon be able to get their hands on inFamous: Second Son. The studio is still keeping a number of key details under wraps (most notably some of the other powers in the game), with more reveals planned in the coming months, but that hasn’t stopped game director Nate Fox from teasing a few new (and telling) bits of information.

Speaking with VG247, Fox promised that the studio is taking the inFamous: Second Son story and world very seriously - asserting that aspects of the game have been influenced by real-world terrorism and their negative impact on culture - giving players the power to reshape societal outlooks:

The choice of being “good” or “bad” has always been central to the inFamous franchise - as gamers made prior protagonist Cole McGrath the ultimate superhero or supervillain. Yet, most of the choices were very black and white - where, in general, players could circumvent extra work by exploiting or sacrificing nearby citizens. Other choices were slightly more complex but it was always very clear whether a decision was benevolent or malevolent.

“The relationship between our hero Delsin and his older brother Reggie is very core to the story because Reggie represents the common man, and their attitude towards anyone who’s different — in this case — anyone with these powers who are kind of demonised in the inFamous world. Throughout the course of the game, depending on what sort of person you are, you change not only Reggie’s attitude, but the attitudes of society about anyone who’s different.”

According to Fox, the decisions in inFamous: Second Son will be tougher, more importantly, have long term impact (beyond superficial changes to the game world):

In an effort to improve the flow of combat and traversal, as well as make the game more accessible to newcomers, Fox asserts that Sucker Punch spent a lot of time updating the control scheme for inFamous: Second Son:

“The choices you make along the way will not only impact Delsin’s story, but also the way that his powers mature and evolve, and the way other characters around you evolve and change. It’s very, very different. You’ve got to play the game twice to see it all.”

“We try and make it pretty clear when you’ve done something evil, mainly because it really sucks when it’s nebulous. It’s not fun to feel like, ‘Well I think I did the right thing in that videogame,’ because there’s so much you have to understand about the rules of the world, your abilities, what the mission is asking you and all of that stuff. We try to cut down on ambiguity as much as possible, but at the same time we try to put situations in front of the player that are frankly tough, because that’s what games are good for; they can transport you to places you’ve never been and let you do things you’ve never done before.”

That said, hardcore gamers and inFamous franchise fans shouldn’t get too worried that the developer has dumbed the series down for new players. The full VG247 article claims that the studio looked to skateboarding games to help add depth to core mechanics - so that racking up a sizable combo or moving quickly through the open world of Seattle, WA will be more rewarding as players experiment with their available powers and the surrounding environment. The improvements were noticeable in our 2013 E3 preview of Second Son and it’ll be interesting to see how the team has further evolved the central gameplay in the intervening time.

Many questions remain, but for gamers who opted to invest in a PS4, there’s plenty of reason to be optimistic that inFamous: Second Son will be a worthy next-gen experience - for returning players as well as those who have yet to take a Sucker Punch hero/villain for a spin.

In the meantime, we’ll keep you up to date as new inFamous: Second Son details are unveiled.

inFamous: Second Son releases March 21, 2014 for the PS4.

Follow me on Twitter @benkendrick.

Source: VG247