Infamous Second Son

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Infamous Second Son is a 2014 action-adventure game from Sucker Punch Productions, published by Sony for the PlayStation 4. It’s the third game in the Infamous series and a standalone sequel to Infamous 2. You play as Delsin Rowe, a graffiti artist who discovers he is a Conduit with the power to absorb abilities from other Conduits. His first power is smoke, and he soon gains neon, video, and concrete powers as the story unfolds.

The game is set in a stylized version of Seattle, which is under the control of the Department of Unified Protection (D.U.P.), a government agency hunting Conduits. Delsin roams the open city, fights D.U.P. forces, and liberates districts by reducing the agency’s control. Power-ups come from destroying D.U.P. Core Relays, and upgrades are bought with Blast Shards scattered around the city. Combat blends melee and ranged attacks, and powers help Delsin move quickly through the city, such as neon to dash up buildings.

A key feature is the karma system. Your choices push Delsin toward good or evil, which changes his jacket’s color and alters some story outcomes. After building a long enough good or evil streak, you can perform a powerful Karma Bomb. Throughout the game you meet other escaped Conduits—Fetch (neon) and Eugene (video)—and you can decide whether to help or hinder them. A major plot thread also involves Brooke Augustine, the D.U.P. director who tortures the tribe Delsin comes from. Depending on your actions, you can end with a peaceful coexistence between humans and Conduits or a harsher, more power-driven Seattle.

Development aimed to showcase PS4 hardware with a new main character. Sucker Punch collaborated with Sony on hardware needs and added features like the DualShock 4 touchpad integration. The game runs at 1080p and 30 frames per second, with motion capture used for most characters to improve realism. About 110 developers worked on the project, and the Seattle setting was chosen to reflect the developers’ own experiences and to give a fresh backdrop for the superhero powers.

Infamous Second Son received generally favorable reviews, with critics praising its visuals, open world, and variety of powers. Some criticized the morality system as dated and overly binary, and a few found side missions repetitive or the story not as strong as earlier entries. On the upside, the city design, lighting, and combat were widely praised, and Delsin’s charm was noted by many reviewers.

Sales reflected the game’s strong debut: it sold over 1 million copies in the first nine days and reached about 6 million copies by 2019, becoming the fastest-selling Infamous game and one of the best-selling PlayStation 4 titles at the time. A stand-alone spin-off, Infamous First Light, focusing on Fetch, released later in 2014 with exclusive content for Second Son owners. Infamous Second Son also earned several nominations at the D.I.C.E. Awards, including for Adventure Game of the Year and technical achievements.