inFamous: First Light Mini-Review

It’s well documented that I’m a super-fan when it comes to the inFamous series, and I absolutely adored inFamous: Second Son. So yes, I was incredibly excited for inFamous: First Light DLC, especially since it starred Fetch, as her neon powers were my absolute favorite of the game. Then the glorious day came at the end of August, and I was left less than fulfilled. The story behind the game is fairly good, and inFamous: Second Son fans will undoubtedly enjoy it.

That said, it is very sad how much the DLC directly copycats the gameplay of Second Son in ways that feel forced and completely strip the vibrancy Seattle had in Second Son. Here’s a snippet of my review from Action Trip:

With any inFamous game, you expect it to follow a very specific formula that the games have pretty much followed from day one: the conduit’s powers will grow over time and each new power can be upgraded, there will be optional mini-games to complete in order to clear out a section of town, and the lead conduit will talk on his or her cell phone a lot. I expected this with Fetch’s story, but I did not expect the mini-games to be so copycat of Second Son. For example, Delsin has the option of destroying hidden security cameras that the DUP have all over Seattle, and likewise, Fetch can take down flying police drones that Shane uses to keep his eye on Seattle and Fetch. In addition, the tagging mini-game has returned, only Fetch uses her neon powers to create the graffiti instead of stencils and spraypaint.

Early on in the game, Fetch releases a megaton of neon gas from one of Seattle’s largest signs, so now pockets of the gas—called lumens—are scattered all over the city. This is what she uses to upgrade her abilities, just like Cole and Delsin used blast shards. Releasing this neon gas also created little hubbles of gas, and if Fetch dashes through them, she gets a speed boost for a short period of time. Naturally these are a perfect fit for racing mini-games, getting away from the police and DUPs, etc. etc. However, what’s odd is how no one in Seattle reacts to these blobs of gas. One would think that seeing a bubble of pink neon gas would elicit a little reaction from the NPCs, especially since neon gas is deadly to breathe.

I gave it a 6/10, as the story is great for fans, but there’s nothing about the story or the gameplay that is striking enough to bring in newcomers to the series. I really expected a lot out of Sucker Punch for this one, and maybe my expectations were too high. However, I’ve played shorter DLC that was far better and more meaningful than this one attempted to be.