14 DAY TRIAL // Next up in our Softpedia Game of the Year 2014 awards is the best PS4 exclusive – Infamous: Second Son – made by Sucker Punch Productions and Sony.
While Sony promised to ensure a steady stream of PS4 games throughout 2014, few actual big exclusives have appeared in the last 12 months, as quite a few have been postponed until 2015, like The Order: 1886 and a few others. Meanwhile, plenty of smaller titles have launched exclusively for the Sony console, with just a few major ones sprinkled on top.
My pick for the best PS4 exclusive of 2014 is Infamous Second Son, the latest project from Sucker Punch Productions, as it proves that the studio can still deliver great super-powered adventures, while taking full advantage of the PS4's performance.
I was a fan of both Infamous 1 and 2 largely because their gameplay was pretty fun but also because they told some pretty intriguing stories. Sure, some of the choices were preposterous at first and protagonist Cole wasn't the most intriguing character, but both him and his actions got better over time, culminating with the impressive conclusion of the second game.
I was reticent at first when I heard that Infamous Second Son was going with a new protagonist, but I was willing to give Sucker Punch the benefit of the doubt, especially when I saw the title in action ahead of its release.
On launch day, I was thrilled to get to play it and I'm quite confident that, right now, it's one of the best experiences available on the PS4.
If you have a PS4, you need Second Son
First up, the visuals stand out, managing to transform the game into a much more impressive experience. While both Infamous 1 and 2 had decent visuals, their open worlds weren't that great and hampered the whole action adventure feel. With Second Son, Sucker Punch was able to deliver a realistic version of Seattle, not to mention a huge amount of great effects, particularly when it came to the powers wielded by protagonist Delsin Rowe.
This leads me to the gameplay aspect of Second Son, which takes an out of the box approach to what powers can be used in the Infamous universe. Cole had electricity in the first game and then was introduced to ice and napalm in the sequel. Delsin, on the other hand, has an ability that allows him to use the powers of other conduits. As such, he can manipulate smoke, neon, video, and concrete, which all act in basically the same way but are still quite impressive in terms of the actual ideas behind them.
Throw in the pretty interesting story that at least manages to introduce some great characters, particularly when it comes to Fetch, who got her own standalone expansion in the form of First Light, and you have one of the best experiences available right now on PS4.
Check out our review of Infamous Second Son.
