inFamous 2 on PlayStation 3 Blow-Out Preview.

Perhaps the most fitting word to describe our reaction to the new-look Cole in inFamous 2. The once gruff-voiced egg-head with electric powers had seemingly been replaced by the cover-star of the next Skate game - a brusque, handsome looking extreme sports star who Sucker Punch describe as being "inspired by Tony Hawk". Beyond the controversy of Cole's face however was a more pressing matter — what's the sequel actually like?

  • New Cole. Despite getting a completely different face, Cole is still Cole. At the start of inFamous 2, Cole still has all the powers he had when you finished the last inFamous. He can still grind, climb, jump and shoot people with lightning. But he's a lesser super-force than he was when we left him. Empire City has been wiped out by a new threat known as The Beast, and Cole's on the hot-path to the New Orleans-esque New Marais looking for the Ray Sphere - which granted him his powers in the original. It's the opposite of a Metroid here - as opposed to an abilitease, this more of an abiligain; while Cole will start out amazing, he'll end up even more amazing than ever before.
  • New power-ups. One of the big new features Sucker Punch are touting is improved melee. One such tool that enhances this also happens to be a new power-up — the Amp; an electrified cattle-prod esque device perfect for smacking around bad guys' heads. Melee's now mapped to the Square and Triangle buttons, controlling light and hard attacks respectively. These moves can be chained into fluid acts of visceral destruction, giving you an alternative outlet to all the long-range electric zapping. Additionally, the new Ionic Vortex attack allows you to summon a tornado, which just so happens to be made out of electricity. This makes light work of most enemies. Naturally.
  • Setting. New Marais is less dotted with sky-scrapers and apartments, and more rich in clock-towers and verandas. This makes for a more aristically unique setting, and also provides some new gameplay advantages. Balconies, for example, can be zapped clean off the wall they're attached to, removing an enemy from the land of the living. Alternatively, you can just drop them on a normal citizens' heads because, hey, this is still inFamous afterall.
  • New enemies. Sucker Punch are teasing Shadow Of The Colossus-esque bosses the size of a block of flats in inFamous 2, and while we've only seen the silhouette of one such being at the end of the latest inFamous trailer, all indications point to some massive set-piece moments in the latest game. inFamous actually set-up a pretty fantastic universe, with some interesting and frightening art-work, so it'll be interesting to see just how far Sucker Punch push it in the sequel. Colour us excited, mind.