Infamous: First Light DLC review
Infamous: First Light is a DLC for the PS4 title Infamous: Second son. It's generally a fairly average DLC in length and dates back before the events in Infamous: Second Son. The story revolves around Fetch, an orphaned teenage girl living with her brother, Brent, on the streets. Fetch has superhuman abilities like a lot of other people in the game called 'Conduits'. Each one has the ability to control a unique form of matter, in her instance being neon light. It's safe to say that the story can be uninteresting at some times, but Infamous: First Light does a pretty good job of making you care about the characters for what a small game it is. Each one feels like they are real, having their own story to tell and what not. I have not played much of the Infamous: Second Son campaign, but Fetch is a far more likable character then Delsin. For the graphics, oh man, they're some of the best I've ever seen in a game before. The motion capture brings the characters to life beautifully, and the particle effects are downright gorgeous to look at, ranging from explosions to neon blasts. You can see every tiny little detail in every little pixel. And to top it all off, this game has crystal clear feed. I didn't see one bug or glitch or frame rate dip through the entire game.
For the gameplay, most of the things that Infamous: First Light can get away with is due to the fact that it's only a DLC. there are around 10-15 side missions, where you'll either be spray painting something or racing a little neon light ball. These are fun at first and then get a repetitive feel. When you're spray painting, you move the Dualshock 4 in a very clunky and sloppy manner, not that unsimilar to Wii remote controls. It's very awkward and time-consuming and is not really worth it. Then, halfway through the DLC, you'll unlock more side missions, and they're all the same thing as well. For these side missions, you will be tasked to hunt for a police drone and shoot it down in a specific area. I found myself getting frustrated with these missions because the 'specific' area they give you is actually pretty big, and it takes a long time to find those drones. Aside from side missions, you'll have scattered collectibles called 'Lumens' all over the map.
These side missions and collectibles will give you 1-2 skill points, which you can then obtain skills in the skill tree. At first, I found these skills really cool and was pretty satisfied with what there was to offer. But then, very near to the end of the game, they introduce two new sections to the skill tree, making it very difficult to upgrade them before the end of the game, and it almost overwhelms you. And right after you complete the final mission and the DLC ends, the game doesn't let you freely roam around the city anymore, and you can only play in these little arena minigames. Once more, they give you twice as many skills to unlock at the end of the game, and it all feels pointless because the only way you can get skill points is by playing the unnecessary and unwelcomed minigames that are just boring.
Besides the annoying skill system, the combat in Infamous: First Light is actually very fun. You'll blast and smash your way through enemies in glorious, fast-paced fashion. The amazing particle effects that occur when you shoot neon and the sound it makes just takes it to a different level of immersion. Some enemies will be stronger than others, and the D.U.Ps (the 'Conduit' police) will be able to even the playing fields with their power being able to control concrete, of all things.
One thing I really like about Infamous: First Light is that even when you're not in the frenzy of fighting D.U.Ps the world can still be fun to traverse. Your main source of transportation, or getting around the city is a 'neon dash', where you can run in a steady stream of hot pink neon along walls and pretty much any surface. Like I said before, everything in the game runs fluidly, so combat and just moving around in general flows like water, and it starts to feel natural very quickly.
My main problems with Infamous: First Light are in its story, not gameplay. The gameplay will pretty much be broken down into two parts, you'll either be free roaming in the city of Seattle while you tell your backstory in the custody of the D.U.P, or you'll be in the present time where you showcase your powers to the D.U.P where they study your every move in those boring arena minigames. Free roaming is the only one that is enjoyable while the arena minigames just seem lacking in creativity.
As soon as I assimilated the story, it started to grow weak and predictable. There are a lot of flaws in this game, and it's kind of made up for though with the amazing gameplay. Infamous: First Light feels like a demo to Infamous: Second Son by showcasing most of its cool aspects. I just hope that Infamous: Second Son solves most of the issues that Infamous: First Light creates.
-Only one gameplay type fun
-Shoddy upgrading system + Fluid Gameplay
-Story conclusion weak/predictable +Stellar Graphics
4/10
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