- Warning: introduction contains minor spoilers about Second Son.
First Light, a standalone addition to inFamous: Second Son, reveals the back-story to Second Son’s neon shooting Fetch. When we were first introduced to her in Second Son, she was clearly harbouring a troubled back-story: one of drug addiction, homelessness and lost loved ones – fuelling an intense hatred of the city’s gangs. And upon confronting her, we were able to snag and enjoy her luminous, vibrant powers.
First Light shares further info on Fetch’s personal story and the events that led up to the opening of Second Son. The game presents itself in two time periods: the present day, when Fetch is incarcerated by the DUP and being questioned by Second Son’s primary enemy Brooke Augustine; and (for the majority of the game) the period that Fetch is reflecting on.
Fetch and her brother are planning to get away from their current, troubled life; but something goes wrong and the brother is kidnapped by gang members, forcing Fetch to work for an opposing gang in order to track him down. The first half of the game takes place prior to the DUP infesting the city, and as such the majority of encounters are gang related; the latter half involves the DUP and gradually escalates to the inevitable present day (Fetch’s capture).
As you may expect, what the game has to offer is generally very similar to Second Son. There is a small open world to wreak havoc in, littered with side-objectives, collectables and, of course, the current story mission. There are only a handful of side-objectives and collectables, although they differ partially to what we’ve already seen. In place of drones there are ‘neon lumens’, which once picked up reward you with skill points. There are races, in which you utilise your speedy neon running powers to chase a big lumen, using the residue that the lumens have left (a scene early in the game shows Fetch releasing all of these things into the city) for a speed boost. And lastly, there are tagging spots and, towards the end of the game, police drones to shoot. All the collectables reward you with skill points, and contribute to taking over each individual district of the city (although there is no showdown when you are about to reach 100%).
The tagging spots exemplify what I think First Light does perfectly, which is to continue the theme and setting of the base title, while adding Fetch’s idiosyncrasies. Essentially, they have the same fundamental concept – vandalise walls and buildings using the motion control of your controller, in order to stick it to the man – but they are presented differently. This time, instead of a paint can, we use neon lasers; and instead of filling in the gaps, we engage loosely in joining up the lines. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s enough to add interest to a familiar formula.
Completing the side-objectives and collecting the lumens is a lot of fun – speeding through the city and over rooftops, and using your various neon powers to gracefully glide, sprint, and leap around is highly enjoyable. But there isn’t a lot of it. Perhaps this was to be expected – it is just a slice of extra content, not a fully-fledged new game – but I was a little disappointed when these distractions ran out (if the game didn’t restrict the final set of collectables until the end, I am reasonably sure it would only have taken me just over an hour to achieve 100%).
Having said that, challenges play a bigger role in First Light than they did in Second Son, and therefore add a little more worthwhile content. In fact, the sections of the game where you are incarcerated are pretty much entirely based around challenges. While you are being grilled by Augustine, she expects you to reveal the extent of your neon powers, thus offering a variety of simulations for you to take part in. Generally these are used as glorified tutorials – testing out a new power, or practicing the various ways to kill/incapacitate your foes (aiming for weak points, combining powers, etc.); but once you complete the compulsory sections, you will unlock arena modes to play at your leisure.
The arenas host a variety of modes, be they rescuing hostages or defeating waves of enemies. When you complete objectives or take out enemies, you will receive points. Maintaining consistent scoring progresses a score multiplier, but this decreases when you mess up or slow your pace too much. The points themselves will fulfil challenges (reaching a specified number) and reward you with skill points as a result; they will also contribute to a final score, with which you can compete on online leaderboards. You may complete an assortment of other challenges during your time in the arenas, but most carry over to the open-world as well – get a certain number of weak shot hits, shoot people while in the air, etc. (there are also exclusive challenges to the open-world, such as preventing drive-by shootings and rescuing civilians from thugs).
Challenges and arena modes in video games have an unfortunate tendency to feel like gimmicks or filler content, but I didn’t get that impression in First Light. Given the premise of being captured and tested in simulations, this additional content avoids feeling unnecessarily contrived, and stays relevant to the overall experience. The skill points you earn by completing challenges and side-objectives can be used to buy both passive and practical upgrades (for example, larger energy meter and a melee finishing move).
The crux of the experience, however, lies with Fetch and her neon powers. While we did get to experience neon in Delsin’s adventure, Fetch has some slight variations. She can aim with L2 – exposing weak points in enemies and temporarily slowing time – and shoot a rapid fire version of neon lasers with R2. In order to restock on energy, you can absorb surrounding sources of neon. Weak points in First Light serve a practical purpose only, as the karma system is non-existent. Circle is assigned to the neon sprint. L3 allows you to scan the immediate area and reveal enemies and objectives. Triangle will unleash your side-attack (Delsin could throw a stasis grenade), which is an insta-kill melee move, and these special attacks can only be restocked by defeating an enemy with melee attacks.
The melee combat itself is a little less extravagant than Delsin’s neon sword, as Fetch simply uses her fists; but this is a fast and effective power nonetheless. L1 fires a stasis blast which thrusts enemies into the air and temporarily suspends them, giving you the opportunity to take them out easily. R1 will fire a cluster of neon missiles; and finally, pressing down on the D-Pad (once your special move meter is full from defeating enemies) will unleash your big special attack – this time, a singularity which sucks in enemies before exploding and littering the streets with their bodies.
The combat is obviously fairly familiar overall, despite its little variations; but as with the collectables and side-objectives, these differences are enough to create an interesting experience. The combat is visceral, fast paced and explosive. I definitely prefer Fetch’s take on neon to Delsin’s, and to an extent the combat feels a tad more polished and satisfying. Some may look at the use of only one power over Delsin’s selection of four and consider it restrictive; however, the combat feels more focussed and defined as a direct result. Combining all of your new skills – for example, stealthily removing one foe with a special melee attack, then blasting the others with the stasis blast and picking them off – is immensely exhilarating and surprisingly versatile.
However, there are some issues with First Light. The A.I still retains its relative stupidity. There were instances where thugs just conveniently lined up and stood still, while I casually picked them off one by one. And there were even times when I took a nice leisurely stroll past a couple of guys, who ignored me and only realised after I had run half way down the street that they were supposed to shoot at me. The A.I is not a massive problem, as the game is too fast paced for it to really be that noticeable; but notice it I did. Additionally, as an open-world game, it feels ever so slightly superficial. This is a problem I have had with all of the inFamous games. I had hoped with this new gen series that they would have made the cities feel more alive, and filled them to the brim with things to do; but clearly they haven’t (in fact, with the absence of player created content, the problem is probably worse now).
But aside from these few issues, the game is top quality. Fetch is a great character, with an interesting back-story. The gameplay is solid and addictive, and with the inclusion of the arenas and challenges there is a decent amount of content on offer (the main story and side stuff might take you around four hours, but the arenas have the potential to extend that experience).
I love the fact that this game is a standalone. It’s a promising trend as of late, with the likes of Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry, and Far Cry: Blood Dragon offering a chunk of content accessible to those who do not have the base game, and perhaps encouraging them to go ahead and buy the original afterwards. I’m not sure I would recommend this to those who haven’t played Second Son, however, as, although by no means inaccessible, it does rely a fair amount on prior knowledge of the original title.
- You can also read our review of inFamous: Second Son here.