Infamous Second Son - What we know and what we want

With the reveal of the PlayStation 4, Sony showcased a surprisingly large number of next-gen PS4 games. With the exception of Killzone: Shadow Fall, none of them have us as excited as Sucker Punch's upcoming Infamous Second Son.

The game's brief trailer paints a picture of a city stuck in a surveillance state by a seemingly oppressive organization. The new protagonist, who apparently has a knack for pyromancy, isn't exactly friendly toward said organization, and unleashes the ultimate beat down upon some bad guys. Details are scarce, but here's everything we know (and want) from Infamous Second Son.

At this point, we're not sure if Second Son is a sequel to Infamous 2 or if it's some kind of alternate tale set in that universe. Remember, Infamous 2 had two endings: The "good" ending (SPOILER!) saw Cole MacGrath sacrifice himself and all living Conduits--which is the name for people with magic powers--so that mankind might survive. Obviously, humanity is alive and well in Second Son, but the fact that there is also people running around with magic powers suggests maybe they didn't all die at the end of Infamous 2.

The opening of Second Son's trailer makes it abundantly clear: A company named D.U.P. (whatever that stands for) is in control of a massive surveillance network. As the camera pans, we see a giant checkpoint set up, in which D.U.P. soldiers are checking each car that passes through. In the background, an audio clip loops, "The D.U.P. is in control. Your safety is our top priority." We can't help but get the sense that this Big Brother company is more of an oppressive force than a protective one. Hmmm...

When we finally get a glimpse of who we assume to be Second Son's protagonist, he causes a bunch of explosions and beats the crap out of some D.U.P. soldiers. Back at the D.U.P. headquarters, a mysterious woman instructs the troops to capture him alive--and they fail miserably. That's when our new hero gives her a piece of his mind by telling her: "you are not in control." Then he smirks with attitude. What a champ! He's like DmC's Dante, except... wait, no, he's just DmC's Dante.

Facing world-ending "Beasts" is cool and all, but Second Son's setup makes us think it might have a darker, more serious tone than previous Infamous games. And that's exactly what we want. We got a sort of X-Men vibe from the trailer, and we'd love to see a story that explores the relationship of Conduits and everyday folks with no superpowers--especially if that story touches on the protagonist's personal experiences as a Conduit.

Speaking of story, both Infamous 1 and 2 included moments where Cole would have to make a moral choice. Those decisions slightly affected the events of both games, as well as how Cole was received by the rest of the population. Hopefully this trend continues in Second Son, but we want the consequences to have a lot of weight. We'll think about such decisions much more carefully if the new hero has a lot to gain or lose.

The protagonist doesn't seem to use any electricity-based powers like Cole. Instead, he blasts a few fireballs from his fingertips, and seemingly has the ability to disintegrate his body to teleport around. Also note that in the trailer he's got a chain wrapped around his wrists, which he swings as a weapon. Maybe this is his melee weapon, or maybe he's related to Kratos.

Though the new hero's fire powers were impressive to behold, we're hoping he's not limited to just one element. We got to dual-wield some pretty badass powers in Infamous 2, but we're hoping this time around we have access to even more element types--or perhaps cool magic abilities that transcend elemental restrictions entirely. We're not sure what such powers would be, exactly, but building a custom superhero from scratch sounds pretty appealing.

As soon as you see Infamous: Second Son in action, the differences between current and next gen capabilities become absolutely clear. For one, a recent trailer showed how destructible elements of the environment not only look amazing to blow up, but can be a tool to dispatch hostile enemy forces.

In our close up look at the game at E3, we saw the game's protagonist Deslin Rowe using his powers to combat his DUP foes. He could teleport short distances in a puff of smoke, shoot fireballs from his hands, hover with jetstreams shooting from his palms, and charge up a fireballs that can destroy structures in the environment. Soldiers firing their guns from an elevated walkway can be easily dispatched by literally destroying the bridge they stand on. Not even the guard towers stood a chance against Deslin's explosive blast, as it vaporized in one shot.

Are we missing anything blatantly obvious? What do you want from Infamous Second Son? And which game announced during Sony's PS4 conference has you most excited? Let us know in the comments below!

And if you're looking for more PS4 info, check out PS4 controller details and all of our PS4 announcement info.