6 reviews
inFamous: First Light is a standalone expansion DLC pack for inFamous: Second Son. It tells the story of a vagrant conduit named Abigail Walker, better known as "Fetch". After a brief explanation of conduits, the game opens with a shackled Fetch being queried by Brooke Augustine, the director of the Department of Unified Protection (DUP). Then the story goes back two years prior, when Fetch and her older brother Brent are about to complete one last job before ditching the rainy backdrop of Seattle for law-exempt international waters. Well, it's their final job, so you already know it isn't going to go well. As such, Brent is captured by the Akurans, and later another party, who use him to force Fetch into doing their dirty work.
This rubs Fetch the wrong way for a number of reasons. Aside from the obvious sibling bond she developed with Brent, Brent also tethers her to her humanity. You see, Fetch developed conduit powers at an early age, and Brent ran away with her to prevent their parents from turning her over to the DUP. The two were practically homeless, and soon after they fall victim to drug addiction. While they struggle with their drug habit, Fetch additionally has trouble suppressing the urge to use her powers. And now with Brent gone, there's no one left to keep her in check.
Brent was basically her sponsor, even though he himself lacked powers, and when you're controlling Fetch, you can tell that she's enjoying the carnage she's creating through subtle sound bites. It's no secret that she eventually goes off the deep end before getting captured by the DUP and taken to Curdun Cay prison. The game switches back and forth between her present conversations with Augustine (who's trying to groom Fetch to be a military asset) and what lead up to her current incarceration. Fetch is an exceptionally sympathetic character, who's imbued with personality by the always excellent Laura Bailey. Although she appears to be a snarky suicide punk, Fetch is actually a down- to- earth girl who's scrambling to put her life together despite having a power that could solve most of her problems.
In contrast to Fetch, the rest of the characters are pretty much one- note. Her brother is absent for most of the game, the main antagonist has a fairly generic goal, and one supporting character isn't in it enough for their death to resonate beyond a "that sucks". And while the story works as a whole, it's not as cinematic as it could have been. There aren't that many cutscenes which means most of the dialogue occurs during gameplay. The cutscenes that are present look amazing, showing in great detail Fetch's character design. Likewise, the representation of Seattle is meticulous, the particle effects are eye-popping, and the light speed streaks left by Fetch are stylized.
Fetch is somewhat of a speedster; streaking through the city as a neon- purplish blur. By using her powers, you can race up the side of buildings and use ledges to springboard from rooftop to rooftop. The city also contains neon clouds that quicken travel by boosting Fetch's light speed. In battle, Fetch uses melee attacks that can be combined with her light speed to send enemies flying in slow motion. Fetch can also use her powers as projectile bolts, and then use her laser focus to quickly finish off enemies by exposing their weak points. Fetch's powers are cool – once you get enough upgrades, you can experiment and make battles more exciting than the story would suggest.
For the most part, enemies are nothing but fodder, that is until maybe the final act, where the stakes are raised and battles truly become personal for Fetch. Not that they aren't already, but the missions you have to complete during the flashbacks are primarily in service of someone else. As a result, the battles don't nearly feel as epic as they should. This is more noticeable with the battles that take place in Curdun Cay. These battles are nothing more than a training ground that allow you to practice new abilities before you get a chance to put them to the test in the flashback.
These battles aren't completely pointless, as they do help you get acclimated to Fetch's new abilities, while also unlocking challenges in arena mode and helping you earn skill points (SP). SP is primarily earned during the open world flashback. You can complete the story missions, collect and race neon lumens (balls of light), destroy police drones, stop drive-bys, and vandalize the city with your neon graffiti. Collecting neon lumens and destroying police drones were my main source of SP. Racing was fine as well, but the neon graffiti side quests where maddening due to the controls, in which you have to swipe the touch pad or use motion controls to guide Fetch's arm. Staying on the subject of controls – the battles would've been a lot more fluid if there was a targeting button.
Regardless, there's plenty to do in the form of open-world side quests and arena mode challenges, and the battles are pretty fun once you get control of most of Fetch's abilities. When you complete the game, Fetch gains the ability to learn an ultimate skill in each category. In addition to the achievements, it gives you a reason to max-out her skillset, although having those ultimate skills available in story mode would've been better. For $15 First Light offers a nice, truncated open world experience. Aside from Fetch herself, the best thing about First Light is that it actually feels standalone. I would seriously recommend First Light to anyone who's yet to play an inFamous game. Not only does it introduce newcomers to the world of conduits using a likable protagonist, it's also a great backdoor invite to play Second Son, which I intend to do in the near future.
This rubs Fetch the wrong way for a number of reasons. Aside from the obvious sibling bond she developed with Brent, Brent also tethers her to her humanity. You see, Fetch developed conduit powers at an early age, and Brent ran away with her to prevent their parents from turning her over to the DUP. The two were practically homeless, and soon after they fall victim to drug addiction. While they struggle with their drug habit, Fetch additionally has trouble suppressing the urge to use her powers. And now with Brent gone, there's no one left to keep her in check.
Brent was basically her sponsor, even though he himself lacked powers, and when you're controlling Fetch, you can tell that she's enjoying the carnage she's creating through subtle sound bites. It's no secret that she eventually goes off the deep end before getting captured by the DUP and taken to Curdun Cay prison. The game switches back and forth between her present conversations with Augustine (who's trying to groom Fetch to be a military asset) and what lead up to her current incarceration. Fetch is an exceptionally sympathetic character, who's imbued with personality by the always excellent Laura Bailey. Although she appears to be a snarky suicide punk, Fetch is actually a down- to- earth girl who's scrambling to put her life together despite having a power that could solve most of her problems.
In contrast to Fetch, the rest of the characters are pretty much one- note. Her brother is absent for most of the game, the main antagonist has a fairly generic goal, and one supporting character isn't in it enough for their death to resonate beyond a "that sucks". And while the story works as a whole, it's not as cinematic as it could have been. There aren't that many cutscenes which means most of the dialogue occurs during gameplay. The cutscenes that are present look amazing, showing in great detail Fetch's character design. Likewise, the representation of Seattle is meticulous, the particle effects are eye-popping, and the light speed streaks left by Fetch are stylized.
Fetch is somewhat of a speedster; streaking through the city as a neon- purplish blur. By using her powers, you can race up the side of buildings and use ledges to springboard from rooftop to rooftop. The city also contains neon clouds that quicken travel by boosting Fetch's light speed. In battle, Fetch uses melee attacks that can be combined with her light speed to send enemies flying in slow motion. Fetch can also use her powers as projectile bolts, and then use her laser focus to quickly finish off enemies by exposing their weak points. Fetch's powers are cool – once you get enough upgrades, you can experiment and make battles more exciting than the story would suggest.
For the most part, enemies are nothing but fodder, that is until maybe the final act, where the stakes are raised and battles truly become personal for Fetch. Not that they aren't already, but the missions you have to complete during the flashbacks are primarily in service of someone else. As a result, the battles don't nearly feel as epic as they should. This is more noticeable with the battles that take place in Curdun Cay. These battles are nothing more than a training ground that allow you to practice new abilities before you get a chance to put them to the test in the flashback.
These battles aren't completely pointless, as they do help you get acclimated to Fetch's new abilities, while also unlocking challenges in arena mode and helping you earn skill points (SP). SP is primarily earned during the open world flashback. You can complete the story missions, collect and race neon lumens (balls of light), destroy police drones, stop drive-bys, and vandalize the city with your neon graffiti. Collecting neon lumens and destroying police drones were my main source of SP. Racing was fine as well, but the neon graffiti side quests where maddening due to the controls, in which you have to swipe the touch pad or use motion controls to guide Fetch's arm. Staying on the subject of controls – the battles would've been a lot more fluid if there was a targeting button.
Regardless, there's plenty to do in the form of open-world side quests and arena mode challenges, and the battles are pretty fun once you get control of most of Fetch's abilities. When you complete the game, Fetch gains the ability to learn an ultimate skill in each category. In addition to the achievements, it gives you a reason to max-out her skillset, although having those ultimate skills available in story mode would've been better. For $15 First Light offers a nice, truncated open world experience. Aside from Fetch herself, the best thing about First Light is that it actually feels standalone. I would seriously recommend First Light to anyone who's yet to play an inFamous game. Not only does it introduce newcomers to the world of conduits using a likable protagonist, it's also a great backdoor invite to play Second Son, which I intend to do in the near future.
- John-Athens
- Sep 7, 2014
- Permalink
Yeah, it's just a short and fun spin-off game. Give a try, it's super easy to Platinum.
- colorthekid
- Dec 27, 2019
- Permalink
InFAMOUS: Second Son, the base game, wasn't really all too polished in terms of its core aspects, primarily the story. InFAMOUS: First Light, the expansion, takes advantage of fleshing out and polishing the core aspects that Second Son failed to achieve. But the main draw of this game is its story.
First Light is a character study on one of the more interesting characters of Second Son, Abigail "Fetch" Walker. It's a personal and compelling story with themes of addiction, manipulation and loss. The story covers Fetch's background, her mind and emotions, as well as the events that lead up to her status in Second Son. It's a concise story that fleshes out its core ideas very well, with great characterization and a compelling plot.
The gameplay is also a lot more fleshed out as you have a much more focused power set - compared to Second Son's multiple power sets that were fun, but some of them lacked consistency and polish. Unfortunately, the side content is still similar to Second Son in that the open world content are still these brief and repetitive side missions with not much value, except there's even less content variety in the open world compared to Second Son. But there is a particular type of side content introduced in First Light, which is a survival arena mode that challenges your skills. It's fun and challenging, sure, but once you get the hang of it and set high scores, it starts to lose its replayable flare a bit.
Overall, First Light is a lot more refined and polished in terms of gameplay, but especially in story. It's a concise story that analyses our main protagonist and fleshes her out in every way, with great writing and storytelling. The gameplay is a lot more focused, but lacks content variety.
First Light is a character study on one of the more interesting characters of Second Son, Abigail "Fetch" Walker. It's a personal and compelling story with themes of addiction, manipulation and loss. The story covers Fetch's background, her mind and emotions, as well as the events that lead up to her status in Second Son. It's a concise story that fleshes out its core ideas very well, with great characterization and a compelling plot.
The gameplay is also a lot more fleshed out as you have a much more focused power set - compared to Second Son's multiple power sets that were fun, but some of them lacked consistency and polish. Unfortunately, the side content is still similar to Second Son in that the open world content are still these brief and repetitive side missions with not much value, except there's even less content variety in the open world compared to Second Son. But there is a particular type of side content introduced in First Light, which is a survival arena mode that challenges your skills. It's fun and challenging, sure, but once you get the hang of it and set high scores, it starts to lose its replayable flare a bit.
Overall, First Light is a lot more refined and polished in terms of gameplay, but especially in story. It's a concise story that analyses our main protagonist and fleshes her out in every way, with great writing and storytelling. The gameplay is a lot more focused, but lacks content variety.
- sibulelemvayo
- Mar 20, 2024
- Permalink
So, here's a long story. Back in the middle / end of August 2019, I created my own PSN account before I bought the PS3 in September, and just in case for future reference, I bought this on the PlayStation website for $7.49 and I have been saving this game for a while until I finally downloaded it when I surprisingly got the PS4 for Christmas today and I had played this game for 6 hours. Can you believe it? 6 hours. Do you know how long I spend time at Disneyland? Well, sometimes 6 hours. XD
So, what are my thoughts of this game? It's fun like the first 3 games I had played on the PS3 (inFAMOUS, inFAMOUS 2, and inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood). Honestly, there are some things in this game I liked better than the things from the previous inFAMOUS games, like when you play as Cole in the first 3 games, you can tell how long it'll take to climb up the walls until you reached the top and hopefully find the cable wires to slide on. In this game, you can run fast and you can be able to run up the walls. Well...for the most parts (*coughs* the cliffs *coughs*) Yeah, you'll find out once you get to play it for the first time. The coolest thing about this game is that in the previous games, you get to have Cole regenerate and refill his powers by getting close to electric powering sources as in this game, you can regenerate and refill Fetch's powers once you go near the neon signs. Yes, Cole's superpowers are in the elements of electricity in the first 3 games while Fetch has superpowers of neon. The techniques from the controller is a lot different than how I used the techniques of the controller from the previous games. I felt like it's weird, but I digress. In the end, it's a fun game. I totally recommend it if you're planning to play the inFAMOUS games chronologically like how I am right now.
- jonahhenrickson-58277
- Dec 25, 2019
- Permalink
OK so last night I came across this game called Infamous:First Light and the avatar called Abigail Walker aka Fetch looks just like me! I can not get over the similarity.I would like to know the opinions of others. I posted to Facebook, LinkedIn and twitter and everyone says that think its so cool how I am a dead ringer for her. Its like seeing yourself on TV or something. I also made a video on youtube so others can comment and tell me what they think. Feel free to check my facebook and all the other places I posted this. Please don't make any bad comments. I wish I would have known about this game 4 or 5 months ago.
- brittneylewis12389
- Feb 2, 2015
- Permalink
Hated it. I tried this out because it was free for PS plus some ages ago and, much like Second Son, I couldn't stand the gameplay. Repetitive, frustrating and boring. What I saw of the story was equally boring and uninteresting. I doubt I'll try any other installments in this series.
- Analog_Devotee
- Aug 2, 2021
- Permalink