inFAMOUS: First Light Review

When inFAMOUS: Second Son debuted on PlayStation 4 last March, the central criticism with the game was that Delsin Rowe, the main protagonist, wasn’t a likable character at all because of his youthfulness and questionable motivations. 6 months later, Sucker Punch tries to switch things up a little bit with its first piece of downloadable content for Second Son by putting the player in the shoes of a different Conduit. Titled First Light, this standalone DLC explores the backstory of Abigail “Fetch” Walker, the Conduit with neon superpowers encountered in Second Son. First Light does some great things story-wise at it is both engaging and interesting because of Fetch’s personality, but it lacks variety in terms of gameplay. For an add-on that retails at $15, First Light is still an enjoyable, short experience, but it is awfully disappointing.

First Light’s plot switches between two timelines regarding events that occurred prior to Second Son. While being under the Department of Unified Protection’s custody, Fetch must show her powers off to Brooke Augustine, Second Son’s main villain, all while remembering events that happened 2 years ago in Seattle with her brother Brent, which was kidnapped. The fact that switching from past events to present events happens multiple times brings some small pacing issues to the game. Fortunately, this can be easily overlooked because of Fetch captivating motivations to do whatever it takes to save her brother. The events in First Light will answer some of the questions about Fetch that were sparked in Second Son as everything comes together to make sense in the end. Credit must be given to Laura Bailey for her excellent performance in voicing Fetch once again.

The main problem with this DLC is that it feels like a step back in terms of gameplay compared to Second Son. Just like Delsin, Fetch will constantly have to go through waves and waves of enemies, but it seems to be worse this time around in First Light. The main missions, whether they take place in Seattle or in the Curdun Cay base, only revolve around eliminating enemies. The missions that truly point to that aspect are the new sniping-type missions where the perspective is changed to a first-person point of view and Fetch’s powers are used to kill enemies off a distance. They aren’t fun and don’t have a reason to be there at all. On top of that, some of them are simply rehashed multiple times. First Light’s missions all feel like tedious shooting galleries, especially the ones set in the D.U.P. base. Though the game tries to switch it up with more passive-type missions involving hacking cameras, they ultimately feel out of place and aren’t fun either. It’s really disappointing to see that the developers got really lazy with the design of the new missions.

Unlike Delsin, Fetch only has one Conduit power, making combat less diverse. But that is not a bad thing. Being limited to one power gives the player an easier time to figure out the flow of combat. Fetch feels like a badass right from the get-go even though her powers have already been witnessed with Delsin in Second Son. There are still some interesting nuances and differences as to what she can do with her neon powers, but they are very similar to the ones Delsin obtained. First Light has its own ability upgrade system that can be enhanced by finding Lumens scattered around the map or by completing certain challenges throughout your experience. However, one thing that is worth noting is that Fetch’s powers can sometime make the game feel too easy. You can easily escape tense situations by simply running away and waiting for your energy to come back. Do not be surprised if you die less than 5 times during your entire playthrough.

Despite having some lazy mission design and structure, traversal in First Light is better than ever thanks to Fetch’s fast neon Conduit power. Though you can only explore half of the city this time around, it is much easier to travel from location to location with Fetch’s unlimited neon sprint ability and neon boosters scattered everywhere giving her an extra speed boost. The world isn’t filled with side events that much, but it’s great to see new content like races and challenges that can definitely keep you occupied once you are done with the main story. However, despite these new additions, First Light is pretty limited in terms of content. The main campaign can be completed in less than 3 hours, if no side activities are completed, and it can take about 5 hours to complete everything. But this is understandable for an add-on costing only $15.

VERDICT

inFAMOUS: First Light is just more of inFAMOUS: Second Son, but that does not mean that it is not enjoyable. Despite having some issues with the combat and mission repetition, First Light brings a breath of fresh air by exploring the story of a much more interesting character in Fetch. Though, it is ultimately an underwhelming experience, this standalone DLC will certainly keep you entertained for a couple of hours. If you have played Second Son, it is recommended to play through First Light in order to have a bigger comprehension of the story, but don’t expect anything truly groundbreaking out of it.