One of this months free PS Plus games for Playstation 4 is Infamous: First Light. After recently completing the base game, I was excited to give this a go, and was not disappointed.
First light follows a female protagonist (yay!) named Fetch. A prominent character in Second Son, she is a conduit, a superpowered being with the ability to manipulate the element Neon. In a beautiful and deadly display of lights she can use her powers to stun her enemies and dispatch them, causing their bodies to explode in a flurry of light particles. She can also run at breakneck speeds as she takes the form of a neon cloud. This is not new however as many of her powers become available to Delsin, the protagonist of Infamous Second Son and were previously playable. As a prime conduit however, the original owner of this ability, playing as Fetch grants us greater power.
Fetch’s tale is told in past tense, during an interrogation at a maximum security prison called Curden Cay. After her parent’s discovered Fetch’s power she is forced to flee with her older brother Brent. Although he attempts to shelter her from the dangers of growing up homeless on the streets of Seattle eventually drugs and crime necessary for their survival place them in a fight for their lives. We join Fetch on her quest to save her brother from his captors and flee the city in the search for new beginnings far from the drug cartels and the D.U.P a highly danger government organization whose sole mission is the detention of Conduits. Without her older brother as a moral compass, Fetch revels in her deadly abilities as we unlock her strength through various missions.
Apart from story missions that drive the narrative, players can also scour the city completing tasks such as freeing citizens in peril, attacking drug dealing gang members, and completing works of art using Fetch’s neon abilities. For those familiar with Second Son, these artworks are akin to the stencil graffiti mini game, in which players have the ability to use the PS4’s motion control as a spray paint can, complete with realistic noises via the controllers built in speaker. As someone who does graffiti when my hand isn’t glued to a controller, I found this mini game incredibly fun in the base game yet greatly underwhelming in First Lights neon version of this activity, controls felt nowhere near as tight, and subtle touches such as the lightbar corresponding with the color of paint or spray paint noises emitting from my controller were completely absent when painting as Fetch. This isn’t surprising however, since Fetch uses her natural Neon abilities to paint rather than actual spray paint but it just left me wishing game devs came up with a solution to balance out this missing realistic features.
Narrative missions are fast paced battles, yet once you master light, they become very easy, almost too easy. Personally, light was my favorite ability in Second Son and having just played a ton of that, this may play part to my take on the combat difficulty of First Light. As Fetch is interrogated, she is also put to the test as her interrogator, Brook Augustine, challenges her with waves of enemies and various challenges within a large arena at Curden Cay. These wave style arena battles present challenges at brief moments but again, with mastery of the Neon abilities, they become a bit simple.
The cast of characters seem realistic at times, and obnoxiously unrealistic at others. One prominent member of First Lights cast is Shane a dealer with questionable intentions. Every exchange with him felt intensely artificial, while interactions with other characters such as Brent seem genuine and realistic.
The open world of Seattle is still just as vibrant and beautiful, but rather than being in an open world I can feel immersed in, First Light bears the same flaw as Second Son. I feel alone in this city. You don’t feel like a member of the society but rather someone walking by an intricate tableau. One can also argue that this works narratively, as Fetch actually is an outcast, yet as I walk the rainy city I cannot help but desire more from it.
All in all, First Light is a delight not only as a free title on PSN but in general. If you did not enjoy second son however, this DLC will not change your opinion, however if you love the world of Infamous, there is a lot here for you. Either way, if you are a PS Plus member it’s free! So don’t miss out!