inFAMOUS: Second Son Was Planned for PS4 Way Back in 2010

Sucker Punch is a forward thinking studio. Just a year after releasing the original inFAMOUS, the team entered into negotiations with platform holder Sony about bringing its superhero series to the PlayStation 4. At the time, the outfit had just started work on the second game in the franchise, and it knew that it wanted to continue the narrative on the platform holder’s next system. It ultimately got its wish with the recently announced inFAMOUS: Second Son.

“We didn’t have any idea when and what the next generation hardware was going to be,” producer Brian Fleming told Game Informer. “But we knew that a new console was coming, and as early as 2010, we started talking with Sony about crossing the transition to new hardware while staying on this property.”

According to the Seattle-based developer, the new system will allow it to do things that just weren’t possible on the PlayStation 3. For example, it’ll be able to significantly extend the world’s draw distance, allowing you to see the entire city setting without any fog or blurry textures. Furthermore, the added horsepower will enable the studio to really enhance the detail included in every frame, from textures to animation. Clothes, for instance, will now move in a much more fluid and realistic manner.

And, of course, the team will have some new toys to play with, such as the DualShock 4’s touchpad. “The touchpad is great for more emotional interaction,” explained designer Jamie Griesemer. “The classic example that we’ve been talking about is that Delsin will be able to interact with security scanners that will check if he’s a conduit or not. In the game, he places his fingers in a scanner that draws blood – but instead of walking up to it and pressing triangle, you'll actually place your fingers on the touchpad just like Delsin.”

According to Fleming, this additional layer of interaction will help you to feel like “you are the protagonist, not simply playing as him”. However, the studio does not want the title to fall into the same pitfalls as other launch games, and so it’s using the functionality sparingly, in places where it most makes sense. Other examples include pressing both of your thumbs on the touchpad in order to absorb smoke.

There’s a lot more about inFAMOUS: Second Son – including that introduction from game director Nate Fox – over on Game Informer’s website. We reckon that we’ll see a lot more of the title at E3.