inFAMOUS: Second Son

The build-up to inFAMOUS: Second Son has been a subject of much discussion here at Push Square towers over the past few months. It’s clear that Sony as a whole has changed its approach to product launches, opting to announce titles much later and show much less of them. However, the firm’s been particularly secretive when it comes to Sucker Punch’s upcoming superhero exclusive, prompting us to ponder why. Fortunately, we were able to put that question directly to brand development director Ken Schramm earlier this week, and he assured us that it’s all intentional.

“We’re going to give you something to get excited, but we’re not [going to give everything away],” he explained as part of a larger interview which you’ll be able to read soon. “It's not that we made a mistake, but with inFAMOUS 2 we pretty much said, 'Here's the game' – and there were no real surprises left as a result. We looked at that internally, and we didn't want to go down that route again. We wanted to save some powers and characters; we wanted to save a lot of the story and the world.”

Schramm added that it was important to the studio that fans felt a sense of excitement when picking up the title on release day, and keeping things secret was pivotal to that. However, with very little footage available, we were eager to learn whether there even will be any memorable boss battles or set-pieces in the final release. “Delsin is 'Mega Man', so he's absorbing powers from other enemies,” the amiable executive assured us. “Let's just say that those conduits aren't going to give him those powers. Does that make sense?”

It’s going to be interesting to see how this strategy pays off for the studio. On the one hand, the game’s biggest moments are now going to come as a genuine surprise to players, which is something of a rarity in this industry. However, the title has to sell before people actually see said scenarios, and there has been a little scepticism surrounding the sequel of late. “We've tried to release little tidbits that at least capture the essence of what the game is,” Schramm concluded. “It's a fine balance: you tell me how well we did?”