Off the chain

Sucker Punch, the studio behind Sly Cooper, has been pumping out consistently high-quality first-party titles for years now, with the excellent inFAMOUS: Second Son and standalone expansion inFAMOUS: First Light being among its most recent success stories. A recent job listing suggested that it was working on a new sandbox title for the PlayStation 4 – presumably the next chapter in Delsin Rowe's story – but it's now updated its website with a fresh posting for a different position.

The advertisement explains that it's looking for a combat designer who – and we quote – "knows how to throw a punch". Clearly it's planning an increased emphasis on hand-to-hand combat in its next title, as it adds that the employee must be able to make these jabs "feel realistic viz-a-viz a game controller". In our opinion, the Bellevue-based developer always comes up with awesome control schemes, so we're curious to see what it's got in mind here.

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inFAMOUS has always had hand-to-hand combat, of course, but the series' strength has typically stemmed from its mid-range powers. We liked the close-quarters combat system in Second Son, but there's always room for improvement; Batman: Arkham City arguably has the best open world melee mechanics of any game to date. The listing also adds that the title that it's working on is "AAA", which should come as no real surprise. Sadly, it'll probably be a while before we get to see it.

[source suckerpunch.playstation.com]