inFAMOUS First Light Review – Go Fetch (PS4)

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inFAMOUS Second Son was perhaps the most awaited game after the PS4’s launch, and when we got it in February, most people fell in love with Delsin, his story, and of course, the beautiful graphics. It’s now six months later and inFAMOUS First Light is on our doorstep and ready to give us more time in Sucker Punch’s version of Seattle. But, this time as seen through the eyes of one of Second Son’s supporting characters, Abigail ‘Fetch’ Walker. I was initially skeptical at this supporting character taking over the limelight, not to mention being limited to one power set. More inFAMOUS can’t be a bad thing, but First Light may have actually managed to outshine its origins using a much more focused approach.

First Light is stand alone DLC that does not require the original game to play, and has enough content to be seen as a viable PSN title even without its big brother to preface it. Still, I recommend putting the time into Second Son before jumping into First Light. The story is a prequel and hugely supplements the events that take place in Delsin’s story. In the original title, I was a huge fan of Delsin, his brother, and their story, but the supporting cast really disappointed me. They felt underutilized and more like a forced vehicle to get Delsin his new powers than an integral part of the story. First Light successfully corrects this by giving us a deeper look at who Fetch is and how she came to be the person that provided Delsin with his neon abilities.

First Light may seem limiting to some because Fetch only has a single power, which is only a fraction of what Delsin ended up with by the end of our time with him. More isn’t always better, and I liked the more focused approach on a single power. Where Delsin didn’t get a chance to really appreciate and embrace his powers as he rapidly switched between them, Fetch identifies by her neon abilities, and this plays into both the story and the combat.

Morality paths are not an option for Fetch. There is a single story leading up to the character we already know, and there are no good or evil choices that could alter her quest. This focus allowed me to deeply invest myself with the story being told, instead of worrying about moral choices that may or may not affect outcomes of the game and impact the story for better or for worse. Unlike the existence of good and evil Deslin, there is only one Fetch. Though the story is a bit predictable, I still enjoyed getting to know Fetch’s angels and demons. I found myself sympathizing with her almost more than Delsin, which is not something that I ever thought I would say.

The main campaign took me about four hours, and that was with plenty of time wasted in the photo mode — which makes a return from Second Son. Quick players could probably easily finish the story content in as little as two hours if they don’t spend time sightseeing Seattle, tackling side content, and taking screenshots of Fetch’s angry face as she fights enemies — seriously, every single battle face of hers is terrifying. Take a look through my photo mode gallery if you don’t believe me. This faster pace means that there is no time for attempting to draw out unnecessary plot points, and you get Fetch’s emotional narrative full bore.

Playing as Fetch will be very familiar to anyone who played Second Son, though it didn’t quite work in reverse. When I attempted to play as Delsin in one of the challenge maps after finishing the game — which you can do if you’ve played Second Son previously — I completely failed to be effective with him at all. The design of Fetch’s combat abilities and her focus exclusively on the neon power made the gameplay and combat all feel tighter. The more cohesive nature did not transfer well when I was trying to juggle Delsin’s multiple abilities. If I could ask for one thing from a future inFAMOUS game, I would request that we find a focus on a single ability and fully mastering that power than taking a ‘jack of all trades’ approach. 

Going beyond the story, we’re offered enough content that Sony deemed First Light worthy of a platinum trophy by itself. The bulk of this content is in the challenges, which are quite fun for really getting a chance to play with Fetch’s neon powers. In fact, there are multiple upgrades that you can’t even unlock during the story and are solely used for the challenge rooms. Gaining all of these upgrades does take away some of the challenge however and this should be a fairly easy platinum for anybody seeking it out. Graffiti missions are back, which look really cool in neon, but fail to have the same fun that spraypainting using the DualShock 4 had in Second Son. Of course, there’s also the photo mode, which took tons of time from me as I was playing through. If I hadn’t had to finish First Light for this review, I’d probably still be taking photos in it right now.

Fetch’s story is a great tale of family bonds, hard times, and gives a much deeper look at a character that didn’t get nearly enough exposition in Second Son. The focus on neon powers alone doesn’t limit Fetch at all and a hefty set of challenges make First Light plenty to hold inFAMOUS fans over until we get the inevitable next game in the series. There isn’t enough different here to convince anyone who didn’t like Second Son, but for gamers who enjoyed Delsin’s story, First Light feels like a more focused title, and adds greatly to what was already an awesome open world superhero series.

Make sure to check out our gallery of images from inFAMOUS First Light’s photo mode here.

inFAMOUS First Light review copy provided by publisher. For information on scoring, please read our Review Policy here.