Parents' Guide to Infamous: Second Son

Infamous: Second Son makes great use of the PlayStation 4's processing power, offering players a beautifully rendered city to explore and some eye-popping superhero visual effects. The controls, meanwhile, provide ample opportunity to use the DualShock 4 controller's touchpad and motion sensors when interacting with objects in the environment and spraying graffiti art. Also, its story has the makings of something memorable, thanks mostly to a strong performance by veteran voice actor Troy Baker in the role of Delsin, a young man with a winning sense of humor who, depending on the player's choices, seems to legitimately struggle with the implications of his powers.

Unfortunately, the action suffers from a sense of repetition. Many of the activities players get up to -- hunting down surveillance cameras, looking for audio logs, destroying checkpoints and communications towers -- seem like filler, offering little variation from one sequence to the next. And, although Delsin earns a quartet of distinct base powers through the game -- smoke, neon, video, and concrete -- they're really only variations on a theme. Each comes with similar abilities, such as the capacity to fire projectiles and quickly scale buildings, that really only differ in terms of presentation and efficacy. It's certainly a spectacle and undeniably fun at times, but it also feels as though Infamous: Second Son could have been much more than it is.