In 2018 God of War received a soft reboot that put the Ghost of Sparta back on the map, but another PlayStation-exclusive veteran deserves the same love. While it's always nice to see new IPs the PlayStation family, nothing is more exciting than seeing a classic character make a triumphant return. It's been proven by Santa Monica Studio that a fresh take on a series can revive it, so there’s no reason why Sucker Punch shouldn’t try to do something similar for one of its own.
After Sucker Punch Productions moved away from Sly Cooper and the PS2, it made one of the best superhero/antihero franchises ever made with Infamous. Unfortunately, with how much time has ed since the last installment, many believe Infamous isn't ever getting a new game. Infamous is a series where players decide what choices they’d make if they possessed supernatural powers like lightning, ice, and fire. The main character of the first two games, Cole MacGrath, sacrificed himself to save the world in the good ending in Infamous 2. Although similar to how Kratos was presumed dead at the end of God of War 3, Cole unfortunately never returned. Instead, the series went in a different direction with another protagonist that never lived up to the original.
Another Developer Could Continue The inFAMOUS Series
Infamous Second Son was not a bad game by any means, but its main character, Delsin Rowe, will always live in Cole’s shadow when fans reminisce about the series. Second Son looked great and is one PS4 exclusive that deserves the raytracing, 60 FPS treatment to make it even more graphically impressive. However, it doesn't excel in every area. One of the franchise’s core mechanics was its morality system consisting of good and bad karma choices. This worked for Cole whose personality was more ambiguous, but Delsin was more obviously benevolent by nature. Cole’s character also received more development in its second entry than it ever did in the original Infamous, but sadly fans never got to see it progress further. With Sucker Punch moving on to Ghost of Tsushima, it doesn’t appear like the developer will continue the franchise with either Cole or Delsin.
Although all hope for another Infamous game seems grim, PlayStation isn't retiring any IPs, Infamous included, so the series can still receive the God of War treatment. During the canon ending of Infamous 2, players see a lightning strike appear over a boat carrying Cole’s body. This cutscene seems to intentionally leave his death open for a possible revival. Second Son clarifies that he did die after the events of the second game, but the series has seen Cole time travel and go into hiding before. Sucker Punch, or whoever else PlayStation trusts with the franchise, could bring Cole back. Other developers have continued Sucker Punch’s franchises, like Sanzaru Games with Sly Cooper, so the potential for another developer to do the same with Infamous is always on the table.
With the newfound success of the recent God of War titles saving Kratos from irrelevancy, PlayStation may be interested in giving other classic IPs a soft reboot as well. Infamous seems like a valid choice, but until Sucker Punch states that the series is finished, there’s always the possibility for another entry to be made.
