Previews// Gamescom 2010: inFamous 2

Elsewhere on the character front, Zeke is back and we should expect to see more new characters. "There's Bertrand, who you saw in a mission. He's the leader of the Militia, and so he's old school, he's a purist, trying to keep out the Corrupted in the swamp. He's really interesting, we're going to do cool stuff with him." Beyond that, Oberg wasn't saying.

Ice powers? "You know, people have talked about an ice power that I don't remember. There's some ice in one video somewhere? You know, Cole is the electric man. His powers are all based on electricity. Electricity can interact with other elements and stuff. We're definitely going to be playing games with that, but that's all I can say right now." Yes, all his powers are derived from electricity. Like (***SPOILER WARNING FOR inFAMOUS 1***) TIME TRAVEL.

Will there be a co-op mode? "We're starting with a great single-player experience. Other features like that are things that we're trying to figure out exactly what we want to do before we tell anybody about it." Interesting...

Will there be any action inside any buildings? "Possibly. Really we've built New Marais as this kind of jungle gym for parkour because people really love the parkour and the navigation of going all around the city, up and down. New Marais is about the same size as Empire City but more dense and more detailed, and so it actually probably takes longer to explore it because there [are] so many details. So, I can't talk about anything else besides the great exteriors and the parkour ability of New Marais."

Are there underground sections again? "We have not announced anything like that." A chuckle ran through the audience at that point.

In terms of different areas, Oberg said, "There's a lot of different neighbourhoods. We really wanted to have a lot of variance. There are some parts that are kind of like the French Quarter in New Orleans, but we also have an old cemetery, because there are these crazy old cemeteries in Southern cities, and big cathedrals, and we definitely are going to have lots of different neighbourhoods. We want to have more of a neighbourhood feeling as you travel from one area of New Marais to another. To really feel like, 'Oh, I'm in this part of town versus that part of town.'"

So... cemeteries. Are there any zombies? "I have not announced anything..." Was that a grin on Oberg's face? Hmmm...

The cutscenes, Oberg revealed, will be taking on an extra dimension. Well, half an extra dimension. "They're going to be kind of 'two and a half D'. In inFamous 1 they're kind of flat placards that would be maybe in front of each other. They'll be now kind of drawn on simple shapes so that you'll be able to see more of the texture and shape of things inside the cutscenes."

Will there still be decisions about whether to be good or bad? "You're still going to have moral choices to make, and it will affect the gameplay and the way people react to you. We'll definitely have multiple endings to the game based on your moral choices.”

And there was, of course, no way Oberg was getting to the end of the presentation without someone asking about Move. "We're still working on that, we're still thinking about it. We have not made any announcements. We've always been a single game studio. We want to make a great single-player experience, and whether or not the Move works with that we still have to figure out."

Having had a bit of hands-on time with a slightly older build of inFamous 2, the game seems to be playing pretty well. I rushed some of the Corrupted and it felt pretty cool. Amp in hand, I felt powerful without being overly double-hard. The slow-down, as I mentioned above, works as it's supposed to. It's visceral, it packs punch.

The free-running, again, works just like it's supposed to. Scrambling above New Marais – in this case to catch up with an unsavoury sort in a limo - provides the same thrill it did in the first game while skating along wires, feet crackling with power, provides the same rush of speed.

It was a little disorienting, after I caught up with the limo, having the camera flip round to face Cole as a helicopter bore down on me. It threw me out a bit and I worried I might not pull it back. But, when I did, taking it down with an electric vortex was plenty of fun.

So, now that we're over the initial panic over Cole's hair, there's not a lot to worry about in inFamous 2, and there's a hell of a lot to be excited for.