| Infamous Second Son | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Sucker Punch Productions |
| Publisher(s) | Sony Computer Entertainment |
| Director(s) | Nate Fox |
| Producer(s) | Brian Fleming |
| Designer(s) | Jaime Griesemer[1] |
| Composer(s) | Brain andMelissa[2] Nathan Johnson[2] Marc Canham[2] |
| Series | Infamous |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 4 |
| Release | March 21, 2014 |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Infamous Second Son (stylized asinFAMOUS: Second Son) is a 2014action-adventurevideo game developed bySucker Punch Productions and published bySony Computer Entertainment for thePlayStation 4. The third installment in theInfamous series, it serves as a standalone sequel to 2011'sInfamous 2. The player-controlled protagonist possessessuperpower abilities that players use in combat and when traveling across the city. The story follows protagonist Delsin Rowe fighting the Department of Unified Protection (D.U.P.) in a fictionalizedSeattle. Over the course of the game, Delsin acquires new powers and becomes either good or evil as player choices influence his morality.
Sucker Punch began developingInfamous Second Son as early as 2011, when it began discussions with Sony on bringing theInfamous series to a new generation of hardware. The developer provided feedback to Sony on what hardware evolutions it would like to see on PlayStation 4. Sucker Punch considersSecond Son a "fresh start" for the series because it features a new protagonist. Delsin's powers were designed to feel fluid and suited to the open world design.
Infamous Second Son received positive reviews from critics, who praised its gameplay, combat, visuals and design, while criticism was aimed at the morality system, which some found to be dated and binary, as well as the repetitive side missions. The story was met with a mixed response, with some critics finding the narrative and characters to be a step backwards from previous installments in the series, while others viewed the writing as an improvement over its predecessors. The game sold over a million units within nine days of its release and six million units by June 2019, making it the fastest-selling entry of theInfamous series andone of the best-selling PlayStation 4 games.
Infamous Second Son is anaction-adventure game set in anopen world environment and played from athird-person perspective. Players control the main character Delsin Rowe, who canparkour-style climb vertical surfaces like high-rise buildings. Delsin is a Conduit, which allows him to use superpowers by manipulating materials such as smoke, neon, video, and concrete. These materials can be weaponized (such that Delsin can perform melee attacks or fire projectiles from his fingertips) or used to deftly navigate the game world (such as using neon to dash up buildings).[3][4] Using powers depletes a meter in thehead-up display (HUD), which can be replenished by drawing from power sources such as smoke from exploded vehicles.[5] Delsin earns new powers as he progresses through the story, which sees him fight against the Department of Unified Protection (D.U.P.) during missions. Each time Delsin gains a new power set he must destroy D.U.P. Core Relays to learn the basic abilities that correspond to it. Delsin upgrades and acquires new abilities by spending Blast Shards that have been collected, they are scattered throughout Seattle. Players become more powerful in combat by expanding Delsin's suite of abilities.[6]
Players may choose to act in either a good or evil way. Examples including healing civilians, doing drug busts, and stopping suspect brutality for good, or killing innocent civilians and killing instead of apprehending enemies. Several times throughout the story, Delsin finds himself in a scenario where he must make a good or evil choice, such as whether to encourage Conduit vigilanteAbigail "Fetch" Walker to stop slaying drug dealers, or to train her to become a more prolific killer. Player choices influence outcomes in some later missions.[7] In combat, Delsin may use his abilities to incapacitate foes or obliterate them with headshots. He may choose to open fire on innocent civilians. Delsin's choices manifest in a logo displayed on his jacket and the HUD, which features a blue (good) and red (evil) bird. Performing actions that are villainous gradually change the logo so that the red bird dominates the other, with the opposite happening with heroism. This is a visual representation of Delsin'sKarma level, that increases as good or evil depending on his choices.[8] As his Karma level increases, Delsin can acquire new powers that correspond to his play-style (e.g. very destructive powers with high levels of evil Karma) and his jacket also changes. If you have good karma, the jacket completely changes white whereas if evil the jacket turns red.[9] A continual streak of either good or evil actions fills up a bar in the HUD, which then lets Delsin perform a powerful finishing move called a Karma Bomb.[8]
When not completing story missions, players can explore the city and complete activities such as tagging graffiti spots or killing D.U.P. secret agents. The city is split into districts that are all initially controlled by the D.U.P., but Delsin gradually liberates each district by completing activities. When D.U.P. control of a district falls below 30 percent, Delsin can enter a District Showdown that requires him to eliminate a wave of D.U.P. forces, eradicating D.U.P. presence there.[6]
Second Son takes place in 2013, seven years afterInfamous 2's Conduit protagonistCole MacGrath sacrifices himself to cure humanity of a plague and destroy the Beast.[10][11] Cole uses the powerful Ray Field Inhibitor weapon, which kills him and most of the other Conduits.[11] The U.S. government establishes the D.U.P. to hunt down and capture the world's remaining Conduits, dubbing Conduits with the pejorative "Bioterrorists".[12] The protagonist is Delsin Rowe (Troy Baker), a 24-year-old graffiti artist and local delinquent of the Akomish reservation. Delsin has the unique Conduit ability of Power Absorption, allowing him to absorb and copy the powers of any Conduit he comes into contact with. His brother, Reggie (Travis Willingham), is the local sheriff, and often arrests Delsin for his acts of vandalism.[13] Both are AkomishNative Americans, whose territory lies at the shore ofSalmon Bay,Washington. The antagonist is Brooke Augustine (Christine Dunford), the director of the D.U.P. and a Conduit with power overConcrete. Her actions in the Akomish reservation drive Delsin to travel toSeattle, now under lockdown by D.U.P. forces. Delsin and Reggie encounter three other Conduits: Henry "Hank" Daughtry (David Stanbra), a convict with control overSmoke;Abigail "Fetch" Walker (Laura Bailey), an ex-junkie who uses herNeon powers to hunt downillegal drug dealers in Seattle; and Eugene Sims (Alex Walsh), a reclusivevideo game addict who uses his Video (digital materialization) powers to save suspected Conduits from the D.U.P.
Reggie catches Delsin vandalizing a billboard in their Salmon Bay hometown, but their subsequent argument is interrupted when a military truck carrying three Conduit prisoners crashes on the Akomish reservation.[13] Two of the Conduits escape, but Delsin manages to pull the third one, Hank, out of the wreckage, inadvertently absorbing his smoke powers in the process. Shocked and frightened, Delsin pursues Hank to figure out what has happened and how to control his new powers.[14] However, they are both cornered by Brooke Augustine. She encases Hank in concrete and questions Delsin, suspecting him of hiding something. Delsin can choose to either tell Augustine the truth about his powers or say nothing. Regardless of Delsin's choice, Augustine knocks him out before moving on to the other tribe members.[12]
Delsin awakens a week later and discovers that Augustine has brutally tortured the rest of the tribe in an unsuccessful bid to gain information. However, she has left them to gradually die from concrete shards fused into their bodies, including their leader Betty (Karen Austin).[15][16] Reggie, who was spared from the torture, learns that the only way to remove the shards is to use Augustine's power on them.[17] Delsin realizes that he can absorb Conduit powers and resolves to go to Seattle to take Augustine's powers and save the tribe.[18] Reggie reluctantly accompanies Delsin to keep an eye on him. They reach Seattle and find that it has been put under strictmartial law by the D.U.P. to find other escaped Conduits. With Reggie's help, Delsin battles D.U.P. forces and tracks down core fragments to develop his powers. He eventually encounters the other two escaped Conduits, Fetch and Eugene, and absorbs their powers. After both confrontations, Delsin defends Fetch and Eugene from Reggie, who initially views them as "freaks" and can choose to either redeem or corrupt them.[12]
Now possessing three powers, Delsin encounters Hank, who has escaped again. Hank tells Delsin that Fetch and Eugene have been captured by the D.U.P., and are being held on an artificial concrete island inPuget Sound. However, the situation turns out to be a trap set by Augustine. Reggie appears and rescues Delsin with a rocket launcher.[19] While the brothers free Fetch and Eugene, Augustine encases Reggie's feet in concrete and blasts them off the platform. As they dangle above the ocean, Reggie realizes that Delsin cannot save both of them, and lets go of Delsin's hand, falling to his death.[20] Distraught and enraged, Delsin climbs back onto the platform and battles Augustine, and the ensuing fight destroys the island.[12]
Augustine flees back to the D.U.P. headquarters while Delsin tracks Hank down to the docks, where he is fleeing from D.U.P. forces. Hank begs for forgiveness, saying that he only worked with Augustine because she had his daughter in her custody.[21] Delsin can choose to either kill Hank out of revenge or let him flee Seattle with his daughter. Aided by Fetch and Eugene, Delsin rallies an assault on the D.U.P. headquarters. After breaking through the building's defenses, Delsin confronts Augustine and reveals that he has figured out she staged the escape at Salmon Bay to instill fear in the population and give the D.U.P. a reason to continue their regime. Augustine lets Delsin absorb her powers and tells him she wants to save the Conduits by imprisoning and protecting them from the population. However, Delsin points out that all she did was take away their freedom, and people should live their own lives.[22] Delsin battles and eventually defeats Augustine.[23]
If Delsin has good Karma, he spares Augustine and exposes her crimes to the public. She is arrested and the D.U.P. disbands.[24] Delsin, Fetch and Eugene successfully champion for peaceful co-existence between humans and Conduits, starting what is dubbed the "Second Age". All of the imprisoned Conduits are freed from Curdun Cay. Delsin returns to the reservation and heals the tribe members with his powers,[25] then paints a mural in Reggie's honor.[26]
If Delsin has evil Karma, he kills Augustine and, together with Fetch and Eugene, takes control of Seattle. He plans to release all of the imprisoned Conduits and absorb their powers, but first returns to the reservation. Upon making his way back there, Delsin is confronted by Betty, now in a wheelchair, who exiles him from the tribe for the killings in Seattle. If Delsin has level 5 "Infamous" karma, the scene is slightly longer, depicting a shocked and angered Delsin destroying the reservation with his powers.[27]
Sucker Punch Productions began to developSecond Son while thePlayStation 4 was still being designed.[28] Having finished work onInfamous: Festival of Blood, they began to plan a new entry in theInfamous series[29] under the working titleInfamous 3.[30] As early as 2010, they discussed withSony their desire to bringInfamous to a newPlayStation platform.[29]
Sucker Punch were in close connection with the PS4's lead system architectMark Cerny, who visited the studio several times. They gave Cerny feedback about how much power a new PlayStation system would require to render their ideal open world, how fast it would be capable of doing so and to what degree of texture detail. "We had some experience there that was useful for that team when they were planning some aspects of the hardware design", producer Brian Fleming explained.[30] He found that during the PS4's development, there was a great level of interactivity between the system's designers and game developers such as Sucker Punch.[29]
Sucker Punch made suggested improvements they would like to see for theDualShock 4 gamepad.Second Son's designer Jaime Griesemer traveled to Sony's headquarters in Japan to discuss such improvements. The developers found they were able to adopt the DualShock 4's touchpad intoSecond Son's gameplay (for example, players emulate the in-gamefingerprint scanner using the DualShock 4 touchpad).[29]
The game was envisioned to take full advantage of the hardware, without the imposition of porting to older platforms like thePlayStation 3. The hardware let developers improve theparticle system that lights Delsin's face up while he draws neon power from billboards[28] and add detailed reflections to the game world.[31] The increased memory bandwidth let the team render characters with higher fidelity.[29] They found the PS4's simplified architecture so easy to work with that they were able to reach very high graphical quality even though the hardware was new.[32]
Over 110 developers worked on the game, a number that director Nate Fox considered small. He felt that working with a small team necessitated having a defined vision for the game from the outset, "to answer those first questions about what you want your game to be".[32] Sometimes, ideas came about during development that would have to be thrown out for not fitting with the game's original vision. "We kill our darlings at Sucker Punch. It's not easy; it's necessary", Fox explained.[32]Second Son displays a native resolution of1080p at 30frames per second.[33]
Sucker Punch elected to setSecond Son in their hometown of Seattle as they could draw from their personal experiences in the open world's design.[34] During early development when team members debated whereSecond Son would be set, Seattle rated high on a list of possibilities. Fleming considered that the city had not been featured in many games prior toSecond Son and so would not be "overblown", and felt that Seattle's weather and mixture of "old and new" architecture would make it an interesting setting.[35] The team conducted fieldwork in Seattle's nearby forests with audio and video equipment, which was used to reproduce local flora and the chirping sounds of localAmerican robins. Seattle landmarks such asPioneer Square, theSpace Needle and Elephant Car Washes feature in the game. The developers licensed logos and signs from local businesses. Griesemer called the game world an "abstraction" of Seattle rather than a re-creation since its layout did not suitSecond Son's gameplay and required the team to make necessary changes.[30] The team wanted to thematically explore Seattle's heritage ofPacific Northwest,American Indian tribes in the game.[35]
The designers used graphic sliders in thegame engine to determine the amount of water covering the streets. Like Seattle, rain is frequent in the game.[30] The lighting effects (such as neon light from Delsin's powers) coupled with reflections help bring color into Seattle's dark and rainy atmosphere.[28] Because of the move to the PS4, Sucker Punch were able to render more open world than what was possible in previousInfamous games. "You get a better feel of the city when you can see more of it", said Griesemer.[29]
After deciding on Seattle for the setting, the developers began to think about the superpowers that Delsin would possess. They added neon lighting to the city to amplify the "beautiful reflective streets", and subsequently decided to make neon a source of power for Delsin because of its prevalence.[30] Animation director Billy Harper considered Delsin's smoke powers challenging to design, as the team wanted to make powers feel more fluid than in previousInfamous games. They removed Cole's "contorted hand poses" to improve the connection between Delsin and his powers.[36] Fox felt that smoke helps Delsin deftly navigate the game world by letting him zip up buildings and through enemies.[36] Griesemer (who previously worked withBungie on theHalo series)[37] wanted to bring the fluidity offirst-person shooters toSecond Son's combat. The team reviewed the control scheme of previousInfamous games and "removed some of the complexity that was preventing people from interacting with the game".[36]
Griesemer said that a recurring theme throughoutInfamous games that they wanted to continue withSecond Son was the idea of "modernelemental powers", variations on commonplace powers drawn from the game world.[30] Producer Brian Fleming found that the graphical effects helped to inform players of the amount of power Delsin possesses. "This is a game about super powers, so for us, the way the effects look tells you a lot about how you're playing the game", he explained.[31] Fox considered that the game world's resemblance to Seattle helped the superpower elements feel authentic.[30] "Because we have that sweet foundation of plausibility, you buy into the super-powered element", he explained.[34]
Second Son's premise is built from the "good ending" ofInfamous 2, which sees protagonist Cole MacGrath sacrificing himself to save humanity. They looked atTrophy data and found the majority (78%)[36] ofInfamous 2 players chose this ending, and concurred with the popular choice. This allowed them to create the new protagonist, Delsin, from scratch.[34] "Moving forward onto [Second Son], we said 'Alright, Cole's dead. People have voted for this. Let's make a new hero'", Fox explained.[36] Griesemer felt that taking theInfamous series to the PS4 signified a new era, and that departing from the story of previous games would help them reach new audiences. "We needed a new entry point, and Delsin was the first step for that", he explained.[30] The idea to move away from Cole's story came about duringpre-production staff meetings, and was confirmed after discussions both internally and withSony Computer Entertainment. Griesemer described the contemporaneous sentiment as "It's going to be new hardware, a new platform and we're going to have a new audience".[30]
Delsin's American Indian heritage came from the game's setting in the Pacific Northwest, which features a large American Indian population.[30] Delsin wears abeanie inspired by one that Harper would wear around the studio (Harper recounted one particular staff meeting where four of the six team members were wearing hats). Delsin's character was inspired by United Kingdomstreet artistBanksy, as the development team appreciated Banksy's clandestine, satirical work. Developing Delsin's personality, the team posited the hypothetical: "What ifJohnny Knoxville had powers? What would he do with it?".[38] Harper considered Delsin "full of reckless abandon",[38] the kind of character that would, upon gaining superpowers, jump off a cliff to see what happens.[39] Fox considered Delsin "flawed in a way I think a lot of us can relate to", trying to live up to his successful brother Reggie.[34] He called the game's story a "hero's journey".[30]
Digital Domain were brought on board for themotion capture work. Fox helped direct the actors' performances, but found that they did not need much guidance for their roles. "You need to let them understand what you need from a scene, but the actors are so much better equipped to deliver that than me", he explained.[32] Fleming considered that using motion capture added authenticity to the characters. "The ability to capture [Delsin's] facial reaction when he's like 'Oh, shit', but doesn't say 'Oh shit'—that's a big deal", he explained.[31]
Most of thenon-player characters (NPCs) that inhabit the open world were motion-captured. The developers contacted casting agencies, and asked their friends and families if they would like to appear as extras in the game. Over 75 people were scanned in a three-day period. They were seated in chairs and told not to move or smile, and a high-definition digital camera captured a 3D model of their faces. The camera sent out strobe light patterns to capture the volume and shape of each face. A 360-degree setup captured the actors' moving bodies, but mannequins were also used to help capture different clothing styles. Data collected from the cameras was used by the designers to render digital models, each composed of roughly 1.4 million polygons—any blank spots on the models would be digitally filled in by the designers. To render the models in the game, the data would be compressed by reducing the polygon count.[40]
On February 20, 2013, Sony held a conference in New York that announced thePlayStation 4.[41] Fox appeared on-stage during the conference and recounted participating in an anti-globalization protest in Seattle in 1999.[29] He announcedSecond Son, and a debut trailer was shown that introduced the game's premise and lead character.[42] The game was privately demoed atE3 2013,[43] and its March 21, 2014, North American release date was confirmed during a PS4 launch event on November 14, 2013.[44] By February 25, 2014,Second Son wentgold (finished development).[45]
On March 8, it was announced thatSecond Son'spre-order sales had surpassed those ofThe Last of Us in the United Kingdom.[46] Twospecial edition versions of the game were produced;pre-ordered and first-run copies of the game received the Limited Edition, which includes theCole's Legacy mission pack that explain story events betweenInfamous 2 andSecond Son. The Collector's Edition includes a unique box cover, a replica of Delsin's beanie, eight pins from his vest, an exclusive in-game vest, and a D.U.P.-themedpatch.[47] All pre-ordered copies of the game included four in-game vests for Delsin.[48]
Paper Trail is a freedownloadable content (DLC) withalternate reality game features. The story is split into six parts, with the first being available after reaching a certain point in the main story.[49] Each subsequent part was made available each Friday from March 28, 2014, in North America and, concluding with the release of the final part on April 25, 2014.
AtE3 2014, the spin-off gameInfamous First Light was announced and was released on August 26, 2014, in North America and August 27, 2014, in Europe. InFirst Light, the player controls Fetch. It is astand-alone expansion andSecond Son is not required to play the game, but ownership ofSecond Son grants players access to exclusive content and music. The track "Sanctus Immortale" composed and produced by Menelik Eu'el Solomon also features on the exclusive content pack.[50]Infamous First Light received mixed to positive reviews from critics.[51][52]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 80/100[53] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Computer and Video Games | 7/10[54] |
| Destructoid | 9.5/10[55] |
| Eurogamer | 7/10[56] |
| GameSpot | 8/10[57] |
| IGN | 8.7/10[6] |
| Joystiq |   [58] |
| PlayStation Official Magazine – UK | 8/10[59] |
| Polygon | 8.5/10[60] |
Infamous Second Son received "generally favorable" reviews, according toreview aggregator websiteMetacritic.[53][61]
IGN's Vince Ingenito recalled being left "staring slack-jawed" at the visuals and praised the impressive lighting effects in the "beautifully and diversely realized"open world.[6]GameSpot's Tom Mc Shea called the visuals "incredible".[57]Eurogamer's Oli Welsh praised Seattle's art direction and consistentdraw distances and frame rates.[56] Though impressed with the high-definition graphics,PlayStation Official Magazine (OPM)'s David Meikleham cited occasional frame rate dips during intense combat. He enjoyed roaming Seattle and levelling its destructible environments.[59]Computer and Video Games (CVG)'s Tamoor Hussain praised graphical details like the particle and lighting systems. He said the game is "colorful, rich in detail and has some of the best effects we've seen on console".[54]
GameSpot's Mc Shea noted the combat's balance betweenInfamous's slower pace andInfamous 2's frenetic action.[57]Destructoid's Chris Carter considered the combat's simplicity its strength and found Delsin easy to control during play.[55] Underwhelmed with the opening chapter's "skittish" parkour,Edge noted the game became more fun when Delsin gained powers and reached Seattle.[62] They felt enemies were clever enough to make combat challenging and that missions were "for the most part well designed and generously proportioned".[62]IGN's Ingenito found each power set enjoyable and "strong enough to hang an entire game on".[6] He felt the power upgrades kept combat fresh and made for goodreplay value.[6]Polygon's Phillip Kollar favored neon, but noted the balance and variety between all sets made combat "a hell of a lot of fun".[60]Eurogamer's Welsh found the combat imperfect yet fun and thought the skill upgrades made minimal difference to gameplay.[56]
Destructoid's Carter was invested in the story as Delsin's charm succeeded "wooden" Cole's listlessness.[55]IGN's Ingenito thought the chemistry between Delsin and Reggie helped pique player interest. He foundTroy Baker's performance "[imbued] with a charm and youthful abandon that keeps it from feeling tropey [sic] or overwrought", but thought supporting characters like Fetch were underdeveloped and the narrative too straightforward.[6] Although calling the characters clichéd,Edge felt they were written and acted well.[62]GameSpot's Mc Shea found Delsin annoying and immature, and that the gameplay bettered its "tired" story.[57]Eurogamer's Welsh considered that "inconsequentialMacGuffins" drove the plot to a rushed ending but praised its concise scope.[56]Polygon's Kollar felt the lackluster examination ofsurveillance and security-over-freedom diminished the story's impact. He was disappointed with the narrative despite the better character writing over previous series entries.[60]OPM's Meikleham was put off by Delsin's arrogance and lamented the story, but praised the quality of the motion capture performances.[59]
Edge andEurogamer's Welsh faulted the morality system's lack of story influence.[62][56]IGN's Ingenito called it "woefully outdated" as evil choices jarred with Delsin's character.[6] He found the system redundant because Delsin's power peaked when he strictly adhered to good or evil play-styles, rather than crossing in-between.[6]GameSpot's Mc Shea felt the binary system lacked a "moral gray area" between good and evil.[57]Polygon's Kollar struggled to connect to his choices as they were polar opposites on a moral compass.[60]OPM's Meikleham found the system had "little to no impact on gameplay".[59]Joystiq's Danny Cowan thought the well-balanced system had equal incentive and drawback tied to Delsin's choices.[58]
GameSpot's Mc Shea foundSecond Son's open world beholden to a dated formula. He described Seattle as "a playground for you to go nuts in" instead of "a living, breathing world", with its citizens existing merely as player fodder.[57]CVG's Hussain said the "hauntingly empty" Seattle's sparse NPCs behaved inanimately.[54] He felt the open world's lifelessness was its biggest detractor, a dichotomy againstGrand Theft Auto V,Sleeping Dogs andAssassin's Creed IV: Black Flag's superior worlds.[54]Eurogamer's Welsh feltSecond Son did not innovate the genre as well as it could have as it leaned too heavily on tropes.[56]Polygon's Kollar felt missions and activities lacked variety, as "virtually all culminate in the goal of beating up more soldiers or thugs".[60]Edge saw little merit in a second play-through as the scarce content was repetitive. "Approach [Second Son] as an action game that just happens to be set in a nonlinear environment and it makes more sense", they wrote.[62]Destructoid's Carter found the amount of content ample, and enjoyed liberating the city and collecting Blast Shards.[55]Tom Watson wrote inNew Statesman thatSecond Son was his £20-£40 game of the year, and justification for his purchasing PlayStation 4 after owning Xbox 360.[63]
During the18th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, theAcademy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominatedInfamous Second Son for "Adventure Game of the Year", "Outstanding Technical Achievement", "Outstanding Achievement in Animation", and "Outstanding Achievement in Character" for Delsin Rowe.[64]
Infamous Second Son sold over a million units within nine days of its release, making itone of the best-selling PlayStation 4 games, as well as the fastest-selling installment in the series.[65] As of June 2019, the game has sold an estimated six million units.[66]
Zeke Dunbar (narration): We all held our breath and watched, as one by one of them monsters started to drop. Yeah, that RFI worked, all right. News said folks overseas were keeling over. Poor bastards must'a been Conduits and didn't even know it. But it was worth it, 'cause... for the millions that lived, billions were gonna die . The Plague? Man, it was justgone. I could already hear people startin' to party, just celebratin' bein' alive. I was afraid my friend would go down as an unsung hero. But, here in New Marais, they knew what he had done. Who woulda thought that the "Demon of Empire City", would become The Patron Saint of New Marais? ... I wanted to say goodbye to him alone. He had been my best friend, and, now he was gone. Sometimes, I hear folks talkin' 'bout Conduits and humans like they're totally different. That's bullshit. Cause there ain't nobody with more humanity than Cole MacGrath. I love you, brother. And I'm sure gonna miss ya.
Reggie: Do you know how embarrassing it is for me to keep arresting my own brother, over and over and over again? /Delsin: Maybe you should stop arresting your brother, over and over and over again - /Reggie: You think this is a joke?! /Delsin: No, I don't think it's a joke - /Reggie: Isthis how you wanna leave your mark on the world, huh? You think this would make our parents proud? Misdemeanor vandalism? ... /Delsin: Reggie—[stops] /Reggie:[rounding on him] What?! /Delsin:[points to an incoming—] Truck.
Hank:[when Delsin busts through the door to reach him and Betty] I was jus' tryin' to create a diversion; I didn' know anybody was in here— /Delsin:[holds up his hand to show Hank his new power; angry] Youdid this to me! /Hank:[shocked] You're a Conduit?! /Delsin:[to Betty, who is also shocked] Betty—I'll explain later, but you gotta get out of here,now. /Hank: Good, I'm gone. /Delsin: Not until you fix this first!
Delsin:[coming across x-ray images of people with shards of concrete buried into them] How could anyone do this? How many people did she hurt? ...And no one could stop her?
Betty: [Did] you think I was gonna rat you out to that ornery old trot? ... We're Akomish. We protect our own. No one here blames you for what happened. /Delsin: Yeah. /Betty: Neither should you. ... /Delsin: I'll fix this.
Reggie: "Recovery"? Hey Delsin, these people aren't gettin' any better. They're dyin', man. /Delsin: You don't know that. /Reggie: No, but the doctors who came through here while you were out—they do. And they said that... They said the only way those shards are coming out is the exact same way they went in.
Delsin: Reggie.I did this. And I gotta fix it.
Reggie: Delsin, Delsin - look at me. You gotta let me go. /Delsin: No, I can do this! I can do this, I can do this! /Reggie: Listen, we can't let this stuff get to you, too! ...Damn it, I am so proud of you. /Delsin: No. /Reggie: Always have been. /Delsin: No. Reggie, don't - /Reggie: I love you, bro.[lets go] /Delsin: NOOOOOOOOOO!
Delsin: You son of a bitch... She killed Reggie! /Hank: I-I didn't know! I swear to god! /Delsin: You "didn't know"?You set us up! ... /Hank: She's got a sadistic streak a mile wide, but I never [heard] of her actually killing a Conduit! /Delsin:[still angry about who she didkill] My brother would still be alive if it wasn't for you! /Hank: ...She had my daughter.
Augustine:[when Delsin arrives] Oh, good. You're here. I've been watching you, Delsin Rowe. Testing you, while you assembled your little bag of tricks. Very impressive. /Delsin: Yeah? I know all about what you did, too. Using Hank to set up that crash, making Eugene and Fetch look like monsters just soyou could look like the hero! /Augustine: Someone has to protect the Conduits. /Delsin: "Protect"? /Augustine: In the seven years since my D.U.P. took over Conduit oversight from the military, not a single one of "our kind" has been killed. /Delsin: No, of course not. 'Cause you hunt them down and lock 'em up. /Augustine: Yes. In Curdun Cay.Protected, from the mobs that want to kill Conduits.
Delsin:[as Augustine becomes trapped in her own power; quoting her] Yeah. I'm told that hurts.
Delsin (narrative): When the dust finally settled, all you could see of Augustine were her eyes peering out [of] that concrete shell. The rage that had fill the moments earlier was now replaced by fear. ... We dismantled the fortress she had built, the army she had raised, the future she had planned. The [whole] world was about to know that she had failed. Taken down by a gamer, a junkie, and a small-town delinquent. The crowds cheered as Augustine was hauled away. Before this, no one would'veimagined that humans and Conduits could coexist, and nowI was the guy kickin' off the Second Age. Oh, and all those Conduits [who were imprisoned] in Curdun Cay? They were soon to be free once again. To live theirown lives, to choose theirown futures. As for me... I'd gotten what I came for. And now... Now I had a promise to keep.
Betty: You saved me, Delsin Rowe. /Delsin: Hey, we're Akomish. We take care of our own, right? /Betty: ...Where's Reggie? /Delsin:[pausing to find the right words] Reggie, uh... ... Reggie saved me.
Delsin:I love you, brother. ...And I'm sure gonna miss you.
