The InFamous series is well known among the PlayStation community for having entertaining gameplay mechanics and a karma system that defined the series upon its launch. The franchise has become a mainstay on PlayStation thanks to its compelling story and the level of freedom given to the players that would ultimately allow them to shape the ending of each game. Of the three games in the series, InFamous 2 saw the end of the Cole MacGrath era by following the good ending, as it saw Cole give up his own life to save humans with no powers.
Following the good ending meant that Cole MacGrath would not appear in InFamous: Second Son, which is why the game instead focused on Delsin Rowe. InFamous: Second Son takes place around seven years after the events of InFamous 2, as Delsin learns of his powers and combats against a government organization hell-bent on imprisoning the few conduits that are still alive. However, Sucker Punch should focus on the evil ending for any future InFamous titles, as it would not only bring back Cole MacGrath, but it would also mean that there would be more conduits in the world.
InFamous 2’s Good Ending
At the end of InFamous 2, fans are given the choice to either side with the Beast or go against him and fight for humanity. If Cole picks the good ending, he will fight the Beast, fix the RFI, and use it to kill everyone with the conduit gene. This also killed Cole and ultimately ushered in a new era of humanity, free from conduits. In InFamous: Second Son, it was all but confirmed that while the RFI was able to kill most people with the conduit gene, but it did not kill all the people who had it, hence bringing on a new generation of conduits.
This ending led to the events of InFamous: Second Son and ultimately saw Cole MacGrath becoming an unknown figure to most of the world. It let Sucker Punch shift focus away from Cole and toward Delsin, who had a much lighter outlook on life than Cole ever did. It also meant that the Beast was no longer a threat to humanity and that the world would once again fight against the conduits and treat them as outcasts.
InFamous 2’s Evil Ending
If players were to pick the evil ending of InFamous 2, they would not only keep Cole alive, but he would usher in a new era of conduits. The plague was a major plot point in InFamous 2 and threatened to kill all humanity, but after absorbing much of the Beast’s powers, Cole now had the ability to not only activate the dormant conduit gene in people, but also cured those people of the plague. In turn, he saved humanity from extinction.
In the final cutscene, following the evil ending, Cole mentions that the plague was simply an evolutionary jump that let conduits become the dominant species. This hints at the possibility that a majority of humans without the conduit gene ended up dying of the plague, but Cole also mentions that the chances for a conduit to survive the Beast awakening their powers was also only one in a thousand. So, following this ending means that most of the humans died from the plague and the few that survived were either lucky enough to have the conduit gene that was activated by Cole’s new power or were lucky enough to have not been infected at all.
Future InFamous Titles
The next InFamous title should focus on the evil ending, as there seems to be a more interesting storyline set up by this conclusion. By following this ending, fans would once again be able to play as Cole and would likely have to fight off more conduits than ever before. A new threat is always a possibility, and with humans surviving the plague, there is also a chance that this ending would pin fans against a different version of the government agency from Second Son, the DUP.
Ultimately, this would give players an insight into how the world continued following the emergence of the conduit era. With more conduits than humans, there is a big chance that much of the world has also changed. There is also a chance that Sucker Punch would make Cole the villain in a future game following the evil ending, showing how he reigns over the world with an iron fist. Whatever the case may be, Sucker Punch still has an entire story to follow through on, one with a very different world and with more threats than ever before, not to mention an evil Cole that just saved the world from certain demise.
There have been many rumors circulating that a new InFamous title is currently in development, which would not be surprising since Sucker Punch has released a new InFamous game with every new console generation. With the PlayStation 5’s ridiculous power, an InFamous game would not only look stunning but could also give fans a sense of nostalgia as they fight against or alongside Cole. InFamous is a fan favorite PlayStation exclusive that deserves to make a comeback, and a new title in the series has the potential of becoming one of the exclusives for the PS5. If it builds off of the evil ending from the second game, it could also tell an unforgettable story.
InFamous: Second Son is available on PS4.
