inFamous: First Light (2014): The Review
Overview
inFamous: First Light is a standalone expansion that puts the spotlight on Abigail "Fetch" Walker, one of Second Son’s most compelling side characters. Set before the events of the main game, this shorter, neon-soaked story delivers a focused dose of high-speed action, emotional backstory, and a refined take on the game's traversal and combat. While it doesn’t break new ground, it offers a sleek and satisfying spin-off, just a little light on substance.
Score: 7 out of 10
The Positives ✅
As far as standalone expansions go, Infamous: First Light is doing a lot of things right. It’s basically four more hours of the same slick superhero action that made Second Son fun, and honestly? That’s not a bad deal. The biggest win here is Fetch herself. She’s a way more interesting, more likeable, and more human character than Delsin ever managed to be, and the prequel story gives her some much-needed emotional weight.
Neon powers are still a blast to use. Super speed just feels good, and thankfully the game doesn’t waste time drip-feeding you the basics, you get the important stuff like endless speed right away. Zipping across Seattle is still smooth, flashy, and satisfying, and when the game leans into that sense of momentum, it really works.
There are a few new movement ideas that help keep things fresh. Running through those swirly pink neon clouds for speed boosts sounds silly, but it actually makes traveling more engaging. Instead of just holding forward, you’re now chasing little boosts and planning your route, and hitting them at full speed makes Fetch’s normal pace feel like a casual jog.
The challenge maps are another genuine highlight. They strip away the safety net of the open world and lock you into proper fight-to-the-death scenarios, where you actually have to play well instead of just running away to heal. They’re great for mastering the powers, chasing high scores, and ticking off trophies, and if you own Second Son (which you should), you can even play them as Delsin.
Story-wise, the framing device works too. Having Augustine force Fetch to relive her past gives the whole thing a tighter focus, and the flashback structure keeps things moving. It’s not exactly prestige TV writing, but it does a solid job of making you care more about Fetch and what she’s been through.
As far as standalone expansions go, Infamous: First Light is doing a lot of things right. It’s basically four more hours of the same slick superhero action that made Second Son fun, and honestly? That’s not a bad deal. The biggest win here is Fetch herself. She’s a way more interesting, more likeable, and more human character than Delsin ever managed to be, and the prequel story gives her some much-needed emotional weight.
Neon powers are still a blast to use. Super speed just feels good, and thankfully the game doesn’t waste time drip-feeding you the basics, you get the important stuff like endless speed right away. Zipping across Seattle is still smooth, flashy, and satisfying, and when the game leans into that sense of momentum, it really works.
There are a few new movement ideas that help keep things fresh. Running through those swirly pink neon clouds for speed boosts sounds silly, but it actually makes traveling more engaging. Instead of just holding forward, you’re now chasing little boosts and planning your route, and hitting them at full speed makes Fetch’s normal pace feel like a casual jog.
The challenge maps are another genuine highlight. They strip away the safety net of the open world and lock you into proper fight-to-the-death scenarios, where you actually have to play well instead of just running away to heal. They’re great for mastering the powers, chasing high scores, and ticking off trophies, and if you own Second Son (which you should), you can even play them as Delsin.
Story-wise, the framing device works too. Having Augustine force Fetch to relive her past gives the whole thing a tighter focus, and the flashback structure keeps things moving. It’s not exactly prestige TV writing, but it does a solid job of making you care more about Fetch and what she’s been through.
The Negatives ⚠️
The biggest problem is also the most obvious one: you’re stuck with just one power set. After playing Second Son with four, going back to only neon feels… restrictive. Super speed is fun, sure, but four hours of only that starts to feel repetitive, especially when you already know what you’re missing.
That wouldn’t be such a big issue if Sucker Punch had gone wild with new ideas, but they mostly don’t. Fetch gets a few new tricks: some combat upgrades, some flashy moves, but a lot of them are so unremarkable that I genuinely had to stop and think: “Wait… wasn’t this already in Second Son?” That’s not a great sign.
Combat also takes a step down. None of the fights here reach the spectacle of taking down DUP Mobile Command Units in Second Son. Too many missions boil down to sniper-mode shooting galleries, and once you’ve done a couple, you’ve pretty much done them all. The repetition creeps in fast.
The training missions in the present-day segments are also pretty transparent padding. They’re literally just the challenge maps dressed up as story content. Don’t get me wrong, the challenges themselves are good, but the disguise is thin, and you can feel the game stretching itself to justify its runtime.
Overall, First Light just feels a bit too safe. It doesn’t really push the neon powers forward in any meaningful way, and it never escapes the shadow of Second Son. It’s more of the same, just with fewer toys.
The Experience 🎮
Playing through First Light, I had a good time… but I was also constantly aware of what it wasn’t. Fetch is a great protagonist, and I genuinely enjoyed spending more time with her story. The flashbacks gave her character more depth, and by the end, I cared about her a lot more than I ever cared about Delsin.
Zipping around Seattle at full speed is still a joy, especially when you start chaining those neon boost clouds together. For a while, I found myself just messing around, racing from point to point, trying to keep the flow going as long as possible. When the game clicks, it really clicks.
But the longer I played, the more I missed having options. In Second Son, if I got bored of one power, I’d just switch to another. Here, there’s no escape. You’re doing neon. You will continue doing neon. You will like neon. And after a few hours, that starts to wear thin.
The challenge maps were where I had the most fun mechanically. Being forced to stand your ground and actually survive tough fights made me engage with the combat in a way the open world never really demands. Those sections felt focused, intense, and genuinely satisfying to master.
In the end, First Light felt like a solid but clearly smaller side dish to Second Son’s main course. I’m glad I played it, I liked Fetch a lot more than I expected to, but I also walked away thinking: “Yeah… this was good. Just not great."
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