So it’s no small shock when the real moral dilemma comes up. We all know who’s the hero and who’s the villain. All stirring, conventional stuff - and not particularly challenging. It’s the person behind the powers that kills people.” The hypocrite goes down, the day is saved, and the stage is clear for Cole to save the world from the Beast. It’s not even particularly a surprise when the man’s revealed to be a secret Conduit himself seeking to prove to the world how tainted his kind are - we’re used to that sort of hypocrisy in our bigots.Īnd, of course, during the climactic showdown with Bertrand, we get Cole’s quiet monologue about how “powers don’t kill people. His hatred of “freaks” stems appropriately from a fundamentalist interpretation of vaguely Christian religious doctrine. Bertrand’s use of Confederate imagery and his demagogical speeches are right out of the worst chapters of the Civil Rights movement, calling for an all-out war between Conduits and normal humans. The Bertrand arc of inFamous 2 is well-told, but predictable. Which makes the eventual departure from the familiar narrative - both in the specific theme in question, and in the broader sense of a gamer’s expectations about “good” and “evil” paths - all the more noteworthy. Even after the first inFamous, where literally every single Conduit onscreen aside from a Good Cole was an antagonist, all the sequel had to do was show Southern politician Bertrand and his fascist Militia raving about “freaks” to instantly be pegged as Bad People. Not bad, considering that the ending itself consists of maybe a couple minutes’ worth of narration and still-shot frames, and the final divergent missions aren’t much longer.Īfter years of X-Men and similar stories using superpowered individuals as stand-ins for minorities, homosexuals and other victims of unjust persecution, it’s natural they get our almost unthinking sympathy.

In the past week I’ve had over an hour of discussion with my brother over the final decision - and endings - of inFamous 2.

Infamous 2 evil ending