inFamous 2's Cole getting a retro makeover

by Griffin McElroy on Jul 23rd 2010 1:00PM

Though our brief time with inFamous 2 at E3 last month was both savory and delicious, we were perplexed by protagonist Cole McGrath's apparent new super power: The ability to, well, shift his shape. The raven-haired, tattooed punk who we zapped around the city with didn't resemble the balding bike messenger we came to know and love from the original inFamous. Now IGN reports that Cole's style is changing yet again -- this time, though, he'll closer resemble his old, less hirsute self.

Developer Sucker Punch reportedly informed IGN of the changes with a pair of concept renders which the site wasn't at liberty to describe. We've contacted the developer as well, and hope they'll be able to confirm our suspicion that Cole has doffed his jacket because it's so super hot in Fake New Orleans.

Source: IGN

Tags: cole-mcgrath, inFamous-2, playstation, ps3, sony-computer-entertainment, Sucker-Punch-Productions

Reader Comments (63)

Wait, so is this a SECOND change that will now revert to the original, or is it the one on the game informer cover... that will now go back to the original?

When I put it that way, it suddenly matters a lot less.

@Acosta02

They say "closer" to the original. So he may retain some of what the new look is too, who knows.

When Infamous 2 was first announced, they said they were using the current version of Cole just as a placeholder, and that we would be seeing the original Cole when Infamous 2 ships.

@Nintendo Tim

Huh? Why would they make a new model to act as a placeholder for the model they already have?

@Acosta02
workin out the kinks?

@JamesHks Me think's they just wanted someone that looked like Nathan Drake to show off the game :D that's just my opinion though..

If they get rid of the hideous backpack that he's sporting now though (not the one from the first one that was a good backpack so good I brought one XD)

Seriously what's the need for the backpack in this one (to store lighting for more powerful attack's (O.o charge based attack's perhaps)

rar, looks neat! It's like a ninjitsu skill.

@Code Supreme commenter
Rar shut the fu*k up.
Rar thanks.

@Lennoko

A tad rarsh, don't you think?

HARSH! I meant HARSH!

...DAMMIT!

@Lennoko You know, I'll admit I may be a bit annoying, but not once have I ever been rude and unfriendly. Except for now after looking at your attempt to make a funny and an rude insult. Chill out, man.

@Code Supreme commenter

Again with the rar. Are you using it like Roshal Archive? Are you somehow compressing your comments?

From now on, I'm going to start off every comment by saying "divx", 'cause it's just as dumb.

@Code Supreme commenter
Is "rar" your Joystiq version of "fetch" from Mean Girls?

Stop trying to make "rar" a thing!

@Code Supreme commenter

Thought I posted this earlier... but here it goes again...

As a compromise, how about you just put "RAR" into your icon and don't put it at the beginning of every post? Then you always have your rar, and the people won't be so annoyed by it!

It's a win win.

@Code Supreme commenter

I downloaded a .rar the other day from goatse, and it was quite disgusting. Full of vomit and poo, and girls eating their own vomit. It was pretty stanky.

@Xoonaka
you mean WinRar right?

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk19/Threddd/goteddy.gif

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze Also, in that picture.. it looks like that Ethan fellow from Heavy Rain.

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze

Press X to Lightning Bolt Jason?

I'd pay to do that. God that game pissed me off.

from that angle he reminds me of that agent from heavy rain a little :p

@logicplay http://www.cheshirecatstudios.com/reviews/heavy-rain/heavy-rain-norman-jayden-screenshot.jpg

@logicplay

Woah I totally see it!

is this a good thing or bad thing? i always hate when people bitch and whine about a game without being happy that its being made in the first plac. I think the change is due mainly because so many people bitched and whined about Cole. i didn't mind it so much that they had to change his look to more gritty. I would have been as happy with a unlockable skin.

now if this furthers development time to give him a gritty voice too then im going to be double pissed -_-

@PR0F3TA

Him looking like a Nathan Drake copy is gritty to you?

@PR0F3TA
First of all, Everybody that complained about the change is excited about the game. Probably more excited than those who don't choose to enter the debate. Second, yes we Absolutely influenced the decision to have some balance in this character. Although not a true forum, these blogposts are used to determine "buzz" about a product. I'm actually in disbelief that SuckerPunch is issuing this statement. I feel like a total dork that I am so happy about this decision.
Third, in what way imaginable is the Xtreme(!) sports-Cole somehow "grittier" than the first Cole? The edgy, in-your-face, look-how-rebellious-I-am tattoos? Or maybe the you-won't-guess-how-many-stores-I-went-to-trying-to-find-these pants! They are so Xtreme(!)

GOOD. We need grizzly-old Cole over this obviously funner looking Cole. Cole was like Batman in TDK

I kinda like that tattoo and I hope they still give him hair as long as he doesn't he doesn't act like he belongs in a Tony Hawk game.

That's a shame, I actually kind of like the redesign. Change isn't a bad thing folks.

Oh well, I suppose I can live with a dude that looks exactly like the old dude, with no updates or anything.

@omgJOHN

well at least we welcome change. Good to know i wasn't the only one

@omgJOHN: It is when it's unnecessary and completely erases an established and unique character in favor of a lousy committee-designed exercise in mediocrity. Hopefully, they'll get the old voice actor back, too.

@Deuce

Wait, seriously? You find the bald white guy look to be unique? The only distinguishable trait his look has is some loose backpack straps, as I recall.

@Deuce
Thank you. Many times, thank you. This is exactly the reason a lot of us have been so vocal in our opposition to the redesign.
Some publishing execs took it upon themselves to assume that you, me, and every avid gamer with money to spend, are basically aspiring to be a version of this absurd tool that is new Cole! It's like trying to convince people that Darth Vader turned into Hayden Christiansen. De-evolution.
I'm glad they actually responded to the blogosphere... or whatever the kids are calling it now.

I'm ok with new hair, new build, new tattoo's... whatever. So long as the MAKE SENSE. Having a person with a completely different face and voice and everything... it's just immersion breaking for me. And even though Story is the red-headed step child of gaming, I find it pretty important when they go to so much trouble to immerse you in it....

He can grow hair, get new tattoos, exercise some more/less, whatever. Just don't make him into an entirely different person without a damn good reason behind it.

I swear, I hope all this whining and raising hell over the new Cole doesn't delay the game at all....

Seriously Infamous was one of my favorite games and the character change didn't bother me at all. When you are using fictional characters, especially comic book and hero characters, you should have the liberty to change their appearance.

How many Batman, Superman, Hulks, Xmen, and now even Spiderman revisions have there been over the years in games and movies.

@Giggman

good point. I think its due to people getting used to one character, but we have to trust the developers of these games to do what they do best, if it was up to us to change a game with our bitching and whining then we would have no progress in games, like the Call of Duty series. The new cole was not only a look but also certain attitude and feel with his new surroundings. like a re-imagining of a kind

@Giggman I agree with you. I finally came to terms on SP's decision to change Cole's look and now they're changing him again.

I don't even understand how they changed him that drastically, to begin with. I didn't think it would stick because of all the uproar and I'm glad it won't. They have to keep his look, period. If they want to change his clothes, fine, it makes more sense. Sucker Punch hit a home run with that original character and they need to stick with him, the way he looks in Infamous. Trying to pretty boy him up was a stupid idea. THAT'S not Cole. I want to see the "new" design.

@TreyIM2 - I also think they were trying too hard to mimic Nathan Drake with that look. That look was fine for him because that's how Nathan was introduced and it worked because that's how he was ORIGINALLY. Cole is NOT Nathan and I'm not sure if I believe that it was a focus group thing. I think it was a Sony thing...

Good. The new (now old?) Cole looked too much like a character Nolan North would voice.

I know i'm the only person in the world who did, but i liked new cole.

@ExplicitFunction

Yea I didn't mind it. It was kind of weird having a character change all of a sudden... But it's not like that's never happened in a movie before.

Keep the hair.

It's a shame they don't have the gut to go with the new style. I like it quite a bit. A creative team should never let the world decide what you need to do and pull back due to fear. It would be a shame to make him back into that generic looking character from the original game.

The mass population don't like the new look because they haven't put in a minute with it so they have no connection with it and all they want is the same old comfort-zone stuff. Same thing happened to Dead Rising and many other sequels.

@billysea
Wait.... So changing him into generic male model form somehow makes him less generic? I'm not saying I minded the new design much, but really he was actually a pretty unique looking character in the first one and the redesign looked more generic. plus if you're going to redesign a character that drastically then just make it a new character instead. he can't shapeshift.

@billysea
I agree with your basic idea of creative license. But inFamous is an established product, and it is now as much OUR game as it is the developer's. Maybe moreso, since it is being made for us. Think of how you feel when somebody close to you gives you a gift that clues you into the fact that they have absolutely no idea who you are as a person. It hurts your feelings, and you question your relationship with that other party.
So this announcement is like your girlfriend (or whatever) taking that tossed-off impulse buy back to the store to get you something that better defines her feelings toward you.

@Vegna What? He was another generic while male with a shaved head in the first game.

The only unique part of his design was the yellow/black jacket and that wasn't going to carry over to Infamous 2 either way.

@billysea Creative types should be unfettered? The Pontiac Aztek says hi.

Creative decisions aren't always the right decisions.

Yes! This is what I wanted.

They made a design decision with the first game and they need to stick with it. He doesn't need to look like Nathan Drake.

not that I minded new cole much but......... HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
even if he's not the same as old Cole, as long as he loses the hair I'll be perfectly happy..

Yes! This is what I wanted.

They made a design decision with the first game and they need to stick with it. He doesn't need to look like Nathan Drake.

@rnice

No! This is not what I wanted.

They made a design decision with the first game and they shouldn't be constrained to that design just to stick with it. He doesn't need to look like Nathan Hale from Resistance Fall of Man.

http://www.gameguru.in/images/sgt-hale-resistance.jpg
http://media.photobucket.com/image/Nathan%20Hale%20Resistance/napk1ns/gicoverfeb08.jpg
http://www.cinemablend.com/images/sections/15494/15494.jpg

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inFamous 2

inFamous 2's Cole getting a retro makeover

Reader Comments (63)

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:02PM Acosta02 said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:07PM acefondu said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:28PM Nintendo Tim said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:35PM Acosta02 said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 2:02PM JamesHks said

Posted: Jul 24th 2010 7:29PM ShadowMonkey987 said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:03PM Code Supreme commenter said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:15PM Lennoko said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:24PM Acosta02 said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:24PM Code Supreme commenter said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:25PM Antilight said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:40PM Manifest37 said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 3:08PM Xoonaka said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 3:39PM Liquidfingers said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 4:07PM stagegr said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:03PM Ezio Auditore da Firenze said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:06PM Ezio Auditore da Firenze said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:29PM Antilight said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:06PM logicplay said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:07PM logicplay said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 2:31PM liquidsoap89 said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:09PM PR0F3TA said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:55PM Bubbameister33 said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 2:13PM JonahStein said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:10PM 216 said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:20PM Thomas Zane said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:21PM omgJOHN said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:25PM PR0F3TA said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:27PM Deuce said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:39PM Acosta02 said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 2:02PM JonahStein said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 3:06PM Xoonaka said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:22PM Giggman said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:31PM PR0F3TA said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 2:50PM Tsacdop said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:29PM TreyIM2 said

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Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:36PM greencardigan said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:46PM ExplicitFunction said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 2:36PM liquidsoap89 said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 1:57PM mywhitenoise said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 2:02PM billysea said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 2:14PM Vegna said

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Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 3:21PM CrashTunoku said

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