Sucker Punch Explains InFamous Changes
Talking to CVG, Sucker Punch's Nate Fox, the director of both inFamous 1 and 2, explained some of the reasons the game's protagonist Cole is going through such a radical change for the sequel. First the voice: Eric Ladin, who's been featured in the HBO series Generation Kill, guest starred on Mad Men as Betty Draper's brother, and voiced Ellis in Left 4 Dead 2, is taking over from Jason Cottle. Fox blames the new motion capture technology they're using for the change:
We got a new actor primarily because we were capturing action and audio at the same time. The old Cole was just a voice actor and since we're starting motion capture work we wanted to get someone who had the physicality and the voice, which we get simultaneously so we have more nuance in our performance.
Which sounds believable, I guess, although Cottle isn't "just a voice actor," having starred as the lead in the gay-themed horror movie Cthulu. Perhaps he was unwilling or unable to do the motion capture, or maybe Fox just wanted to spare his feelings as the company went in a different direction for the character.
Next Fox explained the woolly mammoth in the room: Cole's suddenly lush head of hair.
Part of the reason Cole had a shaved head in the first game was because we didn't think we could do a good job of rendering hair very well on the main character. Now we have better technology and we can give him a sweet head of hair - and lord knows if I could grow out my hair I would do it.
No problem with this, actually: hair should help distinguish him from the other tough chrome domes that litter the videogame landscape, although I guess now they run the risk of turning him into a Nathan Drake clone.
InFamous was a game I liked, but wanted to love, so I'm cautiously optimistic about the sequel. Cole's voice and bald head didn't really affect my enjoyment of the game, rather it was the repetitive gameplay and underwhelming morality system. I hope the folks at Sucker Punch don't waste too much time fixing what wasn't broken, and work a little harder at the things that could really use a touch-up.
After the break, check out the inFamous 2 E3 trailer, and hear Cole's new voice for yourself.
E3 2010: InFamous 2: Generation Kill actor is new Cole [CVG]
Dawdle
Posted to Video Games on 19 June 2010
· Comments (10)
Other stuff like this: eric ladin, hair, infamous 2, jason cottle, nate fox, ps3, sucker punch, voice acting
I'm sorry, but those excuses sound like total cop-outs.
It's like they just wanted to play around with new technology, so to hell with consistency. Let's just make an entirely diferent character and tell the fans of the first game, no really it's still him.
This actually annoys me quite a bit. And I haven't played that much of inFamous.
If you listen to the voice over it sounds an awful lot like what's his face from Uncharted, maybe not the voice (although it is similar) but the way he delivers his lines. They should've gone full Noir or kept the tone from the first game not gone in this ridiculous action/comedy direction.
I hate people. (by that i mean mouth breathers, i'm sure you are all wonderful people.)
Am I only one irked by the CATTLE PROD they decided to randomly throw into the game.
Seriously? A CATTLE PROD?!
That is the dumbest and ugliest thing I've ever seen added to a game where it wasn't needed at all.
For me that would be the Zoe/Ellis relationship they threw in the Passing for L4D2.
But I get your point. :P
having enjoyed the first game, I am consistently more disappointed with every new bit of material that comes out for this sequel. Cole has become a generic pretty boy in comparison to someone scarred, both physically and emotionally, by the events of the first game. way to go, Sucker Punch, I bought the first game when it came out; this one can wait for the bargain bin.
Or, how about everyone stop complaining, suck it up, and leave judgement calls until the game comes out! Screenshotsare one, but you may play the game and absolutely love it....let's stay calm...
I actually like the new look. The old Cole was too generic tough guy. He looked like Kratos without the body paint. Yeah, maybe it's veering too much into the Nathan Drake sort of hero, but I actually think that's a good thing because Drake was a genius idea by Naughty Dog -- for once a protaganist that -I- could swoon over for a change!
I find really silly this discussion. Just because Cole has a longer hair doesn't make him weaker. Reminds me to all that kids in LA that shave their heads and they think they are though. Stupid stereotypes.
I also think that there is kind of a "Uncharted sindrome" out there. It is true that this Cole looks a lot like Nathan Drake. Also if you played the last Splinter Cell Sam suffered a huge lifting! He was a mature man and in the last title looks way younger and again more similar to Drake than before. And it wasn't even justified by the story like because it wasn't a prequel. I don't think it's a big deal I just hope that they don't change too much the gameplay or the comic book style in the story, I love the first game. I think it was the first open world game that I was able to finish! ^_^
I don't think he looks weaker, but he had a signature look.
How many people would complain if Streetfighter's Ryu would start dying his hair blond or if Kratos was given a flowing mane of hair.
It's all about character recognition and consistency.
Which includes the character having the same freaking voice. Which is the part that I found the most annoying about the announcement.
yeah they totally changed the character. doing so they should have just made it another guy completely. different city, different hero/bad guy. i really like cole1. if uncharted did this, people would be livid. i'm sure the new one will be fun, but a whole different look will ruin the immersion. they shoulda went with slight progression. a big thumbs down. i'm glad i'm not the only one unhappy.