At first glance, Sunset Overdrive, which is an open world action adventure platformer with an explosion of color and the trademark humor that developer Insomniac Games is known for, is extremely different from Sucker Punch’s inFamous: Second Son, their third entry in their open world superhero action adventure series. Nonetheless, the former is an exclusive to Xbox One, and the latter to the PS4, so of course, forum dwelling fanboys were going to pit them up against each other, no matter how little sense the comparison made!
Commenting on this comparison to GameRevolution, Insomniac sounded amused and pleased with it, however.
“The comparison is flattering,” Drew Murray, director of Sunset Overdrive, explained, “as we have a longstanding friendship with Sucker Punch and are fans of the InFamous series.”
That said, he did stress that the two are very different games:
“Beyond some surface similarities, Sunset Overdrive is its own unique experience. Movement through Sunset City is connected to the city itself – you’re grinding along handrails and telephone wires, bouncing off of cars and awnings, wall-running along skyscrapers, gliding across canals and rivers – and is inspired by anime movies and comic books as much as games like Tony Hawk, Jet Grind Radio, Prince of Persia, and our own Ratchet & Clank.
“We also have a very strong emphasis on combat and gunplay and have created a large arsenal of the crazy weapons that can only come from Insomniac. The marriage of acrobatic capabilities and wild gunplay as you move through a colorful city full of mutants, along with our tone, sense of humor, and interest in “fun” over “realism” makes Sunset Overdrive stand on its own.”
That sounds about right to me. inFamous: Second Son was a great game, and Sunset Overdrive looks like it will be a great game too. Can’t we just appreciate what they both bring to the table, instead of engaging in some kind of childish zero sum comparison banter?