Dylan steps out of his cell to find the Oldest House on high alert, with alarms blaring and no other living people anywhere to be found. A handful of bureau employees infected by the Hiss (the infecting alien force Jesse fought (and apparently ultimately failed) to contain in the first game) are stumbling around to serve as tutorial fodder for me to learn the basics of attacking and dodging. Emerging from the front door, Dylan finds Manhattan to be in similarly rough shape to the Oldest House – apparently, the Hiss has fully escaped.

A radio on one of the floating bodies chirps out a distress call that Dylan answers. FBC agent Zoe is extremely relieved to make contact with anyone, even if Dylan is understandably cagey at first about his identity, and she directs him towards her. I then begin to fight my way through the apocalyptic streets and alleys of NYC.

In one of these alleys, I face off against my first larger enemies, towering above with giant heads that they smash down on me. A wall blocks my advancement until I clear the impromptu arena of the larger threats, with smaller, basic enemies respawning continually in the meantime. It requires a bit more situational awareness than the previous fight to make sure Dylan isn’t hit from behind, which is just a taste of things to come.

After this I am presented with another set of three choices for my secondary weapon: Crush (a huge, slow, smashing mallet), Drill (a directed, sustained damage weapon), and Extend (a whip-like chain staff for range, which I chose to complement the close-up damage of Slice).