 Initially , the game was more free @-@ form , allowing players to purchase new powers at any point during the game , but the developers found it difficult to create a challenging game on that basis , particularly as they could not design missions calling for specific powers that the player may not have at that time . This evolved into the scheme of presenting new powers to the player over the course of the game , with the developers created guiding rules for which powers were ultimately included in the game and when : the power had to be useful and add something unique to the game , the player would need a chance to use that power immediately after they got it , and the power would need to be enjoyable to use . The team employed frequent reviews of when these powers were introduced to the player as other gameplay elements were added to the game . Not all powers were necessarily offensive ; the " <unk> " power , allowing the player to see the psychic echo of a dead person of where they were before their death , was added as the team found there was an element of fun in tracking the echo through the crowded city . Some powers were cut from the game . One power , gained through the Evil karma path , was called " <unk> " , and would have allowed Cole to control the minds of civilians and force them to join him in battle . Although the power was " decidedly evil and very fun to watch " , the team felt it wasn 't useful to the game , though they managed to retain a hint of it in one of the Evil side missions . Though the team had tested each of the core missions individually with the powers that the player would have based on the game 's storyboard , they found that play @-@ testers , who played the missions back @-@ to @-@ back , found the game lacked a variety of combat situations . The developers revisited all the combat scenarios from this feedback to alter the combat layouts as well as adding new enemies , a step that Bridges believes the game " benefited greatly " from . The ability to use Cole 's electrical powers to ride along Empire City 's elevated train rails was a last @-@ minute addition during the last month of development based on a play @-@ tester 's suggestion . 
