360/PS3 version shown
“So what game do you really wanna see at E3?” was a question a lot of my friends asked before I shoveled off to Los Angeles. My answer was a two parter; (1) PixelJunk Eden and (2) Sonic Unleashed. I’ve played every console Sonic title in recent memory, from Heroes to Shadow to the universally groan-inducing 2006 redux, Sonic the Hedgehog. I’ve seen Sega’s mascot at his absolute worst and, while I rarely found Sonic games to be the epic disasters so loathed by other reviewers, I definitely felt they took more steps back than forward. The 2006 title was billed as a rebirth of sort and, had it actually been finished, might have held true to its word. Now it’s the same old story, a rebirth of the franchise. I’ve been burned so many times I wanted to not believe a word of it, but, just like last time, my curiosity and childhood roots as a Sonic fan were impossible to escape; I had an insatiable desire to see what was in store.
And I did. Sega showed us portions of three of the levels for Sonic Unleashed and my reaction was, well, surprising. I had seen video clips and screens before, but the daytime portions of Sonic’s new game really do look to mix the best aspects of his side scrolling past with the style and platforming portions of his 3D entries. Sonic’s transition into the third dimension wasn’t quite as smooth as Mario’s, and despite nearly triple the amount of titles, he still hasn’t caught up. However, rather than ape the traditional Mario exploration-type gameplay, Sonic Unleashed features what appears to be a perfectly constructed marriage between old and new. The side view perspective represented over half of the first level, and in doing so brought back feelings rosy feelings of nostalgia. It actually looked like an old Sonic game despite its next gen packaging.
And this is standard fare, given his M.O, but Sonic runs at a breakneck speed (which I’m told was over 300mph if you use impossible math to translate it to real life) and has rarely looked better doing so. The previous games lost even more of their luster when Sonic slowed down, but Sonic Team seems to have finally addressed this issue by focusing a majority of each level around Sonic is breaking the sound barrier. They’re also trying to make sure it’s not devoid of thought or simply “hold right until the end,” by injecting a few more traditional, yet still fast paced platforming elements into the mix. The particular level we were shown featured Sonic jumping on and around some floating carousel devices, which, while nothing earth shattering, was perfectly functional in adding a momentary glimpse of depth to the gameplay.
On one hand it seemed reminiscent of 2007’s on-rails Wii title, Secret Rings, but the fine gentlemen at Sega assured us that nothing was on rails and everything was fully comfortable in real time. This had me worried because some similar segments in Sonic 2006, namely the water run in the first level, often ended in frustrating catastrophe due to poor collision detection and a ridiculous camera, but Unleashed featured a similar setup with little unnecessary death and frustration. When Sonic would hit a wall he would simply cascade off it rather than die for no reason and restart the level. Yeah sure, that should be a standard portion of a videogame, but with Sonic you usually have to take what you can get.
Part of this I guess is due to the all new engine, dubbed the Hedgehog Engine, created specifically for the game (as well as some other titles on which they declined to elaborate). Some typical slowdown was present (as it is in all pre release builds), but the flow and, most importantly, the camera system seemed to be huge improvements over Sonic’s previous efforts. Not everything was shiny and redeeming, however, as Sonic still was needlessly thrown into spikes and twice failed at landing on some reasonable part of the earth after hitting a spring. Still, the daytime portion of the game was remarkably competent in design.
But all of that changes during the night time levels. Dr. Eggman apparently found the time to use some chaos emeralds to his advantage and, in doing so, cursed Sonic into a werewolf like creature when the lights go out. Stripped of his speed, Sonic is transformed into a slow, burly, and all around goofy looking caricature of his previous self. As Greg humorously put it, it looked like his design was pulled right from an unofficial version of the Clayfighter series.
Anyway this particular portion of the gameplay was said to be focused more around combat and traditional platforming. In the level shown this translated over to interval bits of both, with Sonic having to clear a “room” of enemies before climbing a few structures. The combat, to put it blatantly, didn’t look as well developed as the rest of the title. It seemed arbitrary and inconsequential, despite the alleged thirty plus moves that we’re told will wind up in Sonic’s arsenal. Given, we didn’t see all that many enemies, but the handful that were there appeared to be largely comprised of one hit melee filler and traditional mash happy stand ins. I’m not saying Sonic has to turn into Kratos any time soon, but if combat is going to be a significant portion of Sonic’s menu, I hope it feels better than it seemed in the demo. Still, the other combat portions, with Sonic using his new build to extend his arms in a Ristar-like manner and spin like a helicopter to slow his fall, seemed slightly more inspired. The branching paths were also a nice touch for depth but, on the whole, the night time portions of the game seemed to vastly underwhelm in the shadow of the energetic feeling of the daytime hours.
Despite the missteps during the nighttime portions, I really think Sonic may finally be on the right course. The day time portions were thrilling and failed at repeating most of the mistakes from last time around. And in what is sure to be good news for everyone to hear, I was assured that Sonic would be the only playable character for “ninety nine percent” of the game. The other one percent is anyone’s guess, but that is a ratio I’ll gladly take after wasting my time with Tails and other friends in games past. The night portion may have been just a misstep in presentation, but the only thing that really scares me is their admission of a solid, unchanging release date. Most of Sonic Teams work, from Nights 2 to Shadow to Sonic 2006, has felt like it needed a little more time in the oven. They’re refusal to budge on these things might be cause for concern but, when the game feels this good four months away from release, maybe they’re finally going to hit the mark anyhow. Here’s to hoping.
