PS3 Fanboy eyes-on: Sonic Unleashed
by Jem Alexander 
{ Jul 21st 2008 at 5:00PM }
The first thing you notice about Unleashed is that it's very pretty. Even with rough shadows and unfinished lighting physics, the game looks gorgeous. It looks like it might also play quite nicely, depending on controls. There are two different styles of gameplay in Unleashed which, together, could satisfy most Sonic fans.
For a lot of people the name Sonic is synonymous with "speed," and the day-time missions in Unleashed reflect this. The first level seemed simple enough -- hold the analogue stick in the right direction and watch Sonic go, making sure to jump in time. Obviously, this won't be true throughout the game, later levels will feature more precise platforming sections and less non-stop running. There are also different routes to take throughout the levels, which require a specific button combination press in order to reach.
For those who enjoyed the 2D Sonic games for the exploration, the newly-revealed nighttime levels will be more to your taste. During the opening of the game Sonic is transformed into a Werehog. By day he is unaffected, but at night he becomes slower but far more powerful. His arms elongate and become elastic, allowing him to climb and batter his enemies into nothing with his fists.
These nighttime portions of the game feel reminiscent of old PS1 platformers, such as Crash Bandicoot and Spyro. There's exploration and combat mixed in, to give us a bit of downtime after the fast-paced daytime levels. Combat looks very stylish, with purple and blue sparks flying out of Sonic's now oversized fists. We just wish we knew how the controls feel.
Sonic Unleashed will be polished and will certainly look good when it's released this Christmas. If the entire game plays as platformy as the levels we've seen, then it will also play well. We're reserving judgment, for the most part, until we get some hands-on times with the game. Until then all we can say is that Sonic Unleashed is looking to be the best 3D Sonic game yet -- not that that's saying much.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
kevin @ Jul 21st 2008 5:09PM
i disagree. I would say that sonic advance trilogy and sonic rush were the last great games, and they were not released that long ago.
the question is whether or not that sonic team can still make a great sonic game.
pat1202003 @ Jul 21st 2008 5:44PM
Those where 2D games! They say the best 3D Sonic game ever!
bvhj @ Jul 21st 2008 5:16PM
i agree that the game looks amazing, in terms of looks, but that's as far as it goes. i think that it's a shame to waste such nice graphics on such a god awful game.
J Swayze @ Jul 21st 2008 5:20PM
Sonic Adventures on Dreamcast was great
Ty @ Sep 16th 2008 11:15AM
I agree, and so do game review sights. But, gamers always neglect this, because they're so general.
Go and check my post on the "What is this sonic unleashed trailer missing? 2D" 2008/09/15 my reply is on the 16th. 3rd page at the top or so. Its huge, you can't miss it.
mshimer5 @ Jul 21st 2008 5:28PM
Technically, I would say Sonic CD was the best 3D Sonic game, as it was (sort of) in 3D. 2 spacial + 1 temporal dimension = 3D. Just saying.
Anyway, on topic: I was excited about this game, until the nighttime levels. Why, SEGA, why?
mercurywa @ Jul 22nd 2008 11:42AM
I completely agree. That was the one Sonic game that cemented my love for the series, and "they" have yet to seriously improve upon it... or at LEAST release it on a living platform so I can play it again.
Ty @ Jul 21st 2008 6:19PM
I WAS NOT THE FIRST PERSON TO SAY THIS:
"Whatever happened to controlling Sonic?" I mean ya the 2D versions were the BEST versions but, Sonic Adventure wasn't that bad. You could still control where Sonic ran.
Sonic Team is ignorant of their main problems when it comes to 3D Sonic games. Camera angles and level design. Sonic Adventure(1 and 2) was almost what people wanted. The problem with these games was that the Camera and Sonic were seperate entities. But since then, the level design of Sonic games has taken a sharp turn for the worse... Shadow the Hedgehog? Sonic Riders? Sonic Heroes? Sonic 2006. Wildfire (aka Secret Rings) had good flow but they had to restrict his free range of motion. In a sense, Sonic and the Secret Rings is a spruced up 2D platformer. And it looks like Unleashed is going to be a spruced up version of Secret Rings.
All they have to do, is mount the camera just above and behind Sonic and then think about steering him like a car, rather then having him move around in the constraints of a current camera swing area. Jumping? self explanitory. Since the camera is mounted behind and above Sonic at all times, the camera goes up.
The only issue with this is that you get a blind spot directly in front of him as if there was a shadow caused by a light-source that was the camera. Since the camera is always going to be centered, a player should hold down a trigger button to turn the camera. Letting go would let it return.
Level design. Speed and vastness. The idea is that since Sonic is fast he can go very far so levels should be huge and he should have a reason to go to specific places. A map is not really required. All he needs is just someone telling him where he needs to generally go and why and a pointer. Design levels around that. Multiple paths should be designed to be theoretically equivalent OR if no equivalent, fast paths should be harder, and even faster paths much much harder. By harder I mean dieing is easier and so is being forced to a stand still.
Thats all they need to do to make good Sonic games. I'm hoping one day I can work for the Vancouver based developer that often makes Sonic games for portable video game players.
Ty @ Jul 21st 2008 6:22PM
I WAS NOT THE FIRST PERSON TO SAY THIS:
"Whatever happened to controlling Sonic?" I mean ya the 2D versions were the BEST versions but, Sonic Adventure wasn't that bad. You could still control where Sonic ran.
Sonic Team is ignorant of their main problems when it comes to 3D Sonic games. Camera angles and level design. Sonic Adventure(1 and 2) was almost what people wanted. The problem with these games was that the Camera and Sonic were separate entities. But since then, the level design of Sonic games has taken a sharp turn for the worse... Shadow the Hedgehog? Sonic Riders? Sonic Heroes? Sonic 2006. Wildfire (aka Secret Rings) had good flow but they had to restrict his free range of motion. In a sense, Sonic and the Secret Rings is a spruced up 2D platformer. And it looks like Unleashed is going to be a spruced up version of Secret Rings.
All they have to do, is mount the camera just above and behind Sonic and then think about steering him like a car, rather then having him move around in the constraints of a current camera swing area. Jumping? self Explanitory. Since the camera is mounted behind and above Sonic at all times, the camera goes up.
The only issue with this is that you get a blind spot directly in front of him as if there was a shadow caused by a light-source that was the camera. Since the camera is always going to be centered, a player should hold down a trigger button to turn the camera. Letting go would let the camera return.
Level design. Speed and vastness. The idea is that since Sonic is fast he can go very far so levels should be huge and he should have a reason to go to specific places. A map is not really required. All he needs is just someone telling him where he needs to generally go, why and a pointer. Design levels around that. Multiple paths should be designed to be theoretically equivalent OR if not equivalent, fast paths should be harder, and even faster paths much much harder. By harder I mean failing is easier and so is being forced to a stand still.
Thats all they need to do to make good Sonic games. I'm hoping one day I can work for the Vancouver based developer that often makes Sonic games for portable video game players.
Tristan @ Jul 21st 2008 8:10PM
This is going to massively fun. Those images look hot. I was gonna get it for the Wii, but I think I will forgo that option and nab this for PS3!!!!!!!!!!!
Sonic rulez!!!