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Nintendo: Wii Previews

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Preview

Sonic Unleashed

Format: Nintendo Wii

Developer: Sega

Publisher: Sega

Genre: Action

5-May-2008 It's Sonic but not as you know him...

37 Comments

The times, they are a-changing... or, in Sonic The Hedgehog's case, regressing. Having seen Sega's eponymous hero evolve over the last 17 years and go from starring in a simple 2D side-scrolling platformer to being part of a vast universe of characters, game genres and free-roaming 3D graphics, one thing has become crystal clear: Sonic has lost his way.

Yes, we like the way he can do other genres too (Sega Superstar Tennis is brilliant) and his collaboration with Mario has proven more popular than anyone could have possibly imagined but, when it comes to his more traditional high-speed platforming adventures... well, he's been a bit rubbish as of late.

Don't get us wrong - Sonic And The Secret Rings was easily the best 'proper' home console Sonic game for a long time but as good as it was, that's not really saying much. You only have to look through his recent back catalogue to see what we mean. Sonic Heroes (and its unnecessary sequel) were a bland mess, Shadow The Hedgehog should never have been made (guns... really?) and the less said about Sonic The Hedgehog on 360 and PS3 the better, if only because it was absolutely awful.

Back To Basics
Call it a much-needed epiphany then, but it seems that someone at Sonic Team has finally decided to listen to the criticism and do something about it with the latest Sonic game, Sonic Unleashed. Think that the vastness of the 3D levels and lack of guidance through them goes against everything that Sonic's original speed freak gameplay stands for? Then it's gone. Can't stand the fact that Sonic's clan of hangers-on seem to take up more stage time than the hedgehog himself? They're gone too (well, mostly). Even the vast range of gimmicks that Sonic himself has built up over the years have been reined back, leaving him back doing what he's always done best - running fast, grabbing rings and spin-dashing into anything that gets in his way.

Not that you'd be able to tell that from the very early game screenshots we've got on show here. By now, we're highly expecting some of you to have seen the 'leaked' gameplay footage that has spread across the internet like wildfire (if you haven't, you're actually missing out) and, as such, know that Sonic Unleashed is about as close to the old-school Sonic games as you're likely to get. Stupidly pretty 3D visuals aside, the majority of the gameplay we've been shown by Sega so far is traditional 2D side-scrolling. What's more, thanks to some classic level design, it lets Sonic fans get back to the business of running through stages at ridiculous speeds, relying on their reactions to dodge obstacles and generally enjoying the things that made Sonic good in the first place. Joyous news, to be sure.

If It Ain't Broke...
That's not to say it's all a 2D fanboy's dream though. As you can see, the gameplay switches fairly regularly between side-scrolling loops, slopes and rails and a 3D viewpoint more familiar to new gamers. Thankfully, these sections follow a much tighter focus similar to Sonic And The Secret Rings while also being less restrictive in terms of movement (and by that, we mean it's not 'on rails').

The result? A game that lets you explore without letting you off the leash too much, doesn't over-complicate the action with levels that feel too packed with things to do and, most importantly, doesn't have a broken camera that can't keep up with the pace of everything. And, perhaps best of all, it's really solid - even the 3D sections feel suitably old-school and don't ever leave you feeling like you're not in control of the action any more, unlike some of the previous games.

Of course, despite us being able to tell you all of this from first-hand experience (thanks to our hands-on time and interview with Sonic Team), all we've really done so far is confirm things you could have possibly worked out for yourself if you were a bit intuitive. What we haven't mentioned yet is the one thing that makes Sonic Unleashed markedly different from
its predecessors, the sole gimmick that Sonic Team has decided to make the key focus of the whole game. And, to be blunt, you're probably not going to like it, at least not at first. What is it? The fact that Sonic is... a werehog.

The Beast Within
Yes, you read it right - thanks to Dr Eggman and one of his newfangled contraptions, Sonic now has a dark alter-ego in the form of a clawed, fanged and generally fuzzy werehog. But wait! Before you run for the hills in fear of rubbish gameplay, this is far from the pistol-toting mess that resulted from Sonic Team USA adding guns to the mix for Shadow The Hedgehog. With Sonic Unleashed being developed internally by Sonic Team Japan (no matter what you might have heard elsewhere about the game being spread across American and European development teams), the idea of Sonic transforming into a raging beast is being handled with more tact and diplomacy than you might expect. Think of it as an attempt to mix up the gameplay a little, rather than just Sega shoehorning as much gung-ho bravado into the action as they possibly can.

Against 'normal' Sonic's high-speed running and jumping, Were-Sonic (as we're calling him) is a slightly slower and yet more agile beast. Where Sonic dodges past obstacles, Were-Sonic manhandles them out of the way and can toss enemies around like nobody's business. Even better, his overly-long arms let him traverse the levels by swinging instead of running, giving him an almost Donkey Kong-esque feel at times. He's not evil either, being more the Incredible Hulk to Sonic's Bruce Banner; those concerned that this new darker form will see Sonic going bad shouldn't worry too much.
As you'd expect, the beast only comes out at night (in levels like the Africa stage shown sparingly here) with the stage design changing to match his abilities. It's a melding of two very distinct gameplay styles - one familiar,
one not - but, interestingly, what we've seen manages to hold together nicely.

And There's More...
Still, that doesn't mean we don't have questions and possible concerns; for example, how Sonic Team intends to balance out the split between light and dark levels, how much 2D gameplay there'll be compared to 3D or who besides Sonic will make an appearance (we've been told Tails and Amy pop up, but we suspect other regulars such as Knuckles and Shadow may creep in as well).

That Sonic Team is keeping quiet shows the developer is keen to keep at least some information about Sonic Unleashed under wraps, despite the leaks that have plagued it so far. But then, based on the few levels we've had the chance to experience so far, there's more than enough good stuff here to get us very excited indeed. Classic Sonic gameplay! Shiny next-gen visuals! All the bits that were rubbish removed! All we need now is for the Were-Sonic sections to be up to scratch (which, from what we've seen, they are) and it looks like Sonic could be back to being as good as ever...

Tom East