Sega will release Sonic Unleashed on Xbox 360 and Wii tomorrow (PS3 in December), and here are the first 10(or 20) minutes in video. The game looks great and it has many of the classic Sonic moments in it, but then again we have that certain Werehog too.
When the sun goes down, you morph into the Werehog. Basically you walk slower, have a darker voice and the stages turn into puzzle & fighting arenas. While the Sonic stages can be finished in three minutes, the Werehog stages instead take up to 20 minutes. You fight a big number of enemies (sometimes 15 or more), then move on and do puzzle's involving switches and moving objects.
My biggest issue with the Werehog is that everything is so slow. You jump, and he kind of hovers in the air. Quite the day-and-night difference compared to Sonic, and this is what I can't understand - if they add a new character, why would they want to make him even slower than any other typical video game character? If they just could have made him a decent movement scheme, it wouldn't be such a pain to do the puzzles and knocking out the enemies. It's not catastrophically bad, but it's bringing the game down.
Thankfully you have the dash button, where the Werehog goes down on all four and runs faster. There's a small movement angle while running in these speeds, so it's mostly used when you run through corridors or open spaces. After finishing a stage you can divide new ability points to either Sonic or the Werehog, and thanks to some new moves for the latter the fighting doesn't get as bad later in the game. You also gain higher Unleashed levels, making Werehog faster for longer time.
The fighting controls are not just about button smashing, he can perform different kombos and grab the enemies. By killing enemies, a meter is filled, and when it's full he can go in Rage mode and get more critical hits and do more damage. The game has an open world where you can talk to people that often give away hints for the next stage.
In the video below you'll find the first three stages in the game, where Sonic's movement is explained through the tutorial. Since there are so many in-game cut-scenes, I had to edit some out. Enjoy!
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All comments (27)
Commented on 2008-11-27 16:41:49Tho i think they destroyd <- sry spelling, the game with the 3d thing, an fighting thing.
IMO they should just have stayed with the old classic 2 d thing but with 3d view.
The fighting part is just not Sonic.
I mean i remember sony on the Sega Master SYstem, it was fast, smooth, and fun.
Now its like, fast...... a bit, then it stops, and then its fighting, wtf is that?
I understand they want the younger kids into this games, but plz, take out the damn fighting in 3d thing.
IT just ruin the game (imo)
I hope next sonic game will be like the old classic, 2d, with some new 3d gfx, and on a strait line.. OR, they do it like this game, it was fast and looked fun, THE RUNNING PART THAT IS, then offcourse <- sry spelling, they have to throw in the fighting part, and then the game just die.
Zmoker out.
Commented on 2008-11-27 16:58:12the running bits looked great fun, although i'd rather they be more based on a side view.
but the story , and loading screens, sonic speaking, the rediculas ware-sonic thing, the robots, the fighting, the walking around talking to people, its just utter trash. i had high hopes this might be (FINALLY...!!) the game to bring sonic back to what made him successful...
maybe next time then...
edit. huh, how come above post was bouleted? seemed like a reasonable opinion to me
Commented on 2008-11-27 17:47:24this is wrong. PS3 version will be released in December, though it's not known when exactly.
Commented on 2008-11-27 18:09:26
Commented on 2008-11-27 18:11:59 In reply to LEBATO
Commented on 2008-11-27 18:13:52Like the old sonic on Megadrive.. but HD.. more colors.. more sprites.. and beautiful backgrounds and musics..
They don't have to do thing 3D just because we are in 2008... if a game is better in 2D.. then.. DO 2D.. ... 1990, 2008 or 2120.. doesn't matter..
(sorry my english)
Commented on 2008-11-27 18:44:22 In reply to AnjiroLike the old sonic on Megadrive.. but HD.. more colors.. more sprites.. and beautiful backgrounds and musics..
They don't have to do thing 3D just because we are in 2008... if a game is better in 2D.. then.. DO 2D.. ... 1990, 2008 or 2120.. doesn't matter..
(sorry my english)
Commented on 2008-11-27 18:47:12 In reply to ZmokeRi didnt really care for any of the 3d sonic games and the only good 3d mario game to me was super mario 64...
They should all just do what the new Street Fighter did; instead of going all 3d have 2d gameplay and 3d gfx :D
Oh wait..... i just thought bout the new Paper Mario... i never played it b4... isnt it supposed to be like that?... but the other paper marios were rpg's, ugh nevermind
Oh btw right below the last picture the column says "kombos" instead of combos (haha someones been playin to much mortal kombat ;D)
btw btw the stream is down for me to
Commented on 2008-11-27 19:09:17 In reply to dirttbaggi didnt really care for any of the 3d sonic games and the only good 3d mario game to me was super mario 64...
They should all just do what the new Street Fighter did; instead of going all 3d have 2d gameplay and 3d gfx :D
Oh wait..... i just thought bout the new Paper Mario... i never played it b4... isnt it supposed to be like that?... but the other paper marios were rpg's, ugh nevermind
Oh btw right below the last picture the column says "kombos" instead of combos (haha someones been playin to much mortal kombat ;D)
btw btw the stream is down for me to
Commented on 2008-11-27 19:54:25 In reply to janofamthis is wrong. PS3 version will be released in December, though it's not known when exactly.
Commented on 2008-11-27 20:12:34
Commented on 2008-11-27 20:50:55
Commented on 2008-11-27 22:15:39
Commented on 2008-11-28 00:42:53 In reply to KahL
Commented on 2008-11-28 08:11:21
Commented on 2008-11-28 08:11:51
Commented on 2008-11-28 08:19:59
Commented on 2008-11-28 14:48:56This includes deriving fun from his darkest hours, including Sonic '06 where I thought (parts of) White Acropolis and Flame Core and Crisis City were perfectly playable and in instances fun. So, yeah, I'm not easily put off, but Unleashed always worried me to the point where I couldn't get excited.
I won't say I told you so, firsly because I told nobody anything in particular and secondly because I really thought the running bits would cripple the Sonic Adventure 1 and Secret Rings formula to the point where the 3D bits weren't enjoyable at all and just have you holding forward and instantly completing everything. Turns out from most reviews; the speedy Sonic bits ARE very enjoyable and the assyness comes from repetitive Werehog bits and hub world.
But there's hope yet! The Wii and PS2 versions were designed by Dimps, of Sonic Advance, Rush fame (ie Sonic games that have consistently been great, though not in the Megadrive way you may expect) where the running portions supposedly are even better, and the hub world is replaced by an interface where you spin the continents around and simply choose your missions from a list.
The Werehog bits are given a little bit more substance by the Wiimote controls that sometimes are weird but nevertheless change the gameplay up a bit from just mashing a single button.
All in all, if you are interested in this game and have all of the consoles at hand, picking up the Wii version might just be the best choice despite lacking some visual polish. Eurogamer will have a separate Wii review up soon, and they're touting it in their comments section in a way that says it's worth paying attention. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Dimps has outdone its big brother similar to what Montreal did to Shanghai's Splinter Cell: Double Agent.
Commented on 2008-11-29 05:46:53Just because you can, doesn't mean you shouldn't.
Quite frankly. An obnoxious sidekick that yells Sonic every time there is a point of interest doesn't exactly make me want to pick this up. And I really wanted to pick this up. Imagine if, in Sonic 2, Tails would slow down the action to alert you to a hidden spring or power up? It would have completely ruined the flow of the game. He was superfluous, you could turn him off in the Options menu if you didn't want him tagging along but it wasn't necessary. The only thing Tails ever did was jump on a movement triggered platform and cause you to do die. In these games, they just can't seem to lose them.
And what the hell is with these RPG like sequences. I hate these in Sonic Adventure. So why the fuck are they still here? When it all comes down to it, I thought, with his game they were starting to realise what they'd been doing wrong.
After seeing the Were Hog (?) in action. I guess not.
Commented on 2008-11-30 04:55:50Full review.
Commented on 2008-12-02 02:28:00I can see why Sega would be frustrated. One half of you is asking for pure speed and the other half of you is asking for platforming. This game is the closest you got to having both in a long time, and people still aren't satisfied. At least they actually listened to their fans this time for once, and that made this game much better than the path they were heading down..(Sonic 06, Shadow the Hedgehog, etc).
Commented on 2008-12-02 20:14:22 In reply to ContraAnd it really is a good game.
You're absolutely right, Sonic wasn't just about speed in the olde days, but neither was Mario about flying from one planet to the next. These games will take new directions, some bad (as is the rule with Sonic rather than the exception) and some good. SaTSR doesn't fully adhere to the principles behind the first games, but it's nevertheless a great game in its own right. It had control issues from essentially being Heroes shoehorned into a brand new gameplay framework, but as long as you played it right it was a blast.
I happen to like Sonic Battle and Sonic 3D aswell, despite them not feeling like parts of the *main series*.
But like I said, I do think you're right. With a real, proper Sonic game, Sega shouldn't feel forced to work in extra characters to have all its gameplay bases covered. To me, Sonic Adventure was absolutely fine. Sonic levels had plenty of variety and the game wasn't ludicrously fast. Sonic Adventure 2 is where it went wrong, where Sonic levels became all about speed and the platforming and methodical gameplay responsibilities were passed off to Tails and Knuckles. I dunno why it's taking Sega so long to figure that out.
In the meantime though, GOOD games starring the hedgehog - whether they aspire to nail the Sonic 1-3 formula in 3D or not - is a breath of fresh air, and in that sense I think Secret Rings and Rush did wonders to keep Sonic relevant.
Commented on 2008-12-04 00:36:55 In reply to SimonM7And it really is a good game.
You're absolutely right, Sonic wasn't just about speed in the olde days, but neither was Mario about flying from one planet to the next. These games will take new directions, some bad (as is the rule with Sonic rather than the exception) and some good. SaTSR doesn't fully adhere to the principles behind the first games, but it's nevertheless a great game in its own right. It had control issues from essentially being Heroes shoehorned into a brand new gameplay framework, but as long as you played it right it was a blast.
I happen to like Sonic Battle and Sonic 3D aswell, despite them not feeling like parts of the *main series*.
But like I said, I do think you're right. With a real, proper Sonic game, Sega shouldn't feel forced to work in extra characters to have all its gameplay bases covered. To me, Sonic Adventure was absolutely fine. Sonic levels had plenty of variety and the game wasn't ludicrously fast. Sonic Adventure 2 is where it went wrong, where Sonic levels became all about speed and the platforming and methodical gameplay responsibilities were passed off to Tails and Knuckles. I dunno why it's taking Sega so long to figure that out.
In the meantime though, GOOD games starring the hedgehog - whether they aspire to nail the Sonic 1-3 formula in 3D or not - is a breath of fresh air, and in that sense I think Secret Rings and Rush did wonders to keep Sonic relevant.
While I do agree that sonic adventure was good, the main problem with the adventure series lied in the camera. The camera simply went all over the place. Sonic unleashed managed to do things right in the day stages with a fixed camera, but I can't say the same for the night stages.
I'm not trying to say Sonic Unleashed is the greatest sonic game since adventure. But at the same time I think that the reviewers smashing the game constantly(some giving it a 3.0 out of 10) because there happen to be slower paced platforming elements in it, and that's not "what they wanted" just angers me. You don't review games on what you want in it, you review games on what was given to you and whether or not that works.
Commented on 2008-12-08 13:42:34 In reply to ContraI really enjoy the running levels but I can't say I absolutely loathe the warehog levels. It takes some time to get used to it but I still find it fun.
Commented on 2008-12-11 05:39:58 In reply to ContraWhile I do agree that sonic adventure was good, the main problem with the adventure series lied in the camera. The camera simply went all over the place. Sonic unleashed managed to do things right in the day stages with a fixed camera, but I can't say the same for the night stages.
I'm not trying to say Sonic Unleashed is the greatest sonic game since adventure. But at the same time I think that the reviewers smashing the game constantly(some giving it a 3.0 out of 10) because there happen to be slower paced platforming elements in it, and that's not "what they wanted" just angers me. You don't review games on what you want in it, you review games on what was given to you and whether or not that works.