Review: Sonic Unleashed

[FlyinMX]

I honestly disagree with about 95% of your review. The only parts I can agree with are the voice acting (which can be changed to japanese if you hate it that much) and the towns, which are small and don't really provide much outside of a couple of short side missions.

I don't understand how you found the RPG elements are confusing though. You get exp from defeating enemies and can place it in two different stats for Sonic and five for the Werehog. Simple!

The Werehog bits were not that bad. They are long (on the first go, anyway) and the combat is a bit too repetitive (you can often get by on random X,Y combinations). But the platforming aspects of the levels are exceptional. Anytime I died it felt like my fault, unlike Sonic 2006.

The daytime levels are a lot of fun. Outside of one level having some annoying frame rate issues, they run at a smooth clip. They focus on speed which is Sonic's bread and butter and as you level up and earn new abilities, new paths and shortcuts become available. The only times I had trouble with the controls is when Sonic starts moving from a dead stop, he accelerates way too fast.

I've played the game to completion, and often had trouble choosing between it and Fallout 3.

It honestly sounds like you had a chip on your shoulder writing this review. It sounded like you were ready to just hate it before the game even started. I rarely defend a game but after seeing so many reviews like this (and IGN and Gamespot) I just had to say something.

 

[SirSchmoopy]

Remove Werehog, remove falling to your death and replace it with Mario Kart (YOU FELL OFF THE TRACK LOL HERE YOU GO SONIC), remove the lives system and just replace it with 2D running. I loved the 2D running parts at the start of the game but then they became a lot of falling off cliff parts and it took away from it. I want to go fast but the game makes me go slow. The werehog parts were even worse once you get to going from killing guys to balancing on poles and stuff.

You should never ever be penalized for going TOO FAST. Only too slow. In fact the whole game should have something chasing me trying to eat my flesh or that volcano wall from Braid.


That or just go Megaman 9 and make what worked since the retro feel will be enough to pass it by the majority.

 

[Super Racer Z]

Remove Werehog, remove falling to your death and replace it with Mario Kart (YOU FELL OFF THE TRACK LOL HERE YOU GO SONIC), remove the lives system and just replace it with 2D running.

I like the lives system, it punishes you for sucking and teaches you casual pansies a lesson. >

You should never ever be penalized for going TOO FAST. Only too slow. In fact the whole game should have something chasing me trying to eat my flesh or that volcano wall from Braid.

Yes, that'd be cool. Kind of like that boss in Stardust speedway with metal sonic.

That or just go Megaman 9 and make what worked since the retro feel will be enough to pass it by the majority.

Meh, that's the easy and stupid way. One of the reasons why I hate nintendo is there is NO innovation and NO change. Hell, Mario's plot can be written in a sentence. 3D-2.5D IMO is the best way to go. Just make him slightly (SLIGHTLY) slower, make the boost less invincible, make the enemies more diverse and less stupid, make it just sonic, and the Critics will...Just find any little thing they can to bash it because his fans are a bunch of whiny punks and the media loves to hate on Sonic. You all know it's true.

 

[SirSchmoopy]

The live system doesn't PUNISH casuals, it wastes time. If you die you already lose time to make someone restart a level because they die too much is litteraly pointless and frustrating.

Sonic IS a casual game btw in every sense of the word.

 

[SimuLord]

Well damn, Yahtzee threw down the gauntlet this morning and Russ answered with a video supplement that built up to a marvelous crescendo of a conclusion in the last 30 seconds and managed to take the Best Use of Bile crown away.

Bravo! Bravo! Encore! (which is more than I could say about the game.)

 

[Dommyboy]

That voice acting at the end for Sonic the abomination was horrid. Sounds like a five year old trying to sound like a monster.

 

[Ryuzaki]

A great review Russ. Smashing a game that fully deserves such action. I knew you did not like the game from your comments on the Escapist Show and you certainly put across you opinion here. Look forward to more.

 

[Sylocat]

Can we stop pretending that Sonic Rush and Sonic Rush Adventure don't exist?

 

[smallharmlesskitten]

I am wondering whether or not to buy the Classic Sonic Collection for my PS2.

HOWEVER.

That opening cinematic looks looks like concentrated Sonicy Win

 

[Super Racer Z]

I am wondering whether or not to buy the Classic Sonic Collection for my PS2.

HOWEVER.

That opening cinematic looks looks like concentrated Sonicy Win

Yes, you could absolutely hate this game and you cannot deny how beautiful that pre rendered juiciness was. Oh, and for the complaint of him being too fast, TRY RUNNING WITHOUT BOOSTING! He's plenty comprehensible at that speed. (Played the demo trying not to do the perfection speed run goodness that I programed myself into is harder than I thought...)
EDIT:By the standards I have made with that level, I did quite awful, and I got an A Rank...

 

[zoozilla]

It's made for kids. And I think that's where it fails.

Granted, Sonic games have always been for kids - the first few installments definitely weren't aiming to reach an older audience of any kind.

It's just that...since the late 1990's, I guess game devs have forgotten how to make a good game that appeals to kids and is bearable to others.

 

[Graham]

3D-2.5D IMO is the best way to go. Just make him slightly (SLIGHTLY) slower, make the boost less invincible, make the enemies more diverse and less stupid, make it just sonic, and the Critics will...Just find any little thing they can to bash it because his fans are a bunch of whiny punks and the media loves to hate on Sonic. You all know it's true.

Actually, most of the critics I've read (aside from Russ) have praised the daytime segments and said that Unleashed has some of the best fast-paced Sonic gameplay that has ever been seen in 3D. That said, the scores were still low and the alot of the reasoning that I read was because of game-lengthening padding.

I have a feeling if 2006's Sonic used the 2.5D/3D approach and was actually polished it would have been inarguably great. Just like what Unleashed could have been had it not included the hub world or the werehog segments. Having never played the game myself, I can't vouche either way, but it seems like those two elements are universal complaints at this point.

Aside from all of this, for better or worse, you do have to admit that Sonic Team is being awefully random in their gameplay gimmicks.

 

[Cardskeeper]

Thanks for the review!
I wasn't far away from buying this game,because I really really liked the demo. Yeah it was trial and error basically,but that didn't bother me that much ,because sonic was ... well... sonic! He was fast,he was "cool",he was like he should be. But in the demo,they don't show any "Werehog" parts ,which made me believe that its just 1/8 of the game,a little short part...But now I know otherwise.
Again,thank you for saving me $60!

 

[Russ Pitts]

Actually, most of the critics I've read (aside from Russ) have praised the daytime segments and said that Unleashed has some of the best fast-paced Sonic gameplay that has ever been seen in 3D.

I don't disagree. If the game were comprised solely of the daytime levels I'd have recommended it wholeheartedly. Having to play through the rest of the crap to get to those levels, however, makes this one a FAIL for me.

 

[Super Racer Z]

Thanks for the review!
I wasn't far away from buying this game,because I really really liked the demo. Yeah it was trial and error basically,but that didn't bother me that much ,because sonic was ... well... sonic! He was fast,he was "cool",he was like he should be. But in the demo,they don't show any "Werehog" parts ,which made me believe that its just 1/8 of the game,a little short part...But now I know otherwise.
Again,thank you for saving me $60!

Thanks for the review!
I wasn't far away from buying this game,because I really really liked the demo. Yeah it was trial and error basically,but that didn't bother me that much ,because sonic was ... well... sonic! He was fast,he was "cool",he was like he should be. But in the demo,they don't show any "Werehog" parts ,which made me believe that its just 1/8 of the game,a little short part...But now I know otherwise.
Again,thank you for saving me $60!

Please get a seond opinion or dish out an $8 dollars for a rental. The Sonic stages are at least half of the game. Let me find that level list again...

Day (21)
-Apotos, Mazuri, Spagonia, Chun-nan, and Adabat have three acts
-Holoska, Shamar, and Empire City only have two acts

Night (12)
-Apotos, Mazuri, Chun-nan, and Adabat have two acts
-Spagonia, Holoska, Shamar, and Empire City only have the one

And I think it's counting optional, therefor you can easily make the amount of Sonic playtime range over the Werehog's playtime. And I heard the hub worlds were 1/3 of the game...bull. maybe a 20th. You only have to talk to someone mandatory 1-2 times, the hubs will take no more than 20 seconds to cross, and the levels can be played straight from the world map (map of revolving destroyed earth which shows your progress as well) once you have entered and beaten them once. He may have saved you $60 (Actually $50 is the MSRP), or he may have robbed you of a truly great game. Just give it a try, as no reviewer can give you a true opinion.

Also, you only played the first real level in the game. I've heard it only gets better from there.

EDIT:Oh, and here is the most descriptive and IMO best review for the game.

http://www.hardcoregamer.com/index.php?option=com_magazine&id_rubrique=1&type=article&id_article=228

 

[SirSchmoopy]

Everything after the first real level is downhill and don't worry the Sonic Team will most likely keep making crap as seen is this trailer.


http://sonic.sega.jp/ankokunokishi/

 

[hypothetical fact]

We all look foward to the next gimmick filled Sonic game in, "Sonic and the Black Knight".

 

[SirSchmoopy]

Okay then you jackass, start making lies. How does better, bigger, more challenging levels mean the fun will be going downhill? And how does bosses and more powerups and more speed and longer and better lasting boost and learning more on the story and more combos for the werehog and more crazy platforming and an insane hard-as-last-levels-of-classic-sonic-games final level that lasts for 30 minutes and more and more unlocked music and cutscenes as you go and...I swear this is really starting to piss me off, the blatant lies...

Don't listen to me or him. Just rent the game and see for yourself.

Nobody is going to argue with you. You are a giant Sonic fan boy and fan boys such as yourself will buy sonic games no matter how crappy they are. Stop being ignorant for three seconds and understand everyone is entitled to an opinion and ratings on games are typically an average opinion of the general public. If I were you I wouldn't tell people to rent the game as nobody who rents this game then goes out and buy it. Nobody. Fan boys will buy it already and everyone who isn't a fan of Sonic is not going to find this a game to change their mind.


Plus, you yourself in previous posts have already had to "Rationalyze" the parts everyone else is claiming shitty saying oh the werehog levels are no big deal since there only half the game anyway. Sorry, anything you say after you ignorantly defend something out of pure fanboism kinda takes away from what your preaching to the rest of us. Opinions are not "lies" idiot.

I already explained what I want in a Sonic game, let me explain what I don't want. Something that isn't a Sonic game. I don't want to play a game where Sonic gets a sword and kills doods for xps and buys armor. I want to run, really fast. I want levels to be challenging but not frustrating. Sorry but 99% of the playerbase starts a Sonic level and dies within the first 15 seconds, that isn't "Challenging" thats frustrating. Killing a player with the element of surprise every 15 seconds to the point where the only way to beat a level is by memoryzation is not fun. Remember the last level of Sonic Unleashed? Remember the part where with the Roller Coaster? Yeah. You didn't get past that first try did you. In fact, there is a reason they put a life RIGHT in front of it as you kinda have to do it a couple times. That isn't fun. Sorry that isn't what most gamers consider fun. Dieing is not fun.

Like I said. If you are going to change the Sonic game to not be a fun mix of 2D/3D games where I am running as fast as I can, I don't really want to play them. You can't have someone called "The Fastest Thing Alive" then have a optional Werehog level that is just you BALANCING ON BEAMS. That ISN'T SONIC. I never DID THAT in the originals and in the ORIGINALS IT WOULDN'T BE FUN. There are very few times where even in the orignal sonics going fast would kill you. I mean yeah there was a couple but sometimes that "fall" or trap didn't kill you it just set you back a bit. This game isn't like that. The first two land levels are but after that it becomes Trial and Error. OH I'M GOING SO FAST WOOO THIS IS FUN... OH LOOK AT THAT I RAN OFF THE SIDE OF THE WALL.... oh well thats not fun if I have to do these parts slow. Oh man remember the ice world as Werehog? Gee that was fun right? RIGHT? No. No for most people, it's not fun and they turn off there console.

I am this close, JUST FOR YOU, to going through the Sonic game one more time and recording exactly what I mean by moments that are "Fun" and moments that are "Crap". I'm not like most gamers, I kick games asses. I don't quit because something is hard or because something is even frustrating, I beat this shitty game anyway just so I could say I did and hell I'll get those 1000 achievement points or damn freaking close too it and if you really want me to SHATTER your world for you and show you as one Sonic fan to another why this game is horrible. I will do it but you my friend... you shall cry a river far greater then any god could design from said video.

FYI, I will be buying the next Sonic game anyway. I own nearly every game since my first genesis and have beaten them all as well. I too love Sonic but I also can and will point out the flaws in a game franchise I love so much.

Don't be a tool, it just isn't cool.

 

[Velios]

They need to stop trying to add these annoying gimmicks and experiments to these games. (City area and "Were-hog" mode) Sure they're trying to innovate or whatever, but good lord! Can't they see that they keep taking steps in the wrong direction. They just need to K.I.S.S (Keep It Simple Stupid) give the games what they want! The only gimmick I'd accept in a Sonic game is probably short, and I mean short Sonic Rivals like segments or something like that... ack a bit of a contradiction...