SGD08: Sonic Unleashed preview
(This is the first of many posts we’ll be making here at Sega Nerds today, covering the news and games shown at the Sega Gamer’s Day 08 event, which our very own George was able to attend. Keep checking back throughout the day for previews, hands-on impressions, news and screenshots!)
I have been waiting to get my hands on this game, so it’s too bad we weren’t allowed to at this event. However, we did get to see someone else play the game. Representatives from Sega said that the preview build we saw was about 80 percent complete, so some of my complaints could be fixed in the next six or so months left in development.
I know a lot of fans have been claiming that this game is the return of Sonic … that this game will make everything right again. I really hope it does.
Hit the jump for a full preview.
The preview we were allowed to see was running on the Xbox 360. The Sega rep said Sonic Team, led by Yoshihisa Hasimoto, will be developing both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions and that the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions will be done by another team because they didn’t want to downgrade the same levels on the weaker platforms. He also made it very clear that Yoshihisa Hasimoto had nothing to do with Sonic’s recent outings. He was involved in both Sonic Adventure games, so it’s not like Sega isn’t aware that everyone hates most of the new Sonic games.
After they introduced the team behind the game, they talked about the Hedgehog Engine. Apparently, Sonic Team has been working on it since 2005, and the Sega reps said the engine is going to be used on more than just Sonic games, but it is made to run Sonic games. They said it’s supposed to display textures at a faster rate and let the game switch between 2-D and 3-D perspectives in the blink of an eye.
They later decided to fill us in on the level design. They said that the game is supposed to have multiple paths. The level they showed us first (the Greece level first seen in the numerous previous leaks) had fifteen different alternative routes, hopefully adding a level of replayability. The second level we saw was called ‘The Europe Level’ and it had stone buildings that looked a lot different than the ones in the Greece level.
The graphics were nice, with good shadowing and detail on everything. Some things could have used some work, but everything looked a lot better than Sonic’s last Xbox 360 game. The Greece level looked very nice and I actually enjoyed it. One of the visual aspects that is shaping up really nicely is the background detail. Usually mountains and buildings in the far distance are obviously flat 2-D images, but in Sonic Unleashed all those distant objects looked like explorable, playable areas.
The camera is always a big issue in Sonic games and it seems that Sonic Team decided to fix this problem by making tight areas in 2-D. They said you can’t control the camera in 2-D, which makes sense to me. They said when the game switches to 3-D, you can control the camera with the right joystick. The camera didn’t seem to be much of an issue in the game, and looked like it worked fine. This to me was refreshing to see, especially in a Sonic game.
Something that was added to the gameplay this time around is ‘Sonic Drift‘. No, you don’t hop in a car and drive around (which is what I was expecting). Apparently, there are parts of stages with turns that you can perform the Sonic Drift on, turning Sonic sharply and quickly to keep his momentum and speed. Sounds great in theory, but the guy demonstrating the game to us failed horribly at performing the move. (The poor guy was under pressure to perform. I’m sure we all know how that feels.) I assume that drifting Sonic helps lower level completion times, and will hopefully be a fun aspect of the game. I know I enjoyed drifting in Outrun 2.
Unleashed also seemed to have a lot of QTEs (if you’re not a Shenmue fan that stands for Quick Time Events), though I doubt they call them that in this game. For example, there was a part when Sonic launched off a huge platform and a few buttons popped up on screen in mid-air. When the player hits them he goes into an alternate route, but if he misses the buttons he goes down a different route. QTE isn’t the only way to switch routes, though. There was a part when Sonic was going down a hall and the path split into two, but the left path was sort of sneaked in on the left.
A (somewhat) new feature is the ‘Sonic Meter‘, which works like the rush meter in Sonic Rush. Instead of being like Tony Hawk and pulling off tricks to build it up, it fills up when Sonic nabs rings, which sounds way better than doing tricks. I thought the speed was perfect regularly without the ‘Sonic Meter’.
Something else that they showed us was the new way to make Sonic do a quick step. If you played Sonic Adventure 2, you know it’s hard to switch rail to rail. It’s risky business! Now you can switch by simply pressing the right and left bumpers. This is also used when running up to enemies. Let’s say the enemy is far ahead and he shoots a fast bullet at you; you can hit one of the bumpers and quick step to dodge, then hit the other bumper to get back to where you were. Seems like a great new addition to Sonic’s arsenal.
At the end of the whole demonstration they let us ask questions. Somebody immediately beat me to my first question: If Sonic is the only playable character. The PR person said no. There will be minor gameplay moments with other characters, but it’s primarily a Sonic game. I asked if Eggman is the main villain and apparently he is one of the villains, but there will be more. No mention on what other characters or villains will be in the game, though I’m hoping for Metal Sonic.
The game will feature an overworld. It will not be like the one in Sonic Adventure, where you have to perform tasks to move on to the next level. The overworld is now completely optional, so you can just jump straight back into the action stages if you want.
Another complaint voiced at the event was that Sonic looked like he was just running through the enemies. This was a huge point of complaint for people with Sonic Rush, who said that the whole ‘jumping on enemies’ aspect was thrown away. I agree, the game did seem that way. They said that the AI on enemies wasn’t complete yet, and that Sonic still has his homing attack. They also said that Sonic’s levels aren’t the same levels at nighttime. They said the levels are different during night and day, but can’t show or talk about them until E3. That was a bummer.
They said that the target framerate is 30. I thought they should have aimed for 60, but to each their own. The last answered question was why they chose to have Sonic in the “real world” instead of Sonic’s fictional world. They said they wanted to have players travel the world in different locations, just like in the Sonic Adventure games.
Conclusion:
This game seems like a hybrid mix of Sonic Rush and Sonic Adventure. This could be a good thing, but it isn’t necessarily covering new ground in the Sonic universe. The game seemed way too fast when in Sonic boost mode, and there were big framerate drops. I hope they fix these issues and they said they would, but they also said the same thing for Sonic 06.
I wish the game was more of a hybrid of Sonic 2 and Sonic Adventure than Sonic Rush. I think it’s way too fast in this game and should be toned down a bit. However, I think if Sonic Team can get the game to run without dropping the framerate and lock down a respectable speed, this could be one of Sonic’s best games since Sonic Adventure 2.
Tags: event, Preview, SGD08, Sonic UnleashedRelated Stories
POSTED IN: George, Multi-platform
27 opinions for SGD08: Sonic Unleashed preview
Sega Uranus
May 16, 2008 at 9:11 am
For everything I love about the game theres two things that try to make me hate it. I’ll try to remain optimistic though.
SOUP
May 16, 2008 at 9:13 am
I can’t wait for this one. Looks like getting both the Wii and PS3 versions might not be such a bad idea if they’re actually different (in a good way).
Orta
May 16, 2008 at 9:18 am
The spin dash is gone, then?
ratix240sx
May 16, 2008 at 9:19 am
Does the boost automatically come on or something? It seems to me that if you don’t like boost then don’t use it. You can beat any of the Rush games just fine with out it and it is a very different experience than just boosting all the time.
Dr. SEGA Monkey
May 16, 2008 at 9:19 am
Did you hear any background music? And if so, what did you think of it?
George
May 16, 2008 at 9:19 am
Hum, no idea, they didn’t use it in the game.
Ryan
May 16, 2008 at 9:22 am
I hope you can’t just run through the enemies, I want to jump on their heads or at least homing attack!
Lee
May 16, 2008 at 9:25 am
Good preview. Has left me nothing but feeling a little disappointed though. Last thing I heard, there were only two playable characters. From what this guy says it sounds like they’re doing another ‘Amigo’ thing. Lame.
Sounds promising though, but looking at it, it’s still a very shaky.
George
May 16, 2008 at 9:35 am
@ Dr. SEGA Monkey:
I don’t think this built had music, I didn’t hear it. I also saw that IGN didn’t mention the music either. Its either because everyone around was being too loud or it wasn’t in the built.
Could be that I wasn’t paying attention as well. But I’m not going to go out and say that. Its not my fault. I’ll just blame it on G like always.
Just Passing Through
May 16, 2008 at 9:47 am
Nice review George! Definitely sounds promising. And that CGI Sonic art in the first screen looks AMAZING *_____* I do agree that a Sonic 2 + Adventure mix would be better than Rush + Adventure, but ah well, hopefully they’ll fix the bugs.
So, was anyone able to record any videos? And did you hear Sonic talk? Sonic’s voice has been a big topic lately, so I’m just wondering what you thought of it. Apparently the voice actor, Jason Griffith, said he was doing something different with the voice this time around. Did it seem that way?
Taco Lord
May 16, 2008 at 9:47 am
I’m confused if this is what they want, or if they think we want this?
I like the sonic re-design, the use of stages, and the colors, but with some of this added stuff… It feels like it might not click.
But this is what I want. Spin Dash, Homing Attack, Fire/Water/Lighting Shields, awesome Soundtrack, Spike Traps, and to beat up Robotnik at the end of every stage!
Dr. SEGA Monkey
May 16, 2008 at 9:50 am
So do these QTE’s have a cool cutscene thingy to go along with it like Shenmue?
STORM!
May 16, 2008 at 10:01 am
I’ve expected a more friendly smile and eyes for Sonic, like seen on a picture previously… :(
Sure, I don’t like these robots! The animal-type robots are the best!
Dumb Sega; everybody knows what happens to Sonic in the nights…lol.
T+
George
May 16, 2008 at 10:06 am
@ Dr. SEGA Monkey
The QTE’s where just used to changed paths in the the demo’d stages.
Kogen
May 16, 2008 at 10:23 am
It seems like crap to me too; at least we all know what to expect this time though.
It also seems like a sad waste since they are doing lots of things right at the same time. I guess we will just have to look forward to other games that will use this engine, as Sonic seems as shitty as ever.
Amigo things seem horrible, the only time they ever worked was in Sonic 2/3 with Tails, the rushbar sounds as bad as I thought it would be, the 3D gameplay seems to be mixed, and the setting is the same bullshite everyone hates. No one wants high realism in their Sonic games, that ruins the whole point of it. And other villians are fine, but it seems sad that Eggman is not the main one. I hope it is only something like Metal Sonic too, but sadly I assume it is aliens.
I can only guess the DIMPS game will be even worse, since their Sonic games have sucked a lot lately.
Angelo
May 16, 2008 at 10:53 am
Of most interest to me is the statement that the engine will be used for more than just Sonic games, as it just opens up a whole slew of new questions…
Hudson
May 16, 2008 at 11:35 am
Did Sonic actually and completely stop at any point during the demonstration? Because that’s one of the turning points on which this game hinges between Secret Rings-alike and actual platformer.
George
May 16, 2008 at 11:56 am
No, he just kept going faster and forward. Never stopping.
Matt
May 16, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Any indication on who is handling the Wii/PS2 port of the game? Hearing that has been suddenly made me slightly cautious about the title now.
Apart from that, this is probably the best preview I’ve read for this game. Kudos. :)
Mike
May 16, 2008 at 2:19 pm
No stopping? Say hello to Sonic Rush Unleashed!
Although I hope that’s not the case.
Hudson
May 16, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Oh, well, crap. There went most of my hopes for a decent platformer.
Mess
May 16, 2008 at 6:11 pm
It looks like Sonic Team is repeating some of their mistakes, but at least they’re trying to move forward at the same time. It’s hard for developers anymore: either you don’t make an innovative game and get slammed in reviews, or you risk making it lame and getting slammed in reviews.
As for whether or not Sonic can stop… I have to wonder if it that Sonic can’t stop, or if the guy playing Sonic just didn’t have him stop? I hope he can… Sonic could stop in all his good games.
Resident nEvil
May 16, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Having an optional overworld is the best idea they could have come up with, given how some people loved the overworld in Sonic Adventure, others HATED it, and the forced, buggy overworld practically killed any chance of anyone getting any kind of enjoyment out of Sonic ‘06.
youcantcatchtheblue
May 17, 2008 at 4:27 am
Sonic Unleashed looks like it might just be the best 3D Sonic yet.
Though, I can definitely relate with what Hudson is saying. Sonic Team doesn’t seem to realize that what made the classic Sonic games good was the platforming and not the speed.
I’m being optimistic though, because a previous interview stated that there will be parts where platforming is focused on. I’m looking forward to it.
joei
May 17, 2008 at 3:18 pm
sweet mother of sega!
cfive
May 17, 2008 at 6:18 pm
OMG GREECE! THIS IS SONIC!!!!
Resident nEvil
May 18, 2008 at 9:15 pm
One more thought:
“Another complaint voiced at the event was that Sonic looked like he was just running through the enemies.”
Could this problem not be solved by simply having Sonic curl into a ball while boosting?
Instead of pressing down to spin (as in the old games), you hold down a button, Sonic goes into a spin and rockets forward at insane velocity. This would make perfect sense given Sonic’s prior cartoon outings (the Sonic anime, Sonic CD cutscenes, Sonic X).
This would solve the problem of “running” through enemies, as well as take the edge of not having the “classic” Spin Dash.
Sonic runs too much as it is. The more rolling/spin-dashing you can cram in there, the better (they made him a hedgehog for a REASON). Make it the new and improved Spin Dash you can perform while moving, in the same way that the improved Light Dash from Sonic Adventure 2 could be performed without having to stop.
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