Sonic Unleashed!

[KentaRawr!]

Well, Sonic Unleashed is looking pretty awesome so far, in my opinion. The Wii Version of the game will be having daytime levels designed by Dimps, the guys that did the Sonic Rush games on the DS. The PS3/360 Version will be done by Sonic Team, who did other Sonic stuff. Looking at this (http://www.gametrailers.com/player/42268.html) trailer of the 360 version, it seems like Sonic Team is doing pretty well with their levels. This (http://www.gametrailers.com/player/42267.html) video of the Wii version in action looks pretty dull in comparison.

The game itself has two kinds of levels, from what I know. The first kind is the Daytime Level, which I'm guessing will take the place of Act 1 in Sonic games. These are the levels that differ between versions, with the 360/PS3 Daytime levels being designed by Sonic Team, and the Wii Daytime Levels being designed by Dimps. Ironically, it seems like Sonic Team's version is closer to Sonic Rush in terms of speed. Both seem to have very little platforming room, but Sonic Team's version seems to have more alternate paths being based on quick decisions with some of the special techniques of the game, kinda like Sonic Rush was. Dimps' version seems to have more elaborate alternate paths, such as deciding between wall-jumping or smashing into a bunch of crates to get to a lower level. However, Dimps is also focusing more on 2D Elements, while Sonic Team is going with more 3D. Both versions involve switching between the two planes of existence, though. Also, Dimps' game has levels being scored by time, while Sonic Team's game is scored by points.

The Nighttime levels, in both versions, are designed by Sonic Team. The Nighttime levels have you playing as the Werehog, which is basically what would happen if Sonic, Donkey Kong, and Ristar combined their DNA in a very weird orgy. Sonic can smack enemies around, and also stretches out his arms for platforming purposes. He also can run kinda fast, but not super fast like Sonic normally does. It seems like this part of the game slows everything down quite a bit, stepping away from the quick decisions and pretty fast things, and delving into platforming sections with pole swinging, and simplistic enemy killing.

Some more Gameplay Videos:


360/Ps3 Version

Mazuri Trailer (Video from earlier in post) (http://www.gametrailers.com/player/42268.html)

Desert Trailer (Shamar Level) (http://www.gametrailers.com/player/41788.html)

Adabat Trailer (http://www.gametrailers.com/game/6437.html)

Werehog Unleashed Trailer (Chun-nun Level) (http://www.gametrailers.com/player/39900.html)

Europe Trailer (http://www.gametrailers.com/player/35617.html)

Wii Version

Chun-nan Trailer (Video from earlier in post) (http://www.gametrailers.com/player/42267.html)

Windmill Level trailer (http://www.gametrailers.com/player/41738.html)

Shamar Trailer (http://www.gametrailers.com/player/42016.html)


So... pretty cool, huh?

[Craig]

yeah.. ill be getting this on the 360 if i ever fix my xbox

[Markus. D]

I'm not so interested in the WereSonicy-ish thing they have going on.

But I adore what I've seen so far in the other aspects of gameplay :D!

[sdm42393]

Why do I get the strange feeling that the Wii version is going to suck? Why do I have the strange feeling that I was stupid for getting a Wii and only having two games for it? >_<

[JKTrix]

Official gameplay and trailers are all well and good... but how 'bout some leaked footage?

Amazing Opening Cinematic (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfg3tsoECTw&fmt=18)

A full stage gameplay (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53Zeda5McH0&fmt=18)

I'm certainly impressed with how bloody good it looks.

[Roto13]

It's like they actually remembered how to make Sonic fun. I'm not a fan of that little flying thing, though.

[Dreddz]

I'm not sold. It looks like it still has the exact same flaws that all the recent Sonic games have. They aren't giving you enough control over Sonic and just let you watch him do all the stuff you want to be doing yourself. And the amount of grinding they have put into the levels is ridiculous. And the parts where you are in full control over Sonic just seem to be you darting from enemy to enemy mid-air, which was cool back in Sonic Adventure but now is just standard in Sonic games.

However stupid it is in there, the werewolf sections look like an ok God of War rip-off. They may be fun but we'll see.

Nothing has changed, despite what everyone is saying. Unleashed won't be the turn-around for Sonic that everyone is hoping. Sega need a slap in the face and need to completely change their idea of what a Sonic game is. They just think people want Sonic faster so subsequently add more speed pads into his games. WRONG! Sonic was about tight controls as well, something which has been completely lost.

[CimminyCricket]

I'd much rather them stop making new characters and versions of characters. Sonic -> Super Sonic (and whatever cool colour variations they had in whatever game I played as a kid), Tails -> Super version, Knuckles -> Super version, and Shadow, because he's freakin' cool looking. All these new characters that are popping up in the game like Amy Rose, she was a super minor character in the comic and now she's got a hammer and http://forums.eyesonff.com/images/smilies/rpg_009.gifhttp://forums.eyesonff.com/images/smilies/rpg_009.gifhttp://forums.eyesonff.com/images/smilies/rpg_009.gifhttp://forums.eyesonff.com/images/smilies/rpg_009.gif? That bat girl, whoever she was, wasn't very cool, Silver is kind of cool, I had fun cheating during races by freezing Player 2, and then now all this OHGODI'MAWEREWOLF http://forums.eyesonff.com/images/smilies/rpg_009.gifhttp://forums.eyesonff.com/images/smilies/rpg_009.gifhttp://forums.eyesonff.com/images/smilies/rpg_009.gifhttp://forums.eyesonff.com/images/smilies/rpg_009.gif?


D: Can we just put Sonic to sleep? I'll call the vet.

[Markus. D]

Lol, the amount of times I did the treasure hunting stages with Knuckles and Rouge.

A Chao makes all the difference :o

[JKTrix]

UPS man just put this in my hand. I just mentioned cheap games off of Amazon in another thread... I got this for $20 from Amazon.

Games I Don't Care About certainly get bumped up multiple notches when I can get them for cheap.

I'll probly update this post with blog-style impressions. $20, non-sonic fan, expectations are low!

(4:10) Something I like to do when starting a brand new game is to tinker with the options. Notables: can change voices to Japanese, separate volume options for Music and Sound Effects.

(4:20)I posted this earlier in the thread (YouTube has since removed the video), but the opening cinematic is frikkin' amazing. On top of that, I have a setup that is capable of Dolby 5.1 sound, so the amazing visuals of the cinematic are further enhanced by the sound effects.

(4:25)You can't skip cutscenes. Finished the first level. You have an option to 'quick step' using the top shoulder buttons, though it doesn't seem useful unless you're doing the on-rails type stages where sonic is moving really fast and doing loops and stuff. You gain EXP that you can distribute among different attributes and different characters after the stage (on the first level you can choose to upgrade stats for Normal or Were-Sonic as 2 different characters). I was also wishing the little purple flying thing would drop his ice cream and cry.

(4:41) 2nd level, got a game over. Camera sucks. If the bad camera wasn't enough, the game inexplicably, and unwarningly switches between analog 3D control and 2D mode where there are only two directional axes. Which is fine while you're moving really fast, but if you stop for whatever reason and try to move around in a 3D way, you're stuck on a 2D plane. The camera again doesn't help with this because it would be tilted in a way that does not suggest that it is '2D'. Anyway, gonna try it again, though i'm close to putting it down :P

(5:55) Finished that other level pretty quick, just did the first 'werehog' level. It was pretty long, but not terrible. Definitely God of War inspired. That's immediately followed by an on-rails combat flight sequence. Except the combat makes *no logical sense*. Things like missiles and enemies pop up on the screen, and you have to press the labeled face button in order to shoot them down. Didn't Sega make Panzer Dragoon? That ends in a boss battle where you have to defend yourself from missiles being shot at you, then shoot at the weak spot once it's exposed. Game could have done without it, though I guess it varies the gameplay. But...wasn't that the point of the Werewolf? bleh.

I'm done for now, anyway. The ultimate destination for this game is for a cousin of mine when I go back to Bermuda for Christmas. I've certainly spent $20 on worse things.