Sega released this third gameplay trailer of Sonic Unleashed, showing some pretty nice gameplay, at least during the Sonic phases, but a very worrying framerate.
This game is looking more and more like a mess of different gameplay types, the first trailers looked like a side scrolling 3d sonic game but all the new videos are just giving me sonic 2006 vibes and that is a VERY bad thing.
And the "wherehog" concept pretty much killed this one for me.
They've got this almost half right. They seem to realise Sonic doesn't need to be about speed, and have included sections were you slow down and have more platform/action orientated gameplay. But why do we need to transform into some weird "werehog" to do that?
They're getting closer to actually making a good Sonic game again, and I'm sure they'll pull it off eventually. But I don't think this is it.
There's a welcome amount of Secret Rings like 3D bits at least. For a while I was worried it'd be reduced to a big screen Sonic Rivals with werewolf bits.
That said there's still cause for concern. The 2D bits seem less playable than any 3D Sonic game just from the looks of them, but this is a brand new, reportedly ambitious team that quote; ARE FULLY AWARE OF THE WOE OF FANS, unquote.
They'll be so embarrassed when it eventually dawns on them that the key to making a new Sonic is to slow it down to Sonic Adventure 1 speeds with that balanced emphasis on platforming/speed, and just tighten up the spaztastic camera and falling through the floor. Then this speed freak 2D *I can't see where I'm going because the camera is so busy wobbling all over the place as if to say "yeah it looks 2D but it's 3D!"* malarky will seem pretty silly.
They should just scrap these terrible games and make a new 3D side scrolling Sonic for XBLA and PSN rather than tarnish the Sonic brand year after year.
It's out in november, but the framerate in this video seems funky. I've seen gameplay footage from GC that didn't seem to have any issues.
As for werewolf Sonic I'm sort of with you that it's not an enormous deal, but I think the real problem here is that they seem to need an excuse to slow Sonic down. That is complete nonsense, because on numerous occasions both in the megadrive games and in the first Sonic Adventure there were sections that didn't attempt to glue your balls to the ceiling with their face melting speed.
Also, another worry is that so far the werehog sections don't seem particularly fun. I like beating tons of baddies up - heck I'm a fan of Dynasty Warriors! - but in videos it seems like enemies can take way too much damage for it to feel fluid and fun.
With a bit of luck, there's a Billy Hatcher vibe to it with point combos and some kind of grading system to keep things rolling, so to speak.
With the Wii version of this apparently ditching Secret Rings' control setup there's no sanctuary on that platform anymore either. This'll be okay across the board, or equally awful to everybody now. :|
Commented on 2008-09-16 18:51:16 In reply to pixelsword
Posted by pixelsword
If this was coming out soon, I'd be worried; but if this is at least six months away, then they have plenty of time to adjust the framerate.
Anyways, I don't see anything different between Sonic turning into a werewolf and Mario wearing that Raccoon suit, myself.
mario has ALWAYS had powerups and gimmicks tho, sonic originally never did. he was sonic, he ran fast, that was his thing.
they really do need to just drop the notion of creating a good 3D sonic, because i honestly think its impossible. adventure 1/2 where everage and everything post adventure has been shit (except rush, which what do you know, retained the 2D gameplay) how can a development studio be so damn stupid. make a new 2D sonic (either with polys or HD sprites) sell it on PSN and XBLM for a tenner and people will lap it up. but they really have to stop with making this shit year after a year.
Commented on 2008-09-16 18:57:51 In reply to KORNdog
You can't just bunch together SA1 and 2 though without completely disregarding what made SA1 much, much better than 2.
With 2 all the problems started, with 2 they somehow got it into their heads that Sonic has to be nigh on uncontrollably fast at all times and that *JUST ISN'T THE CASE* with old Sonics and SA1.
Take away the insta death pits, slow it down to SA1 speeds, fix the camera and glitches and that's one great 3D platformer.
Commented on 2008-09-16 19:01:25 In reply to SimonM7
Posted by SimonM7
You can't just bunch together SA1 and 2 though without completely disregarding what made SA1 much, much better than 2.
With 2 all the problems started, with 2 they somehow got it into their heads that Sonic has to be nigh on uncontrollably fast at all times and that *JUST ISN'T THE CASE* with old Sonics and SA1.
Take away the insta death pits, slow it down to SA1 speeds, fix the camera and glitches and that's one great 3D platformer.
i dissagree, SA1 and 2 where just as bad as each other imo, i agree that sonic isnt just about going as fast as possible (something all sonics seem to have done since the classic games...even rush) but sonic in 3D just doesnt world well. never has, and i honestly dont think it ever will.
Really? As games? Man you have a higher treshold for badness than I have if you didn't think wading through Robotnik/Tails bits in the main story kicked you in the balls worse than the all Sonic stuff in SA1.
Or simply navigating the ridiculously loose 60fps Sonic the Twitch-hog through absolutely dreadful insta death level design, with the all-grind level being a particularly obscene face cocking to top it all off.
Commented on 2008-09-16 20:08:54 In reply to KORNdog
Posted by KORNdog
i dissagree, SA1 and 2 where just as bad as each other imo, i agree that sonic isnt just about going as fast as possible (something all sonics seem to have done since the classic games...even rush) but sonic in 3D just doesnt world well. never has, and i honestly dont think it ever will.
90% of people who played SA1 loved it, and I was one of them. It was a brilliant 3D platformer and I loved it. The Chao and RPG elements worked very well.
Commented on 2008-09-16 20:51:36 In reply to SimonM7
I have to agree, Sonic Adventure 1 worked very well, besides the glitches and bugs, it was pretty much perfect, and exactly what a 3D Sonic game should be. SA2 wasn't terrible, but it wasn't particularly good either. It took too much of the focus away from Sonic (you were playing as other characters for most of the game, unlike in SA1 were a good 80% of the game was Sonic levels), and it was the start of the over dramatic storylines.
Posted by SimonM7
but I think the real problem here is that they seem to need an excuse to slow Sonic down. That is complete nonsense, because on numerous occasions both in the megadrive games and in the first Sonic Adventure there were sections that didn't attempt to glue your balls to the ceiling with their face melting speed.
That's exactly what I meant, why do we need a werehog transformation, can't we just be Sonic? I think they've almost got the formula right with this game, I hear we even have the adventure/hub worlds back from SA1, but they've really dropped the ball with the werehog.
I don't find it cool, interesting, or even in the slightest bit compelling, especially when compared to the power ups from Mario or even wolf Link from Twilight Princess. It just doesn't work here, and there doesn't seem to be any need for it.
Yea I agree the werehog concept is really dumb and unnecessary. They should probably just make Sonic accelerate much slower during the game so platforming isn't too hard to do with those lockon attacks they've had since Sonic Adventure 1.
The framerate in the video bothers me because I think they're trying to hide the big dips in FPS during gameplay. During clips of people playing the game the game will be 30fps most of the time, but it does really chug sometimes. So far Sega has released 2 clips like this where the FPS is like 15... This one even switches back to ~30 for the werehog part.
The actual graphics look really nice in the game though.
Hmm, does anyone remember the 3d version of the Green Hill stage on Sonic Adventure 2, now if they could make a 3d Sonic based on that engine or model then were in business.
Let's quit whining about 2d and 3d because this 3d game with the side scrolling function is as close to 2d as it's ever going to get again.
If it goes 2d there's going to be people who bitch about it not being powerful enough, or graphically impressive. It won't sell well. 2d games don't sell as well as 3d games. It's just the way it is.
This game looks really impressive though provided they fix the framerate. I don't even mind the werehog version because it doesn't look like it's poorly done and could be pretty fun to play regardless of what you people say.
The only thing I'd like to see reintroduced to the games is the Chao side games. It was amazing to breed and raise a bunch of chao's.
The issue with the framerate in this video is a result of the video's production, not the game. For some reason, Sega of America is releasing these trailers at half the framerate. If you go to youtube and put in "Sonic World Adventure"(the Japanese title for the game) you'll see that for each trailer, it is twice as smooth as the American uploads.
Seems like an alright play. But not worth 60 bucks. The music in the trailer did NOT make me want to buy the game more. It was very drab and didn't even match the fast-paced video, except for the chinese theme.
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All comments (21)
Commented on 2008-09-16 10:46:33Why don't they go back to their roots and do a 3d side scroller, much like the original but with nice hd visuals
Commented on 2008-09-16 11:12:44
Commented on 2008-09-16 11:17:56And the "wherehog" concept pretty much killed this one for me.
Commented on 2008-09-16 11:55:20They're getting closer to actually making a good Sonic game again, and I'm sure they'll pull it off eventually. But I don't think this is it.
Commented on 2008-09-16 15:15:15
Commented on 2008-09-16 15:26:25That said there's still cause for concern. The 2D bits seem less playable than any 3D Sonic game just from the looks of them, but this is a brand new, reportedly ambitious team that quote; ARE FULLY AWARE OF THE WOE OF FANS, unquote.
They'll be so embarrassed when it eventually dawns on them that the key to making a new Sonic is to slow it down to Sonic Adventure 1 speeds with that balanced emphasis on platforming/speed, and just tighten up the spaztastic camera and falling through the floor. Then this speed freak 2D *I can't see where I'm going because the camera is so busy wobbling all over the place as if to say "yeah it looks 2D but it's 3D!"* malarky will seem pretty silly.
Commented on 2008-09-16 16:56:14
Commented on 2008-09-16 18:17:36Anyways, I don't see anything different between Sonic turning into a werewolf and Mario wearing that Raccoon suit, myself.
Commented on 2008-09-16 18:45:27As for werewolf Sonic I'm sort of with you that it's not an enormous deal, but I think the real problem here is that they seem to need an excuse to slow Sonic down. That is complete nonsense, because on numerous occasions both in the megadrive games and in the first Sonic Adventure there were sections that didn't attempt to glue your balls to the ceiling with their face melting speed.
Also, another worry is that so far the werehog sections don't seem particularly fun. I like beating tons of baddies up - heck I'm a fan of Dynasty Warriors! - but in videos it seems like enemies can take way too much damage for it to feel fluid and fun.
With a bit of luck, there's a Billy Hatcher vibe to it with point combos and some kind of grading system to keep things rolling, so to speak.
With the Wii version of this apparently ditching Secret Rings' control setup there's no sanctuary on that platform anymore either. This'll be okay across the board, or equally awful to everybody now. :|
Commented on 2008-09-16 18:51:16 In reply to pixelswordAnyways, I don't see anything different between Sonic turning into a werewolf and Mario wearing that Raccoon suit, myself.
they really do need to just drop the notion of creating a good 3D sonic, because i honestly think its impossible. adventure 1/2 where everage and everything post adventure has been shit (except rush, which what do you know, retained the 2D gameplay) how can a development studio be so damn stupid. make a new 2D sonic (either with polys or HD sprites) sell it on PSN and XBLM for a tenner and people will lap it up. but they really have to stop with making this shit year after a year.
Commented on 2008-09-16 18:57:51 In reply to KORNdogWith 2 all the problems started, with 2 they somehow got it into their heads that Sonic has to be nigh on uncontrollably fast at all times and that *JUST ISN'T THE CASE* with old Sonics and SA1.
Take away the insta death pits, slow it down to SA1 speeds, fix the camera and glitches and that's one great 3D platformer.
Commented on 2008-09-16 19:01:25 In reply to SimonM7With 2 all the problems started, with 2 they somehow got it into their heads that Sonic has to be nigh on uncontrollably fast at all times and that *JUST ISN'T THE CASE* with old Sonics and SA1.
Take away the insta death pits, slow it down to SA1 speeds, fix the camera and glitches and that's one great 3D platformer.
Commented on 2008-09-16 19:12:42Or simply navigating the ridiculously loose 60fps Sonic the Twitch-hog through absolutely dreadful insta death level design, with the all-grind level being a particularly obscene face cocking to top it all off.
Commented on 2008-09-16 20:08:54 In reply to KORNdogSA2 was just bad
Commented on 2008-09-16 20:51:36 In reply to SimonM7I don't find it cool, interesting, or even in the slightest bit compelling, especially when compared to the power ups from Mario or even wolf Link from Twilight Princess. It just doesn't work here, and there doesn't seem to be any need for it.
Commented on 2008-09-16 22:06:26The framerate in the video bothers me because I think they're trying to hide the big dips in FPS during gameplay. During clips of people playing the game the game will be 30fps most of the time, but it does really chug sometimes. So far Sega has released 2 clips like this where the FPS is like 15... This one even switches back to ~30 for the werehog part.
The actual graphics look really nice in the game though.
Commented on 2008-09-17 00:49:10
Commented on 2008-09-17 01:02:34If it goes 2d there's going to be people who bitch about it not being powerful enough, or graphically impressive. It won't sell well. 2d games don't sell as well as 3d games. It's just the way it is.
This game looks really impressive though provided they fix the framerate. I don't even mind the werehog version because it doesn't look like it's poorly done and could be pretty fun to play regardless of what you people say.
The only thing I'd like to see reintroduced to the games is the Chao side games. It was amazing to breed and raise a bunch of chao's.
Commented on 2008-09-17 03:57:58 In reply to broman
Commented on 2008-09-17 20:52:30
Commented on 2008-09-18 04:44:11