Boosting Away Into a New Era.
Sonic Unleashed is the first game of the boost era in many ways it really shows but it does still have merit outside of its many flaws a game thats reception has kind of 180'd as years passed,The game went from really spited in the community to becoming one of if not the most beloved game with fans crying for a PC port to this day.All of that aside how well does this experimental 15 year old game hold up? pretty well I guess considering its ambition.
Story:
The story of sonic unleashed revolves around sonic one day charges into eggmans base blasting away at robots all seems well until he falls into one of eggman's schemes that transforms him into a wolf-like monster and he's ejected from the airbase into the atmosphere,When he comes to he is plummeting to the ground and when he lands he meets a little red creature without a name and the two team up for an unforgettable journey.I can't really go into much more story wise without spoling but the story is very good here and quite touching with some of the BEST world building in the series when paired with the lively residents of earth in the hub worlds its stellar stuff.
Visuals:
What can I say except from... wow this game was ahead of its time visually there is definitely perfomance loss because of it but damn does it not just look great the sonic model is relatively detailed for a x360/ps3 model and the overall lighting and visual compositing in this game is just chefs kiss amazing too bad future installments wont have this production level and care put into it visually.
Gameplay (1/2 Daytime):
Ah yes some of the most highly praised 3D sonic game play of the last 2-3 decades but honestly I think its one of the worst. Woah woah there lower your guns let me explain my reasoning,This game is FULL of trial and error gameplay that punishes new players way too harshly for just trying to use its basic mechanics like the boost 1/2 the time.And to make matters worse sonic is way faster in this game that'd you'd think is a good thing on surface but with this level design it makes the game super punishing to play and the drift here is awful easily the worst part of the controls it makes turning harder than normally running and is only good for refilling boost.Aside from that though sonic controls great here... Outside of the homing attack WHY DID THEY MAP IT ON THE BOOST BUTTON!?!?! its nonsense you can't even argue "oh but its the first game to use homing attack" BECAUSE THAT ISN'T EVEN TRUE in every game before this outside of the rush games it was just double tap jump but nooooo here they made it the boost button that can result in so many untimely deaths for the blue hedgehog because you will see the homing reticle, and maybe think "oh this will be fine" but be a fraction of a second too late and boost off into the stratosphere its very hindering to sonic's overall feel in this game.
Gameplay (2/2)
It's kind of ironic but... the werehog is actually very fun to play as? god its like am playing a different game to others because I find the werehogs stage design (minus night arid sands but we will get there dont worry) to be very fun sure maybe a little repetitive but just pace yourself in playing this game in moderation and dont marathon it and this can become a very fun gameplay style because the combo system when maxed out can be very fun to use especially because most of the attacks minus a few can be canceled with shield to make for a very rewarding sometimes a bit too easy combat system.As for the platforming its more traditional with percise jumps and puzzles more than the fast paced action gameplay of the day stages that i'd argue makes for a good contrast when paired together.But onto my only real only negatives with the werehog is some of the "mash b" segments are just carpal tunnel causing.And its time to talk about shamar night... THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE.Oh my god why on earth would you put an optional challenge so close to the main path that would make you think that it is the main path that players could attempt for hours,weeks,days and not know that it is fully skippable and the worst part is... THAT IT IS WAY HARDER THAN ALL THE MAIN STAGES COMBAT SECTIONS!?!?! WHY SONIC TEAM..... anyways time to move on I think it'll cause the heaviest migraine of all time if I continue thinking about this terrible level design.
Soundtrack:
What do you want me to say its stellar with an insanely good vocal theme tied with some super upbeat and memorable OST's for the day time stages and some really chill and astmospheric night time OST's... when you get to here them over the battle theme which isn't a bad theme its actually insanely good but it plays for about 3/4's of a night time stage here so by the end of the playthrough you will cause war flashbacks upon yourselve listening to that song.
Sound Design/Voice Acting:
Jason and everybodies performances here aren't at there best I think the story book games had better voice acting but that doesn't discount how good the voice acting here is and it layed the groundwork for sound design in the modern stages with the jump,boost,drift and all the moves still using somewhat similar sounds today and for the night-time stages the hitsounds are impactful and make you really feel like the monster of a being the werehog is when paired with the OST's and voice acting these sound effects rock!.
Replayability:
Pretty high tier here can't lie the skill tree encourages replaying levels with focus on getting as much exp and rings as possible to min/max your sonic(s) skill trees and there are the DLC/Bonus acts that add on a good chunk of content for those who like that sort of stuff this game overall isn't the most replayable but it will give you good bang for your buck especially for a sonic game.
Characters:
Chip is a very fun detouragonist for the game and by the end of the game you will feel a strong bond/connection especially if you did the side stuff like eating with him,etc,etc and the NPC's in the hub world are quite memorable for example the hot dog vendor man,ice-cream vendor man,the dad and son argueing,etc there is quite alot of charm and character in this games NPC's and I like how some of the dialect in the dialogue changes in different areas of the world
and if the character is younger or older overall quite a nice little detail for such a minor aspect of the game that is fully skippable,Sonic and eggman here aren't at there best but there pretty darn good the best they will be until... frontiers I guess as pontaff will be taking over for the next decade or so.
Overall:
A strong entry into the sonic series that has held up decently but certain aspects haven't aged well as they will be more refined in later entries and overall if I had to agree with the haters or supporters of this game i'd probably lean closer to liking it after this 2nd playthrough as I for the most part had fun playing the game and eggman land is possibly the best final level in a sonic game to date it puts everything to the test that you have learnt and heck maybe haven't learnt yet in the games runtime that makes for a satisfying conclusion and the final bosses that follow are neat.And some of the levels cultural appropriation here is seriously amazing.As a side note I really dislike the tornado defense minigame that plays in the start and end of this game its very fustrating and doesn't feel rewarding in the slightest to beat and not to forget about medal collecting that is a partial reason im not raising this games ratings because medal collecting goes against what boost formula is about.Anyways that about wraps up my thoughts on sonic unleashed if you enjoyed this review make sure to check out my others as I have only been doing sonic reviews here come check it out!.
Trivia:
This game actually isn't the first boost entry to the series overall that'd be sonic rush maybe even advance 2/3 but it is a common misconception never the less.
This game is named "Sonic World Adventure" in japan and combined with the HUB worlds many can argue that this game is an adventure 3/4/5 (depending if they think 06 and heroes are adventure games).
Sonic Unleashed is the first game of the boost era in many ways it really shows but it does still have merit outside of its many flaws a game thats reception has kind of 180'd as years passed,The game went from really spited in the community to becoming one of if not the most beloved game with fans crying for a PC port to this day.All of that aside how well does this experimental 15 year old game hold up? pretty well I guess considering its ambition.
Story:
The story of sonic unleashed revolves around sonic one day charges into eggmans base blasting away at robots all seems well until he falls into one of eggman's schemes that transforms him into a wolf-like monster and he's ejected from the airbase into the atmosphere,When he comes to he is plummeting to the ground and when he lands he meets a little red creature without a name and the two team up for an unforgettable journey.I can't really go into much more story wise without spoling but the story is very good here and quite touching with some of the BEST world building in the series when paired with the lively residents of earth in the hub worlds its stellar stuff.
Visuals:
What can I say except from... wow this game was ahead of its time visually there is definitely perfomance loss because of it but damn does it not just look great the sonic model is relatively detailed for a x360/ps3 model and the overall lighting and visual compositing in this game is just chefs kiss amazing too bad future installments wont have this production level and care put into it visually.
Gameplay (1/2 Daytime):
Ah yes some of the most highly praised 3D sonic game play of the last 2-3 decades but honestly I think its one of the worst. Woah woah there lower your guns let me explain my reasoning,This game is FULL of trial and error gameplay that punishes new players way too harshly for just trying to use its basic mechanics like the boost 1/2 the time.And to make matters worse sonic is way faster in this game that'd you'd think is a good thing on surface but with this level design it makes the game super punishing to play and the drift here is awful easily the worst part of the controls it makes turning harder than normally running and is only good for refilling boost.Aside from that though sonic controls great here... Outside of the homing attack WHY DID THEY MAP IT ON THE BOOST BUTTON!?!?! its nonsense you can't even argue "oh but its the first game to use homing attack" BECAUSE THAT ISN'T EVEN TRUE in every game before this outside of the rush games it was just double tap jump but nooooo here they made it the boost button that can result in so many untimely deaths for the blue hedgehog because you will see the homing reticle, and maybe think "oh this will be fine" but be a fraction of a second too late and boost off into the stratosphere its very hindering to sonic's overall feel in this game.
Gameplay (2/2)
It's kind of ironic but... the werehog is actually very fun to play as? god its like am playing a different game to others because I find the werehogs stage design (minus night arid sands but we will get there dont worry) to be very fun sure maybe a little repetitive but just pace yourself in playing this game in moderation and dont marathon it and this can become a very fun gameplay style because the combo system when maxed out can be very fun to use especially because most of the attacks minus a few can be canceled with shield to make for a very rewarding sometimes a bit too easy combat system.As for the platforming its more traditional with percise jumps and puzzles more than the fast paced action gameplay of the day stages that i'd argue makes for a good contrast when paired together.But onto my only real only negatives with the werehog is some of the "mash b" segments are just carpal tunnel causing.And its time to talk about shamar night... THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE. THIS STAIRCASE.Oh my god why on earth would you put an optional challenge so close to the main path that would make you think that it is the main path that players could attempt for hours,weeks,days and not know that it is fully skippable and the worst part is... THAT IT IS WAY HARDER THAN ALL THE MAIN STAGES COMBAT SECTIONS!?!?! WHY SONIC TEAM..... anyways time to move on I think it'll cause the heaviest migraine of all time if I continue thinking about this terrible level design.
Soundtrack:
What do you want me to say its stellar with an insanely good vocal theme tied with some super upbeat and memorable OST's for the day time stages and some really chill and astmospheric night time OST's... when you get to here them over the battle theme which isn't a bad theme its actually insanely good but it plays for about 3/4's of a night time stage here so by the end of the playthrough you will cause war flashbacks upon yourselve listening to that song.
Sound Design/Voice Acting:
Jason and everybodies performances here aren't at there best I think the story book games had better voice acting but that doesn't discount how good the voice acting here is and it layed the groundwork for sound design in the modern stages with the jump,boost,drift and all the moves still using somewhat similar sounds today and for the night-time stages the hitsounds are impactful and make you really feel like the monster of a being the werehog is when paired with the OST's and voice acting these sound effects rock!.
Replayability:
Pretty high tier here can't lie the skill tree encourages replaying levels with focus on getting as much exp and rings as possible to min/max your sonic(s) skill trees and there are the DLC/Bonus acts that add on a good chunk of content for those who like that sort of stuff this game overall isn't the most replayable but it will give you good bang for your buck especially for a sonic game.
Characters:
Chip is a very fun detouragonist for the game and by the end of the game you will feel a strong bond/connection especially if you did the side stuff like eating with him,etc,etc and the NPC's in the hub world are quite memorable for example the hot dog vendor man,ice-cream vendor man,the dad and son argueing,etc there is quite alot of charm and character in this games NPC's and I like how some of the dialect in the dialogue changes in different areas of the world
and if the character is younger or older overall quite a nice little detail for such a minor aspect of the game that is fully skippable,Sonic and eggman here aren't at there best but there pretty darn good the best they will be until... frontiers I guess as pontaff will be taking over for the next decade or so.
Overall:
A strong entry into the sonic series that has held up decently but certain aspects haven't aged well as they will be more refined in later entries and overall if I had to agree with the haters or supporters of this game i'd probably lean closer to liking it after this 2nd playthrough as I for the most part had fun playing the game and eggman land is possibly the best final level in a sonic game to date it puts everything to the test that you have learnt and heck maybe haven't learnt yet in the games runtime that makes for a satisfying conclusion and the final bosses that follow are neat.And some of the levels cultural appropriation here is seriously amazing.As a side note I really dislike the tornado defense minigame that plays in the start and end of this game its very fustrating and doesn't feel rewarding in the slightest to beat and not to forget about medal collecting that is a partial reason im not raising this games ratings because medal collecting goes against what boost formula is about.Anyways that about wraps up my thoughts on sonic unleashed if you enjoyed this review make sure to check out my others as I have only been doing sonic reviews here come check it out!.
Trivia:
This game actually isn't the first boost entry to the series overall that'd be sonic rush maybe even advance 2/3 but it is a common misconception never the less.
This game is named "Sonic World Adventure" in japan and combined with the HUB worlds many can argue that this game is an adventure 3/4/5 (depending if they think 06 and heroes are adventure games).