Sonic Unleashed Review
Played on Xbox One (base)
Developed by Sonic Team
Released 18th November 2008
Originally intended to be the third instalment of the Sonic Adventure series, the development team quickly found themselves brimming with new concepts that differed the game heavily from Sonic Adventure titles. One of those features was the advertising highlight of the Werehog, which director Yoshihisa Hashimoto felt from the outset that there would be both praise and criticism, but hoped that long-term fans would outweigh the flaws. With such a decline in recent years for the Sonic IP, namely the 2006 disaster, Unleashed was predated with positive feedback before ending up in an aggregate of mixed criticisms on launch.
Story
The narrative of Sonic Unleashed is an enjoyable yet peculiar ride. Dr Eggman is back at it again with his world-dominating plan and, as per usual, Sonic is there to foil it. But this time around, despite its intriguing concepts like the Dark Gaia and the world splitting into pieces, I found no particular interest in how the narrative developed. Understandably, this game is not trying to be the next award-winning, emotion-dealing masterpiece; instead, it's aiming to be a small joyride for its players, and in that, it succeeds. Additionally, the cinematics accompanied by the game are perfect in reflecting the epic nature of the speedy Sonic.
Gameplay
The gameplay is troublesome to me. The gameplay revolves around two different forms of Sonic. His iconic racing Hedgehog form takes place during the daytime levels, and the Werehog form is a platformer and brawler that takes place during the nighttime levels. While the brawler aspect seems redundant to me as a feature, considering they could've just made another simple Sonic game, it is a unique change of pace. Notice how I didn't say a "good" change of pace. The Werehog levels are an enjoyable mediocrity. They serve as extremely basic button-mashers that overstay their welcome. In addition to the simplistic combat that became monotonous quite quickly, the platformer/puzzle parts of the level are a common occurrence. They're not necessarily bad, but they're not great either. The platforming sections aren't tense or enjoyable to play due to the clunky camera, and the puzzle moments don't incite a genius feeling within me.
On the other hand, we have the Hedgehog levels. The swift and rapid rates of these are incredible. The ability to race past so many obstacles and be able to zigzag, loopty loopty, bounce back and forth and dash through extra speed boosts is fantastic. However, there will occasionally be a small segment in the level that will force you to slow down and do some excruciatingly painful platforming. The controls during these moments in Hedgehog Sonic are such a pain in the ass to fiddle with.
Another trash element of the game is the placement of the medals. Whoever was in charge of this part of the game is truly a sadist. Essentially, the medals are collectables that the player has to get in order to progress in the story. You'll need a certain number of medals to enter the level and their placements are absurd. Just like the Werehog levels, the only reason for their existence is to prolong the playtime. These terrible qualities made me consider whether or not I was a masochist for continuing to play this game despite the mental pain it was putting me through.
Bossfights
The bosses of this game are a mixed bag. While on the one hand, the cases of the Egg Beetle, Egg Lancer and Dark Gaia Phoenix managed to provide some entertaining fights - whether it was due to the aesthetic proficiency or the gameplay factor - and these didn't feel like a nuisance. Then there's the rest of the bag in which either the fights were extremely washed down and vanilla, or they were forgettable and I had to search them up to refresh my memory. These include the Dark Guardian and Egg Devil Ray. Although, there are bosses for which I formed an opinion of neutrality. While not the greatest times of my life, they didn't tread any line that made them terrible in any sense. For example, the final boss Dark Gaia was insanely good but faltered in its slow pace, while the Egg Cauldron was nothing extraordinary, but instead a nice state of zen.
Characters
The characters don't need any detailed, analytical overview of themselves. There are Sonic, Dr Eggman, and Tails, whom we all love and can never hate, and the new original characters like Chip and Professor Pickle, are initially loveable enough beside Sonic and the crew, before transforming into actual cheese machines. These characters became so corny that I started performing a combo string with my face palms and sighs.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere is average, in terms of quality. Other than a jagged rendering of certain models, frequently appearing, the game is actually visually impressive. Each location of the game is to some extent based on a real-life location making the towering clusters of skyscrapers in Empire City or the ancient arts of Chun-nan much more fascinating. The soundtrack is so damn good. While it's not ‘Undertale’ or ‘Ori’ levels of greatness, it's still amazing. The melodic trance that the Savannah Citadel puts you in or the rapid, upbeat tempo of Cool Edge that makes you hyper are just some of the rocking and elegant examples of this game's audible capabilities. On the technical side, the game doesn't outright ruin playtime but can cause problems for those who love eyeing games like this. Not only does it have a massive frame rate drop towards the end of the game, it but also has the previously mentioned jagged rendering that can be detrimental to someone's experience.
Story- 7/10
Gameplay- 5/10
Bossfights- 6/10
Characters- 5/10
Atmosphere- 8/10
Mediocre
An average Sonic experience, brought down by mostly its flawed innovation.
