Sonic Unleashed Review
- Posted December 16th, 2008 at 18:06 EDT by Steven Williamson
- 19 Comments
Review Score
- PSU Review Score
- 6.5
- Avg. user review score:
- 5.7
Summary
Ignore his Werehog alter-ego and you'll pleasantly discover that Sonic The Hedgehog is almost back on top form.
We like
- That Sonic looks his best yet
- The new Hedgehog engine, which finally allows for finely-tuned controls
- The brilliant day-time stages with classic and fast 2D gameplay
We dislike
- The camera angles that work against you
- The boring Werehog levels
See PSU's review on Metacritic & GameRankings
(continued from previous page) ...switch and change at a moment’s notice making it hard to judge jumps or see where you’re supposed to be going. Furthermore, in the latter levels, where more decisions need to be made due to the packed environments, it can be frustrating as you stop and start again using a trial and error method to work out how to get past certain sections. Nevertheless, the problems aren’t frequent enough to spoil the fun and hardcore Sonic fans should enjoy the stiff challenge posed by some excellently designed stages that sport multiple pathways.
Although newcomers to the series probably won't mind so much the switch in gameplay focus from classic Sonic to his Werehog alter-ego, older fans who will remember a time when Sonic was purely about the speed and thrill of dashing through colorful environments, most likely won't be very impressed by the platform stages. The Sonic The Werehog levels offer variety, yes, but aren’t nearly as well implemented, entertaining or as well designed as the day-time levels.
In addition to suffering from frequent poor camera angles and a few annoying glitches, including (in our experience) a box that is crucial to solving a puzzle disappearing through a wall never to return, the bouts of room-clearing combat start to get very repetitive and dull, despite the splash of color that greets ever frantic button-bashing battle. Still, there’s some half-decent platform fun to be had out of grabbing onto ledges and swinging from poles in search of secret areas, or interacting with levers and opening doors by bashing the ‘O' button. Whilst The Werehog levels do offer some variety and give you a break from the blisteringly fast and eye-achingly bright Hedgehog levels, the fact that the camera angles shift and move around erratically works to the detriment of the gameplay and can make for a frustrating experience.
It’s a real shame because, apart from the Werehog stages, everything else has been done pretty darn well when you compare it to some of the previous titles. As an overall package, Sonic Unleashed is a hundred times better than its last next-gen outing and despite a few niggles is as enjoyable a Sonic game as we’ve played in a long while. Not only does it look fantastic, with some beautifully realized locations and well-designed dash stages, but the thrill of controlling Sonic at such speeds makes for an addictive and gripping experience.
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Comments
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CSUPSU
- 6:35pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
- 3
If you ask me, the Werehog levels are the only thing in this game that actually got increasingly fun...the only thing to fault about them is that they sometimes dragged on to long...the speed levels got monotonous after awhile with it's "auto-pilot" boosts and it's parred down dodging...then the fetch quests/mini-games!...<<<THAT'S what ruined this game...
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edward_moffet |
edd- 7:41pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
- 8
they should've just left the werehog levels out and focused on the classic sonic gameplay, with more varied, robust, complex and detailed stages. If they just focused on that aspect and made it the best they possibly could with this gen's hardware it could've been something great instead of just okay
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EFFORTLESS8 |
r_e_f_l_e_x- 8:26pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
- 10
niggles? You sick son of a gun, you didnt learn you lesson LAST TImE!!?!?!!?
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C0SM0NECR0
- 8:32pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
- 11
Granted the graphics look good but I'm just not attracted to the "Sonic on planet Earth with humans" deal this time around with real countries and crap. I liked it better when he would go to cool stages like Labryinth Zone, Green Hill Zone, ya know. I'm a huge Sonic fan too. That's what sucks about this. I bought the last one and had high hopes but it was a mess. Now I have to wait yet another year again before (if they even) get there act together and make just a solid old-school Sonic game. Cross my fingers but I won't be holding my breath.
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Rafaelcbf12 |
Rafaelcbf- 9:13pm GMT - December 16th, 2008
- 12
They should just make somthing algon the lines of Sonic Directors cut for the gamecube, and Sonic 2 Battle, and the most important thing: BRING BACK THE CHAO GARDEN!!!!!!!!!!!
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DJDarkViper |
DJDarkViper- 10:41am GMT - December 17th, 2008
- 14
you know, i just picked up this game a couple days ago.
... why are the Werehog levels boring? I had a blast playing them. Saying the werehog levels are boring is almost like saying "i got bored playing God of War". The mechanics are EXACTly the same. Square for horizontal attacks, Triangle for Vertical attacks, different combinations of both yeild different combos (some way more devestating than others), and even right down to pressing O to grab dudes and swing em around, bash em around, or otherwise throw them. Right down to pressing O when an enemy is weak to initiate one of those context sensitive quicktime events for specific enemy kills. The arms may as well be the Blades of Athena due to the stretchiness.
The platforming is solid, and lends a little bit of forgivness if you screw up, press O as your falling theres a chance Sonic will grab the ledge you had once hoped to latch onto.Ill give ya one thing though, they do stretch on for a bit too long, But other than that, the werehog stages are perfectly fine, and are as fun as any other game with this style of combat.
game gets an 8 in my books. -
jigglespsu
- 5:50pm GMT - December 17th, 2008
- 15
well the first sonic-ps3 effort was p!ss p00r so I'm swerving this like a drunk-driver. Why don't they realise that regurgitating old IP gets tiring after the third and a half installment?
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lordAlucard |
Sympozium_666- 11:53am GMT - January 3rd, 2009
- 16
I enjoyed the demo it actually felt like an Sonic Game but why add the WereHog that's just ridiculous
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biggestbossestbossGAWD
- 8:19pm GMT - March 22nd, 2009
- 19
u21ask you just proved my point...the music is bad thing.I mean the werehog music is worster than a intro 2 sesame st.that y i loved sonic 4 his music.
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