My Review for Sonic Unleashed

[cartooner2008]

REVIEW:
I think that it's very safe to say that the gaming community hasn't been very good for the blue hedgehog lately, and that the Sonic fanbase is one of the worst fanbases of all time (some give you DEATH THREATS if you say ANYTHING bad about a Sonic game, even the crappy ones like Sonic 06).

When Sonic Unleashed was first announced, many people were very excited and that it might be Sonic's comeback.

Then it was released and the reviews came out.

Almost every review that I found for this game was harsh and negative (I'm looking at you, Yahtzee), all saying stuff like "It sucks because of the Were-hog" or even "It sucks because it's not 2D". After reading all of these reviews, I decided to rent the game to see how bad it was, and I was actually pretty surprised. In my honest opinion, Sonic Unleashed is NOT as bad as the reviews say it is.

First, let's talk about the story.

Story:
Dr. Robotnik/Eggman is up to his old tricks again, and Sonic (as Super Sonic) is about to stop him. Just as Sonic confronts him, Eggman starts pleading for mercy. Sonic (not knowing that it's a trap) falls for it, and then gets captured, getting the chaos emeralds sucked out of him, making the chaos emeralds turn negative, and getting himself turned into a were-hog. Eggman also fires a beam to the Earth, breaking it up to 7 piece, and launches Sonic and the chaos emeralds back to Earth. once sent back to Earth, Sonic meets a flying dog-like creature who he calls Chip. They both go on a journey to find all seven chaos emeralds and stop Dr. Eggman.
Story: 3/5

Now that we got the story out of the way, let's talk about the gameplay.

Gameplay:
One thing that I like about Unleashed's gameplay is that the only character who you play as is sonic (I know that you play as the were-hog, but that's still Sonic), you don't play as any of the half-assed characters like Big the Cat, Amy Rose, Shadow, or Rouge, it's just Sonic, and only Sonic. Some people complain that there's a life system, but why complain when all the other Sonic games have life systems?

Sonic's Gameplay:
Sonic's gameplay in this game is probably his best since Sonic Adventure. It uses a mix between the 3D gameplay that most hate, along with 2D gameplay that we all know and love. Some people (like Yahtzee) complain that Sonic goes too fast, but I'd rather have a Sonic that goes as fast lightning than a Sonic that goes as fast as a snail.
Sonic's gameplay: 5/5

Were-hog Gameplay:
This is where (almost) all of the negative reaction comes from. Most people hate it for these reasons:
1. It takes up more of the game
2. It's too slow
3. It's different from Sonic's gameplay
After playing it, I only agree with the fact that it takes up more of the game. While I agree with the fact that it's pretty slow, keep in mind that in some stages of the were-hog, running at full speed can be suicidal. also, being a big fan of beat-um-ups, I didn't mind the change in gameplay at all.
Were-hog gameplay: 3.5/5

Graphics:
I know that graphics don't matter, but I'll mention it anyway. Overall, the graphics are very good, and very detailed. That's all I'm going to say.
Graphics: 4.5/5

Overall:
While not the comeback that we were all hoping for, Sonic Unleashed is not as bad as people like Yahtzee and Gamespot say it is, and better than most 3D Sonic games that have come out lately (*cough*Sonic06*cough*).

Overall: 8.5/10

PS: Don't bash me just because I like the game.

 

[thatstheguy]

(*cough*Sonic06*cough*).

That was an odd cough. Anyway, I enjoyed the review, even if it got you on Yahtzee's list of people to torture.

 

[cartooner2008]

Anyway, I enjoyed the review, even if it got you on Yahtzee's list of people to torture.

Thanks for the comment.

Also, I better be careful, Yahtzee will probably torture me now.

 

[the protaginist]

Well, The game looked interesting, i was gonna rent it, but it woulda cost me not being able to get fallout 3. then i saw Yahtzee's review and i scraped the idea altogether. i might try it now. good review.

 

[captain awesome 12]

I'm not going to bash you at all, I just want to examine some of your scores. In gameplay you gave it 5/5, which means it's perfect. That means that you're expecting me to believe that sonic unleashed has PERFECT gameplay, there isn't a single flaw? However, it's already been pointed out that Sonic moves so fast you can hardly stop or move before you land in a pit of spiked death so that is a flaw there. Obviously if the gameplay has been done before, since this is about the billionth sonic title then how can it be perfect? Another constructive criticism i have is that you rated each individual component out of 5, but the overall out of 10. this doesn't really work or balance out, please stick to one denominator. You're final score is indicative of a very good game, since on most gaming review this was the score that Resistance 2 and Call of Duty 5 received. Now if you can tell me with a straight face that Sonic unleashed is on par with these games then well you're crazy. I dont care that you like the game, by all means go ahead. But the review could have been a little bit better done, since it sounded like it was coming from a fanboy that desperately didn't want to be called a fanboy but still didn't want to banish sonic to the depths of hell.

 

[Bagaloo]

I played the Demo via Xbox Live, and I have to say I agree on the majority of your points. The graphics are really nice, though personally I found sonic goes a tad too fast, a marginal slowdown would have helped in some situations.

I can't really comment on the rest, I never experienced Were-Hog gameplay.

 

[captain awesome 12]

However i do applaud the fact that you didn't cower under Yahtzee's skirt like all the other "Branston Pickle Eaters"

 

[cartooner2008]

I'm not going to bash you at all, I just want to examine some of your scores. In gameplay you gave it 5/5, which means it's perfect. That means that you're expecting me to believe that sonic unleashed has PERFECT gameplay, there isn't a single flaw? However, it's already been pointed out that Sonic moves so fast you can hardly stop or move before you land in a pit of spiked death so that is a flaw there. Obviously if the gameplay has been done before, since this is about the billionth sonic title then how can it be perfect? Another constructive criticism i have is that you rated each individual component out of 5, but the overall out of 10. this doesn't really work or balance out, please stick to one denominator. You're final score is indicative of a very good game, since on most gaming review this was the score that Resistance 2 and Call of Duty 5 received. Now if you can tell me with a straight face that Sonic unleashed is on par with these games then well you're crazy. I dont care that you like the game, by all means go ahead. But the review could have been a little bit better done, since it sounded like it was coming from a fanboy that desperately didn't want to be called a fanboy but still didn't want to banish sonic to the depths of hell.

Thanks for the constructive critisism. When I gave it the gameplay a 5/5, I was just talking about the daytime stages. Also, you got a point about my score changes, although this was my first review, but I will keep this in mind if I make another review.

 

[cartooner2008]

Well, The game looked interesting, i was gonna rent it, but it woulda cost me not being able to get fallout 3. then i saw Yahtzee's review and i scraped the idea altogether. i might try it now. good review.

Thanks. I'd suggest that you should probably rent both the Wii and 360 versions, since both versions are very different (for example, the explorative hub worlds are absent from the Wii version). Although if you don't like either version, that's fine.

 

[Tryzon]

I literally think that I have never seen a more doomed-to-badness game as this. Take Sonic, gaming's fastest dying star, hype up an hysterically stupid-sounding gimic, allow a group of people who apparently hate the consumer, and presto, you have this. Truly, when none of the ingredients are fresh or clever, you are bound to fail. It is simply a matter of how badly you fail.

 

[Sylocat]

REVIEW:
I think that it's very safe to say that the gaming community hasn't been very good for the blue hedgehog lately, and that the Sonic fanbase is one of the worst fanbases of all time (some give you DEATH THREATS if you say ANYTHING bad about a Sonic game, even the crappy ones like Sonic 06).

That's nothing compared to the number of people who tear you to shreds if you say anything GOOD about a Sonic game, even the excellent ones like Sonic Rush.

 

[cartooner2008]

REVIEW:
I think that it's very safe to say that the gaming community hasn't been very good for the blue hedgehog lately, and that the Sonic fanbase is one of the worst fanbases of all time (some give you DEATH THREATS if you say ANYTHING bad about a Sonic game, even the crappy ones like Sonic 06).

That's nothing compared to the number of people who tear you to shreds if you say anything GOOD about a Sonic game, even the excellent ones like Sonic Rush.

People actually do that? Sheesh.

 

[cyber_andyy]

Nice to see a user review, I'm getting more and more to the belif that review sites ect. are becoming too "conditioned". Zelda's always gonna do great along with mario and if sonic isnt 3D its insta marked down.

 

[cartooner2008]

Nice to see a user review, I'm getting more and more to the belif that review sites ect. are becoming too "conditioned". Zelda's always gonna do great along with mario and if sonic isnt 3D its insta marked down.

Thanks.

 

[sirtunic]

I only played a bit of this game, at my friends house. The part I played was slow walking and melee, and some sort of boss fight (which is possible I didn't like merely because I couldn't beat him). So, from that portion, and a jazz number that alienated me (but kudos for doing something new), I got a pretty bad taste. But I kept playing so I could eventually get to tryout daytime gameplay.

In comparison, how is that? You say Sonic goes too fast, but, recalling the earliest Genesis titles, it was inCREASingly easy to run into something once you started getting too fast (sometimes if you're in a ball or not)

 

[qwmn]

Wow. Someone gives this game a fair and honest review instead of playing the game for an hour and saying that it sucks.

Good review.

 

[cartooner2008]

Wow. Someone gives this game a fair and honest review instead of playing the game for an hour and saying that it sucks.

Good review.

Okay.

The funny thing, though, is that when someone reviews Unleashed negativly (such as the Irate Gamer, IGN, Gamespot, etc.) they usually get flamed to death (except for this forum, apparently) and positive reviews seem to be rare but do get high ratings.

One thing that I do find funny is that most negative reviews don't really get past the Spagonia section (the first section), but that's another rant entirely.

Glad you enjoyed the review, though.

 

[itsmeyouidiot]

Ok, I?m going to have a bit of a spiel here.

I still, despite your relatively well written review, fail to see how this game could in any way be called good. I do agree with you that people need to stop bitching about how the games have changed to much (oh waaaah, its not in 2D). As technology progresses so does the resources and methods of game designers, its a part of the evolution of game design. I think where everyone needs to correct themselves is by saying that, YES the recent Sonic games do things in a new way, but they do it in such an agonisingly piss poor way that people get hung up on the time when the series was still good.

But back to the game in question....

In my opinion it was a streak of piss down the wall of a seedy pub toilet wall. Its game play was broken, its story was a shocking piece of work and the inclusion of the were-hog aspect was completely unnecessary. BUT that?s just my opinion, if you like the game then good on you. Most people hate X3 and I love that game in ways that would disturb you..

Also, anyone who follows Croshaw's opinions blindly like some mindless trend whore is a fucking idiot! It's just his opinion, yes its bloody hilarious but for fuck sake have an opinion of your own............

....fuck I must be on my period today!

Day stages, dumbass. If you don't like them, there is something seriously, seriously, seriously, seriously, seriously, seriously, seriously, seriously, seriously, seriously wrong with you.

If you reply in a way that isn't changing your mind and agreeing with me immediatly, don't bother. I'm in a bad mood.

And why the hell would anyone complain that you move too fast in the day stages to react easily? That's been the whole goddamned point of the games since the series's beggining!

 

[quack35]

Yeah, I agree. It was surprisingly good. The Day stages were great, but the night stages kind of interrupted the flow of the game. There were WAY too many of them, too.

I liked the more lighthearted feel of the story, Sonic's emo cousin is nowhere to be seen, thank god.

I LOVED being able to go so fast, you couldn't control yourself. That's not sarcasm. It was exhilarating.

Overall, not too shabby. I think Sonic might be making a comeback...