E3 2008

Sonic Unleashed: Not So High On The ‘Hog

July 17, 2008

Sonic is back, this time with a nighttime alter ego known as the Werehog in Sonic Unleashed. The game still focuses on running at high speed through a looping course collecting rings only now in 3-D and only by day. Once the sun goes down Sonic turns into the Werehog that runs on all fours and relies on combat instead of going hand to hand. There was no hands on time involved but the game looks like a step back from even the ‘Hog’s debut on Sega Genesis.

The next-gen graphics look good. Sega even threw in a proprietary engine they have been working on since 2005 optimized for rendering textures at high speed. But the overall feel of the game looked a little flat despite all the speed. As a 2-D sidescroller you could at least appreciate the full size of the levels as you navigated them. There didn’t seem to be any real evolution in the game that have kept Mario fresh through the decades. In the scenes that I saw the landscape shoots past at a pace that makes the key to gameplay seem more like muscle memory than reflexes. Hats off to the Sega associate producer who put on the furry suit for a few shots. It was hot as hell in that booth. Hopefully the game will heat up a little before its holiday 2008 release.