Review 1 - Sonic Unleashed - the controversy of a Werehog

Sonic Unleashed is a game released by Sega in 2008 on multiple platforms: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii and Playstation 2. This game is being so much hated on the Internet and my goal in this review is to discover why this game is so hated compared to other Sonic games like The Genesis era and Dreamcast era. I played this game from the beginning to the end and my opinion on this game is neutral,

since i didn't played other Sonic games before this one. After this one, I played Sonic Adventure 2: Battle on GameCube, since almost anyone on Youtube and various forums claim that Sonic Adventure 2 is the best Sonic game of all time. 

1. Gameplay

The Gameplay of Sonic Unleashed at Day-time and Night-time levels are very different: in the Day-time levels, you are the fastest Hedgehog of the world. It is pretty simple but you will need some reflexes, mostly in the last levels of the game. I admit that some parts of the day-stages are ''boost to win'' since you just hold the square button (I am playing to Playstation 3 by the way) and you mash enemies and earn a lot of rings. But, most of the time it is not like this. You have be concentrated, fast, and have some reflexes if you want to have a good rank on level or even survive, especially in Eggmanland, the last level, who is considered as hell. Some parts involve platforming, and it is really challenging since you have a really fast character. 

The night-time levels are completely different from day-time levels. after being infused with the Power of Dark Gaia, a mythical monster released by Doctor Eggman, Sonic, at night, transforms into a Werehog, like a Werewolf. This is charcacter you will be playing in night-time levels. You how now much slower and this time, the gameplay involves beat 'em up and platforming. The beat 'em up part is, according to various comments, a  ripoff of the game ''God of war''. My opinion is that it looks alike, since the physics and moves are completely different. The only thing that I don't like is that the night-time levels are really long compared to the day-time levels. But this type of gameplay is very interesting and fun to play, even if it's very long. 

For the gameplay, i will give 27/30, because both of the two type of gameplays are really nice and fun, but the fact is that the night-time levels could be shorter, and this is one of the main problems of game, since no game is perfect, and no game should have 100/100. Other then that, the gameplay is very challenging  and could be difficult for the newest players of the game. If you are totally new to the Sonic franchise, i don't recommend this game for you, since you won't be able to pass Eggmanland. 

2. Graphics:

The graphics on Playstation 3 are really nice, because the platform is able to generate nice graphics with the definition. Sonic itself is quite the same compared to Sonic The Hedgehog (2006). He didn't change much but the background and level graphics changed a lot. The engine used to generate the graphics is Hedgehog Engine. I don't have much to say about this except that the engine is different for Wii and Playstation 2, because the resolution of these platforms are less good then Playstation 3 or Xbox 360. For the graphics, i give Sonic Unleashed a 18/20 (PS3 and Xbox 360), because some parts of game lagged, probably because of the resolution or the engine. For the Wii/PS2, i give it a 12/20, because it could be better, and they could have find a solution for the Hedgehog Engine not working on Wii/PS2.

3.Reception

This game had a really bad reception simply because fans and the other reviewers had very high expectations  for the game and  those guys are fans of the Sonic cycle, which is totally fake. The fans, that are represented in the sonic cycle are a bunch of nostalgia fanboys who refuses to grow up and they stick to the classic Sonic games and the Dreamcast era and they claim that those Sonic games are the best. The only thing have to say about this: it's an opinion, not a fact. Reviews crushed and destroyed the game because they think that Sonic is a type of game, not a franchise. And they think Sonic should only be about speed, and nothing else. I asked one, and he said that if Knuckles did the beat 'em up, the game would have a better score on reviewer sites, like IGN, Gamespot, etc. For the reception, I will give a 12/15, even if the game have been thrashed by the reviewers, because it is underrated. The fact that people hate this game because of Sega tried something is the proof the reviewers need to look at this game again, or just finish it, in that case of IGN...

Sonic  Community in a nutshell

4. Community:

 The Sonic Community is a total Joke. It is simple as that. People who claim to be fans usually hate 75% of sonic games. These people are usually trolls who keep begging kids on Youtube to play Sonic Adventure 2 or the Classics, especially Sonic 3 and have nothing better to do. Also, i think most of trolls hate the game because they can't finish the game or they see the review about it by the reviewers who are nostalgia fans and they hate all games after Sonic Adventure 2 (On Dreamcast, not Gamecube). For the community, i give Sonic Unleashed a 5/15, because of the trolls, and the fact the people who are happy with the game doesn't show any appreciation on the game. The image on left i found is pretty much what sonic community looks like: trolls who are never happy with any game (except sonic adventure 2, for the chao garden), trolls who like two or three games, and people who  like every game from the beginning of sonic.

5. Skill level

The game is not really hard, except for the famous Eggmanland level, which is consider hell, because it took me 21 lifes to pass this level. I can tell that Eggmanland is the only level like that and the rest of game dosen't make me rage like this level. Honsestly, it is the only part of the game who makes me rage. Other then that, if you played other Sonic games before, you will have almost not difficulty. For the skill level, I give 9/10 because the game dosen't make me rage, except for Eggmanland.

6.Story

Chip

The story behind the game is that Sonic must reassemble the Earth because Dark Gaia broke it into 7 parts. On each broken part of the Earth, there is a Gaia temple, where you can activate the temple with the chaos emeralds. In brief, this is the plot and this is why levels in Sonic Unleashed are inspired from real places, like New York City. In term of character, there is two new characters: Chip, which also is light Gaia, who lost his memory and professor Pickle, who localizes the Gaia temples. to have his memory back, Chip finds his memory in the sixth temple. There are also Tails and Amy who have minor roles, and we only see them several times. I would like to see more character development in Sonic Unleashed. Even if the ''fans'' (trolls) have spoken, there is not enough characters in Sonic Unleashed and the story could be better, even if Sega focused on the Gameplay and not the plot and the characters. For the story, i give it a 8/10.

Final Score: 79% in Overall 

OwnageElek's Reviews - A new Blog

Hello, i am OwnageElek, I am from Quebec, Canada and i will be reviewing video games, not as a reviewer, but as a gamer. i will review games because i find games reviews pretty unfair, most of the time it is based on the expectations of a game, and not of it's content itself. Some games have been completely crushed by reviewers because of this. I will review games based on a few part of the game:

-Gameplay: The way how the game is played, how the player with the game universe. /30
-Graphics: How the game presents itself, what is the definition, the engine? /20
-Reception: What were the expectations of the game? what were the critics' reactions? Were they unfair? /15
-Community: Who are the fans? how do they like the game at overall? Singleplayer or multiplayer? /15
-Skill level: Is this game difficult for the average player? are there any very difficult part of game? /10
-Story: Is there a story in this game? Is the story good?

Total /100

I will make two or three reviews a week, depending of my school schedule, and i will try to post one review on Sunday, October 30,  2011. My usual review post schedule will be friday and saturday, and maybe some random day.