Sonic screens
PREVIEW
Are you sitting comfortably children? Right then, we can begin. Once upon a time there was a hero named Sonic. But he was no ordinary hero, he was a hedgehog. But he was no ordinary hedgehog; he was bright blue with red sneakers and Mickey Mouse gloves. Trust us, he was much cooler than he sounds. Anyway, one day Sonic found himself…
That’s the beauty of Sega’s speedy hero, you could pretty much end the above sentence any way you choose and no-one would bat an eyelid. One of gaming’s most unlikely heroes, Sonic is equally at home in an apocalyptic industrial landscape as he is in a colorful fantasy world. And that’s exactly what Sega’s Wii-exclusive spin-off series of Story Book Adventures is all about. It worked wonders with Sonic and the Secret Rings, a migraine inducingly colorful reimagining of the Arabian Nights stories with an added lick of speed.
Sonic and the Black Knight is the second game in the series, plucking its themes from an equally rich and well loved story by plonking our hero into the court of King Arthur. Yep, Sonic’s been summoned to a reimagined Camelot to do battle with the evil Black Knight. To do so he’ll be using his trademark speed, but the only way to really defeat a medieval ne’er-do-well is with a hefty blade. Thus for the first time in his 17-year-history Sonic will wield a weapon.
Unlike in The Secret Rings, Sonic’s movement is now controlled with the Nunchuk, leaving the remote free for sword-swinging duties. The game plays an awful lot like Sonic Unleashed with a focus on speedily traversing pretty landscapes with a mix of 3D and 2D platforming. The difference is, of course, the sword. Frequently Sonic has to slow down and slash his way through errant knights and obstacles. Better yet the blade can also be used to scale and descend sheer walls with style. There’s also an emphasis on collecting items and impressing townsfolk. Doing this will unlock hidden content and gain Sir Sonic followers. The more followers he gains the more effective a knight he’ll become, which in turn allows him to level up and access new abilities – much as he did in The Secret Rings.
There are issues we’d like to see addressed, mind. For instance, constantly curbing your speed to hack through enemies could make the pace feel a bit stuttery. Why not give Sonic a running attack to keep things moving? Also the old criticism of it being too on-rails applies – though this has been admirably sidestepped in Sonic Unleashed.
Still in its early stages, Sonic and the Black Knight is shaping up to be a thrilling tale of swashbuckling adventure powered by a jet engine. It’s another clever sidestepping of the traditional formula that adds something refreshingly different. Aside from the gorgeous Zelda-like visuals it looks to be fast, varied and, with emphasis on simple mission-based play, rewarding and fun. Following The Secret Rings was always going to be tough, but it looks like Sega might pull it off. With the Arabian Nights and Camelot taken care of, we’re already starting to wonder where the Story Book series will take Sonic next. Sonic in Wonderland, perhaps. Or Sonic and the Beanstalk even. How about Sonic in space? Now there’s a thought…
SEGA say that this is their first Wii title where they've managed to use high dynamic range lighting, which is why on some screens you can see this almost 360 like lighting.
Gametrailers has some high definition videos from Comicon.
Joystiq hands on
Swinging that sword requires you to shake the Wiimote, which we're sure you're already aware, gets pretty tired after a while. Despite that, Black Knight isn't a terrible game. It's definitely an improvement over Secret Rings, though you'd expect that considering the two and a half year gap between the titles.
The horizontal Wiimote-only control system of Secret Rings has been replaced with the far superior Wiimote + Nunchuck system. As a result Sonic is no longer on rails and you can move him forwards and backwards as you please, though the levels have remained largely linear, with the exception of some arena-style duels. There are plenty of levels to explore, with incentives to go back to each of them and complete specific tasks and collect more followers.
These followers act as experience points in what seems to be a pretty deep RPG system. There are different proficiencies to learn, items that require identifying (though, for the most part, these seemed to do very little) and a knight ranking system. Sound like a Sonic game to you? Nor us.
Instead of picking up rings throughout the level you'll pick up yellow fairies, which will then be immediately converted into rings.
Cutscenes range from Final Fantasy-esque FMVs (thought these seemed rare) to pretty ink-and-paint images, which fade between each other to give the impression of animation where there is none.
Sonic and the Black Knight may feel at times like it's having a bit of an identity crisis but it looks like there's a pretty playable game once you get past the whole "why am I Sonic again?" thing. It looks reasonably pretty and the controls work fairly well, even despite waggle-to-attack. It may be worth picking up this March -- and don't worry, there's not a Werehog in sight.
A lot more here :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2579265...7613654454376/
Via GAF, Stormbringer
More I posted
Yeah, uh. Same.
I'm wondering though, the game has you rocketing through levels at breakneck speeds. I'm wondering how much better they could have made things look if you were walking at adventure game pace?
Pics
Epic