Much better than the previous game, but could of been better
After playing the disaster that was Sonic The Hedgehog 06 I thought I would never see myself playing another new Sonic game, but I figured after seeing the screen shots and trailers for Sonic Unleashed I thought I would save my harshness for the game until I actually played it and to tell you the truth Sonic Unleashed isn't a half bad game, but still it has its problems, but at least the game is better than Sonic 06. First off the story is almost the same as most other Sonic, but this one has a twist to it. First it starts with Dr. Robotnik assembling a force of battleships to once again try and take over the Earth, but Sonic of course being the hero he is goes to stop Robotnik and make sure he doesn't succeed, but not all is good as Robotnik traps Sonic in a machine that drains the power of the emeralds and literally makes the planet messed up and it's up to Sonic to repair what damage Robotnik did. Now the game play tries to blend the original 2D Sonic with the 3D world which works, but sometimes it doesn't and the camera is still a problem in areas, but it's a lot better than what Sonic 06 had. Stages switch between the fast pace stages of normal Sonic and at night it switches to more of a fighting style type stage with the Werehog. Now the day time stages are what make Sonic Unleashed fun because it captures the high speed of the original Sonic games while still maintaining the 3D of the newer Sonic games. The night stages are a mixed bag sometimes they are fun, but sometimes they are downright annoying as the enemies will get the better of you sometimes and make you restart again and sometimes the stages can get a little to repetitive. Now I know Sega wanted to try something different with the Werehog and it works sometimes, but most of the fun to be had is with the day time stages. Now as far as the it's still the 4kids voice actors, but I have come to terms with them, but still they don't do a good job. Finally Sonic has a new partner that tags along with him called Chip who looks a lot like Snarf from Thundercats, but he supposedly lost his memory and Sonic tries to help him get it back. Now I know Sega wants to be helpful by giving advice on the game using Chip, but he is far more annoying than the robot from Sonic Adventure 2. He pops up at times and tells you things that are necessary, but sometimes it's just annoying. Granted that Sega learned their mistakes from Sonic 06 there are still a few like the frame rate will drop at certain points and the side missions you can do are annoying and not necessary, but all in all Sega has done some good with Sonic Unleashed if you can get over the annoyance of the camera at times and the repetitiveness of the Werehog stages then you're looking at a decent Sonic game.
Pros:
+ Much better Sonic game than Sonic 06.
+ Day stages are a blast to play and give you the sense of speed that was missing from the other Sonic games.
+ Sonic is the main character and game play focus on him.
+ Graphics are pretty good and show the Hedgehog engine is great
+ Improved camera works most of the time
Cons:
- English voice overs are still not that good
- Chip can get really annoying at times
- Night stages with Werehog can get repetitive at times
- Minor camera issues with Werehog stages sometimes
- Load times are still an issue sometimes
