Sonic Frontiers, the 3D, open-world next installment in the franchise, released gameplay footage on Wednesday, showcasing beautiful scenery but surprisingly lacking action.
The seven-minute video shows Sonic racing around the open world's vast but largely repetitive island environment, including mountain ranges and sea views. All of the showcased action involves Sonic racing through fields, sliding on rails, using bumpers and bubbles to chain jump, collecting coins, climbing mountains and using long trails of light to run faster. The video also included glimpses at different types of puzzles for Sonic to solve, including some with statues and others with light patterns.
Sonic remains on the grassy landscape of the island for the entire gameplay, with minimal variation in scenery or action. Many fans commented on the somewhat lacking reveal, which showed graphics that seem inspired by Breath of the Wild but lack the depth or detail of the designs. The trailer also lacked any fighting sequences, as shown in quick glimpses from the Sonic Frontiers teaser trailer shown yesterday.
Sonic Frontiers was previously announced at The Games Awards 2021 with a cinematic trailer depicting Sonic racing through a forest as he tries to avoid attacks from giant, barely seen robots of some kind. While the trailer is only a minute and a half long, the footage gave fans their first peek at the next installment's epic environment. Many fans quickly pointed out the similarities to Breath of the Wild, with Sonic's Starfall Islands' gorgeous scenery, robotic enemies and towering structures that give the open world a distinct aesthetic.
SEGA has revealed very little about the plot for Sonic Frontiers, though from what has been announced, it appears Sonic's classic nemesis, Doctor Eggman, has lost control of an ancient robotic power that the blue hedgehog must stop. The game was also initially conceived as a 2021 release to coincide with the franchise's 30th anniversary, but SEGA delayed it to ensure its quality. "Not only for this title, but during the development phase, we have been steadily conducting analysis to improve the quality of the title before release, such as introducing game testing based on external evaluations, and I have a feeling that it will become a good game and have high expectations for it," SEGA said in a report.
Although no release date has been announced, Sonic's latest adventure will be available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Source: YouTube
