Sonic Frontiers is shaping up to be the biggest leap forward in the series since Sonic Adventure. From the open world to the combat, Frontiers is changing everything we know about modern Sonic, and is finally pushing the series forward after years of stagnation. But how much change is toomuch change?
With a slimmer cast of characters and a softer tone, Frontiers could be the least ‘Sonic’ Sonic game we’ve ever seen. And yet, based on a demo we got to try at Gamescom last week, the gamble is definitely worth it. The gameplay is fantastic, the combat is stupidly responsive and engaging, and based on the open world alone, Frontiers could be the blue blur’s finest hour in years.
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Far from feeling like an overly stylized auto-runner, Frontiers is full of life and much-needed innovation. What we played in the demo showcased the best of what the boost formula has to offer, while leaving behind most of its shortcomings.
In the 20-minute preview, we were thrown right into the action. Sonic wakes up in a mysterious digitized open world, having been separated from Tails and Amy. A disembodied voice guides us through a tutorial, immediately making it clear that there’s much more to Frontiers’ gameplay than previous Sonic games.
Within the first ten minutes, you can already play around with far more abilities than we’ve had in years. In no time at all we unlocked the Cyloop ability from the new skill tree. With this activated, you can damage enemies by running in loops around them - a nice change of pace from spamming the homing attack over and over again. You can still use the homing attack, of course, but now that’s only the start of what Sonic can do to mow down
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