Sega has finally revealed the first gameplay of Sonic 2017, now known as Sonic Forces.
And between it and Sonic Mania, it’s a pretty exciting time to be a Sonic fan.
But these 30 seconds of gameplay just aren’t enough.
It’s great to see a return to the boost formula from Sonic Colors and Generations,
but we need more.
Which is why we’ve enlisted the help of the old Analysis Machine to see what secrets
and hidden details this gameplay is hiding.
So let’s get moving!
The gameplay begins by showing the same city from the reveal trailer.
Like that tease, the city is already destroyed and is actually still in the process of being
bombarded as missiles or some kind of fiery debris explodes against the building on the
right.
There’s rubble everywhere, and although we can’t see it, it looks like a fire hydrant
has been destroyed with water gushing up from the pipeline.
This has created a pool of water at Sonic’s feet where we can actually clearly see his
reflection.
Looking around, we can also see a tattered flag hanging from a pole on the left.
Now there were flags for each of the different countries in Sonic Unleashed.
But the only one that even resembles this flag is from Chun-nan.
This city can’t be in Chun-nan though as the architecture doesn’t match at all.
So, at least for now, we shouldn’t expect any overt Unleashed references as far as the
setting.
However, this might be a resistance flag if the star behind the Sonic Forces logo actually
has any real meaning.
Otherwise, this is just random flag put there to flesh out the city prior to its destruction.
The city does seem to be completely abandoned though as Sonic begins to move forward.
One of the buildings even has a giant hole in it.
But this is still a Sonic game so naturally there are rings to collect.
But it’s also here that things seem a little odd.
There’s grass growing nearby, specifically in the pools of water.
So how long has it been since this city’s destruction?
At least long enough for these plants to take hold.
We know that Forces takes place in a world where Eggman has conquered everything, but
he seems to have had control for at least a month, if not more.
This also brings up the question though of how the hydrant is still spouting water after
all this time.
Simple, that water wasn’t coming from a hydrant.
As we see later in the gameplay, there’s more water spewing upward although this time
we can see its origins.
It’s not broken hydrants but storm drains.
It would appear that the sewers are being flooded with so much water that it’s being
forced out here.
And yeah, having two giant robots in the river where these pipes likely lead would do that.
Moving on, the camera shakes quite a bit to show the force of the explosion from the building
ahead of Sonic.
The debris from this actually lands on the road which Sonic simply runs past.
We do wonder though if this rubble could have damaged Sonic if he was farther to the left.
Unfortunately there’s no real way to know yet.
But another question we have is what this curving structure is that’s high above the
city?
A closer look doesn’t reveal much but from farther away, it kind of resembles a roller
coaster.
This being Sonic though, that could just be another road that Sonic may be able to run
across either earlier or later in the level.
Once Sonic goes over the hill, we can see more of the city, but there’s honestly not
much more to pick out.
The most obvious thing is the giant red girder sticking out of a house, but these girders
appear multiple times throughout the level just to emphasize the devastation.
More interesting are the boosters, which return to provide Sonic with a burst of speed, and
the three rows of rings.
Could these indicate that there are only three paths for Sonic to Quick-Step to, assuming
this ability returns?
This doesn’t seem quite right considering how much room there is for him to run along
the sidewalk too.
But there doesn’t have to be rings on every lane.
After all, we can see Sonic is able to veer normally while running forward.
It’s not surprising, but it does show that Sonic can avoid the rings if he so chooses
for whatever reason.
Another strange thing about the city is that some of the lamps still have power.
The first we noticed was the one under the bridge where the right bulb is broken, but
the other is still emitting power.
Again, it calls into question just how long Eggman has been bombarding this city that
it still has power yet wild vegetation has started to grow.
It probably doesn’t matter in the long run, but we are kind of curious if this is a situation
like in Sonic 2006 where Sonic is taken to the future.
Otherwise, how would Eggman have taken control?
Sega has announced that Eggman does rule at this point but are waiting to reveal how until
a later date.
I mean, it doesn’t hurt that he has several giant Death Egg Robots at his command.
Those would be helpful for world domination.
And Sega does say that the effect of his rule will be felt in each level and that’s certainly
the case here.
However, these robots are different from the Death Egg mech we usually see in the games.
For one, they’re obviously much bigger, but rather than a red and yellow color scheme
with Eggman’s face, these are simply white and black with a giant red eye.
The lapels from Eggman’s old cape are still there, so why did he lose the face?
Eggman is usually pretty vain about this kind of thing though it could be due to the fact
that they’re fully automated.
A detail we noticed though is this stream of yellow objects going toward it.
It appears there is some form of resistance in the city as they shoot a hail of gunfire
at the giant robots.
Considering how they’re doubled up, we’d guess these are from turrets.
But who’s manning them?
Just normal people resisting or could we see the return of GUN?
If we had to guess, it’s likely the former as GUN hasn’t been seen outside of Generations
City Escape callback since 2008’s Sonic Chronicles.
Interestingly, just beyond the giant robot, we can see the edge of the city.
It leads to a bridge where the other side is more like a Green Hill Zone-type landscape.
This leads us to wonder, will levels lead into one another rather than be disconnected
or will this level in particular also feature elements from these outskirts.
Could Sonic literally be escaping from the city as the goal in this level?
But there are more elements returning, such as the Wisps, in this scene.
Only the White Wisps are shown, but it does confirm that the little aliens are back once
again, and they’re needed for Sonic to perform a boost.
And he does just that as he immediately rushes through the new Egg Pawns, if that’s what
these are, destroying them instantly.
This shows though that Sonic gets no boost energy from destroying them like in Generations.
So it seems that the boost system in place is more along the lines of the one in Sonic
Colors where the only way fill the boost meter was through the Wisps.
The Egg Pawns are similar to the old design from Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, and
other games but again lack Eggman’s face.
Instead they’re more like actual eggs with a pair of glowing red eyes.
We know Sega has said that Eggman has conquered the world, but we wonder if he’s no longer
in control.
It just seems odd that someone as egomaniacal as him wouldn’t keep to his typical humanoid
robot designs.
So either they’re on a massive production line or the robots rebelled and took over.
Whatever the case, these Egg Pawns are no more difficult than those from the past.
Sonic destroys more of them using the homing attack as the gameplay continues.
However, this gives us just enough of a glimpse to see that the Egg Pawn was about to fire
its arm cannon which is likely its primary form of attack.
There’s one more enemy type in here though, a bug-like machine that resembles a house
fly.
And it has the same glowing red eye as the other robots.
Unfortunately, Sonic destroys it too quickly to see what it’s really capable of.
But, after he performs the final homing attack, Sonic uses his stomp, showing that this ability
returns as well and it still brings him to a dead stop on the ground.
There’s plenty of visual detail though.
The walls that keep Sonic to this path are constantly changing.
At times it’s a crumbling building or piles of rubble while others feature rough wooden
fences and even barbed wire.
It really shows how this city is just barely holding together.
There’s even wood covering the portion of the road that’s been destroyed.
That’s not to say there isn’t any odd moments though.
When Sonic boosts through the Egg Pawns, the wooden barrier ahead often crumbles before
either of them reach it.
And the Pawns actually clip right through so it appears that Pawns can’t be used to
break the things ahead of Sonic.
That is unless this breaking barrier is supposed to be an approximation of that action because
Sonic is moving so fast.
We see one more hazard in this gameplay though, spike traps, and they probably work as always.
Nothing too new to note there.
However, we do soon get our first small indication of multiple paths in the game as Sonic uses
a series of homing attacks to reach a zip line that takes him to the upper portion of
a destroyed building.
On the other side is Red Star Ring right before a checkpoint.
The question is, what will the red rings do in this game?
Will it be like Colors in that they eventually lead to Super Sonic or more like Generations
where they served as a way to unlock bonus content like concept art and music?
Or will it have some entirely new purpose?
We just don’t know yet.
Eventually, Sonic reaches a spring that sends him flying through the air and into a series
of boost rings.
This provides a good look at more of the surrounding Green Hill Zone-like area.
It’s not a complete separation between the city and the landscape though as buildings
can still be seen on the right as well as straight ahead along with a series of bridges.
Most of them are destroyed though.
However, on the right side, there’s a tree with blocky foliage.
This is the same type of tree that was seen behind Amy during the cutscenes in Sonic Lost
World.
Could this be same location or is this just a common type of tree in Sonic’s world?
Finally, as the gameplay nears its end, we can see a loop at the end of the street that
will guide Sonic to the right.
Unfortunately, there’s no good indication of exactly what he’ll find there.
Presumably, he would continue along the coast until he escaped the destruction.
The checkpoint he passed would indicate that the level certainly certainly isn’t finished
yet.
How much is left, we don’t know.
However, Game Informer was able to go hands-on with this level in their preview.
And while they don’t go into detail, they do mention that the level features rail grinding
as well.
If we had to guess, Sonic will have to grind the rails that remain from the destroyed bridges
in order to continue his escape.
There are a few more details from this preview though such as how Sonic will communicate
with the other characters as he runs through the level, including Knuckles, Amy, and members
of the Chaotix though strangely they don’t mention which ones.
Instead the preview focuses mainly on the devastation seen from the assault of the giant
robots, but Sega did confirm that none of these characters are playable.
Instead, they reiterated that the gameplay will be focused on Modern Sonic, Classic Sonic,
and an unannounced third style that they’re keeping secret.
From this statement and the way the article is written, it’s difficult to say whether
Sega meant that absolutely no side characters are playable in the game or only those that
were specifically mentioned weren’t playable.
If that is the case, Tails, Shadow, and even Big the Cat still have a shot at being controllable.
Finally, Game Informer revealed that Modern Sonic would have 2D sections in his gameplay
as well though it is completely separate from the Classic Sonic stages that they have planned.
If we had to guess, this means that the Modern 2D sections will be pretty much like the ones
in Sonic Colors and Generations.
But that’s everything we could find in this first gameplay for Sonic Forces.
It’s great to see the return to the boost formula, but there’s no clear indication
of how it’s changed.
There are plenty of returning elements though and we’ll just have to see how Sega brings
it together, especially with this mysterious third gameplay style.
Of course, if we missed anything let us know in the comments.
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