Sonic Frontiers hands-on preview: Forward momentum with occasional stumbles

The game is described by its creators as an “open-zone” (iStock/The Independent)

Sonic the Hedgehog is, it’s safe to say, a hit-or-miss franchise since its Nineties heyday, and while there have been plenty of well received 2D outings, overall, it’s been a mixed bag. For every Sonic Generations, there’s a Sonic Boom in its wake.

So, when it comes to the blue blur’s latest outing, Sonic Frontiers, where will it sit on the spectrum? Since it was first revealed earlier this year, it’s received a mixed reception for its open but seemingly empty world, but could a reversal of fortunes be expected?

The Independent had the opportunity to gain a hands-on demo of Sonic Frontiers at EGX London, prior to the game’s 8 November release date.

Based on our initial impressions, Sonic Frontiers could be the game Sonic fans have been waiting years for.

For our full hands-on preview, read the rest of the article below.

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‘Sonic Frontiers’: £44.95, Amazon.co.uk

(Sega)

• Release date: 8 November 2022
• Platforms: PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows
• Age rating: 7+

Waking up in a mysterious new world, what’s immediately noticeable is its washed-out aesthetic that seems like a distant call from the usual primary-coloured flair of opening levels such as “Green Hill Zone”. If this latest version is aiming for grit rather than Sonic’s usual colourful presentation, it’s certainly struck a more somber tone, along with its subdued soundtrack.

Having escaped “Cyber Space”, Sonic is immediately tasked with locating emeralds and defeating the numerous titans that can be found dotted around a large, relatively open-ended landscape. As an early portion of the game, it’s teal-tinged fields stretch out far, but are effective at funnelling Sonic along to designated points of interest.

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To say Breath of the Wild has influenced the last five years of openworld design is an understatement, and that sentiment can certainly be seen in Frontiers. Environmental puzzles, nooks and wandering enemies can all be encountered, with an overhead map highlighting collectible items. Some can be gathered without much forethought, but with the arrangement of the odd grinding rail, bouncepad and platforms that occasionally pop in and out in the distance, there’s enough infrequent curios to be found dotted around this world, as it gently guides the player through.

Along with the usual waves of one-shot enemies, there are larger, more powerful “guardians” that possess different abilities and act as mini-bosses. One such enemy, called a “ninja” required frequent blocks, disengagement and speed to overcome, and made an excellent demonstration for the game’s updated combat systems.

Sonic’s boost ability can also be used to clear spaces between enemies in closed-off environments as well as charge in for homing attacks. Upon being struck, the usual explosion of gold rings erupted from Sonic’s body as he’s clumsily thrown a few feet away. Frontier’s combat feels more methodical than previous games, where homing and spin attacks seem to be the main (if only) ingredient.

For a Sonic the Hedgehog game, you would expect momentum to be a key factor and while speed and agility of movement both play well with Frontiers’s vast stretches, it’s occasionally stilted by its floaty platforming. While it makes Sonic easy to navigate floating platforms, it never quite hits the same kinetic energy as his homing attacks or speed boosts, but it could also be argued that the gradual control over Sonic’s momentum rather than a stop-start approach is what the character demands in a primarily 3D space.

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While an early point of the game, one of the first abilities that can be unlocked is called a “Cyloop” that allows the blue hedgehog to trace a line in his path that when connected can create a light attack around a group of enemies. One later boss, called a “Tower”, made a good demonstration of this, as well as a lock-on camera, as Sonic quickly encircled it. As you might expect circling around enemies at high speeds could lead to some unfortunate camera issues when in more enclosed areas but, against vast open fields, it can feel grand and sweeping.

Venturing back into one of the many “Cyber Zones” dotted around the landscape leads to areas more akin to what would be expected from a traditional 3D Sonic game, with long, linear levels that make the most of the hedgehog’s speed, which fits more naturally into what we’ve come to expect from these games.

While Sonic Frontiers still looks very much to be something of a work in progress, there’s some great potential demonstrated in some of its early systems and world design that appear to address the biggest gripes about the 3D games in the series. While we’ve only seen a small section of Frontiers’s seemingly larger “open-zone” gameplay, it may finally be the game Sonic the Hedgehog fans have been waiting decades for. It certainly exceeds expectations, even if those weren’t soaring to begin with.

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