Sonic Frontiers still attracts the wrath of players. This time the open world game is at the heart of a controversy over level recycling.
The summer has been tough for SEGA. Over the past two months, the Japanese publisher has regularly highlighted Sonic Frontiers. Whether at Summer Game Fest or at Gamescom 2022, whoever was to sign the renewal of the license comes up short. This time, it’s a game mechanic that is in question.
Sonic Frontiers accused of abusive level recycling
When it’s not the open world of Sonic Frontiers that’s under fire, it’s Cyberspace. This mechanic is indeed playable at Gamescom 2022 and gameplay has started to circulate on the Web. What some thought was a nostalgic homage is seen by many as a simple cut-and-paste of levels from old games. The videos show, for example, the level of Green Hill from Sonic Frontiers whose level design is exactly the same as that of Unleashed. Same story for the Chemical Plant area which looks like Generations.
Some fans jumped at the chance to accuse SEGA of recycling entire levels and trying to disguise it by changing the skin. ” Between the lack of environment art direction, Sonic’s reduced speed, and the attack animations that take forever, it definitely feels like lower versions of Unleashed/Generations levels. “, comments for example a fan on the forums. ” They had so little time and resources to create new levels that they copied their own homework “, jokes another.
A lot of noise for nothing ?
Others feel that the quality of gameplay and controls takes away from functionality. Some believe that the developers added them in a hurry to respond to player feedback after the fiasco of the first Sonic Frontiers video. However, the community is very divided on the subject. The feature was indeed presented very early in the communication of the game.
We’ve known for a while that Sonic Frontiers would offer another dimension with bonus levels that mix genres a bit with traditional areas. This is therefore not a surprise in itself. ” LPeople are really looking for any excuse to spit on the game before it launches. commented a player in response. We can’t blame him. Especially since Cyberspace should indeed contain original levels. Inevitably, this controversy amused some people, who parodied the comparisons using Mario. Anyway, we remind you that Sonic Frontiers will be available on November 8 on consoles and PC.