Interview with SoA Producer on Sonic Unleashed
Gamespot was lucky enough to interview Sega of America team producer Patrick Rileyk during Sega’s Gamer’s Day on May 14th, and Patrick was kind enough to share a few things we haven’t heard before.
Since the first screenshots for Sonic Unleashed were revealed, there was a lot of speculation as to where some of the locations were in the game. Some suggested that one of the levels looked a lot like Greece, which was later confirmed to be true by Sega. In the interview, Patrick reveals that the level is actually the very first daytime level in the game, and is more specifically Mykonos, Greece.
During the first few stages (such as Mykonos and a level based on Europe — which is confirmed to be about the 4th level), the player will spend time learning Sonic’s new abilities, such as the the Sonic Drift and Quick Step. Throughout the game, as Sonic gains experience, he will be able to learn new abilities as in previous titles. All stages are said to be based off real world locations.
There have been other concerns in the Sonic community in regards to the new Ring Energy Meter that shows in the HUD of several Unleashed screenshots. According to Patrick, ring energy is filled by collecting rings, but the rate at which you collect rings also plays a role in how fast the meter is filled. Using ring energy will allow Sonic to “engage another new mechanic called Sonic Boost“, which will essentially send Sonic soaring at speeds up to 300mph.
“It’s kind of a turbo for Sonic“. Yeah… Kind of.
It was reiterated in the interview that Sonic Unleashed is about Sonic. There will be times that you play as other characters throughout the game, but about 95% of the time, Sonic will take the stage.
Chao Gardens, Night Stages, Weresonic… What say you Patrick?
“We’re not talking about that yet…”
“Um, uh, we’ll be talking about that at a later date…“
“Closer to E3…“
YES. That’s not too long a wait folks. Remember, the Summit gathers between July 15-17th this year!
Thanks for the heads up Mike!
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