Let's start without further ado with what made us hallucinate: the game's lifespan. It took us barely four hours to complete the first run, which is truly scandalous for a Sonic announced as ambitious. OK, we can come back to the 30 chapters of Sonic Forces to smash records, respond to a distress signal, recover the red shields, take up various challenges (reach rank S in such a level, complete the course in a given time, etc. .), or complete daily missions in order to benefit from an extra XP, but there is no real incentive for the player to stuff Eggman, Infinite and their minions a second time. Moreover, the scenario of Sonic Forces is a nonsense without name. We thought that Nintendo and Mario were the world champions in this field, but Sonic Team went even further with soft dialogues that remind us of the importance of friendship, bravery, all that. This may be a harsh observation, especially since the game is aimed at a young audience who is not necessarily attentive to this kind of detail; but is this a reason to multiply ultra bold shots and cinematics that are not at all inspired? Since the recipe had worked well in Sonic Generations, the developers brought the two Sonics together again. The first, coming straight from the 2D era, doesn't pick up a word, which paradoxically makes it a bit endearing. Quite the opposite of Sonic 3D who does not stop chattering and chastising his opponents, even when he is fined by Infinite and his gang. Heavy.
Let's start without further ado with what made us hallucinate: the game's lifespan. It took us barely four hours to complete the first run, which is truly scandalous for a Sonic announced as ambitious.
The presence of the two versions naturally implies two types of gameplay, and the first word that comes to mind to describe the feeling with the old school Sonic is "catastrophic". The inertia of the character is strawberries, it is sorely lacking in precision, some collisions are suspicious, and the level design shines with its mediocrity. As for the poor readability of the levels, it forces you to know the places by heart to avoid stupidly falling into a precipice and hoping to achieve an honorable time. With regard to the modern hedgehog, we find almost the same defects, the linearity in addition. It's simple, we have the feeling of being in a kind of rail shooter where we just press the stick up or to the right, with a few Homing Attacks here and there to get the player out of his lethargy. Perhaps aficionados will be thrilled by the loops and long descents that the hedgehog engulfs at high speed – "Gotta go fast", huh? – but either way, don't expect any real exploration phases. So much the better, because we're not convinced the camera - on the verge of breaking at times - would have held up. In the shoes of Sonic 3D, the boss fights greatly accentuate the repetitive nature of the game: it is essentially a question of reducing the gap which separates us from the opponent to bludgeon him with blows. Nothing too crazy in fact, which makes it possible to emphasize that Sonic Forces does not require any skill to see the end of it.
WITHOUT CONTROL, SPEED IS NOTHING
The main novelty of this episode is the introduction of a "rookie" that we will be able to customize from head to toe. The first step is to define the race to which our avatar will be associated, knowing that there are seven of them and that each one has its own characteristics. For example, the Bird is able to perform a double jump, while the duration of invincibility after taking damage will be greater if one opts for the Rabbit. We can also mention the Wolf who attracts objects, or the Cat who keeps a handful of Rings when you get hit by an enemy. After having determined the physical appearance and the look of our customized hero, it will be necessary to assign him a Wispon that can be used in two different ways. More concretely, by pressing the right trigger, it is possible to draw a weapon, while the second function of the Wispon allows you to take advantage of a special movement conditioned by a gauge. To fill it, we will have to recover the appropriate Wisp by browsing the level. With a Spinning Wispon, there will be a way to pierce the walls to climb, while a Floating Wispon will be invaluable so as not to fall into the void. Just to add a few subtleties, some Wispons that you unlock have bonuses (increased sliding speed, invincibility after collecting a hundred Rings, blocking enemy attacks when braking, among other things) which, for To be honest, they are not very useful as the level of difficulty of Sonic Forces is close to nothing. Maybe to get S rank, and again.
Beautiful as a truck, the game forgets some basics of the platform. Approximate gameplay, wobbly level design, zero challenge, more than limited lifespan, the developers didn't go out of their way for this episode.
With the classic Sonic on one side, the modern Sonic on the other, and the avatar in the middle, we thought that the Sonic Team had played all their bad cards, but it was without counting on the association between the Sonic modern and the avatar that delivers the final blow to Sonic Forces. We find ourselves controlling both characters simultaneously, with the choice to use the skills of one or the other. Instead of getting lost with this ill-fated duo, the Sonic Team would have done better to focus on chiseled gameplay mechanics, just to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the franchise with dignity. There, we are rather faced with an indigestible mixture of all the elements – whether good or not – of the latest Sonic. Result: zero consistency. It is true that certain sparks make believe that the developers will let go of the horses, but the game immediately falls back into its faults, the QTEs of a rare indulgence being the pinnacle of this masquerade. So, should we throw everything in Sonic Forces? No. Graphically, there are levels that are pretty darn cool (Green Hill and City for example), which gives even more regret over gameplay wanderings. And then, impossible to remain unmoved by the multiple visual effects, in the same way as the 60fps which responds present on Xbox One and PS4 – the Nintendo Switch, for its part, must be satisfied with 30fps. Finally, apart from a few quickly boring songs, the soundtrack of Sonic Forces does the job, which makes it possible to forget the completely failed French dubbing.
