2nd Sign of the Apocolypse...posted Mar 9th 2005, 12:05PM
Mood: Disturbed
Music: Kuribayashi Minami - Shining Days
First, it was Mario starring in an EA branded game. That would be enough for a fanboy to cry that it was a sign of the gaming apocolypse. Boy, was I wrong. The second horseman of the apocolypse how now come in the form of SEGA's latest announcement - the latest game in the Sonic series will be known as...
Now, at first, that doesn't seem ALL that shocking. I just think it's bad enough they gave the unoriginal bastard his own game. But nooooo, it gets worse than that.
Image taken from Fireball20XL)
GUNS?! Why did the thought of Grand Theft Sonic suddenly spring into my head?
Correct me if I'm wrong...this is supposed to be a Sonic game right? Since when did ANYTHING in the Sonic universe involve brandishing an uzi around?! Fine, Tails had a big laser gun in Sonic Battle, and E-102 and Omega had Machine Guns. However they were never core elements of the gameplay, and weren't needed to be any good. But SHADOW? Why the Hell does the Ultimate Life Form™ need a gun?
Now, I've had my fair share of seeing cute fuzzy things with guns (Conker anyone?). But why the Hell does SEGA have to sell out to the GTA-esque masses and use something as stupid and out of place as this to try and brand the Sonic universe as being gritty and cool? I think they did an awesome job of it with Sonic Adventure 2. And as mediocre and poor as Sonic Heroes was in comparison, that was the 4th best selling game of last year. Personally I would've thought that SEGA would have kept true to the abilities he had in Sonic Battle, and let him fire bolts of energy at people. Now THAT would be cool, and better suited to his character. But nooo. Guns are cool and violent. Just look at GTA San Andreas.
Instead, they cheapened the Shadow character more than I can actually bear. He is haunted by his past, so instead of saving the world for Maria and dying with dignity and honour, he came back (WITH AMNESIA!), and decided he's gonna turn all Frank Castle/Max Payne/revenge superhero and shoot himself some answers. Why do I get the horrible feeling that Sonic/Eggman/Mighty the Armadillo will feature being shot in the head?...
Now, of course there are two sides to every coin. Now while the whole concept of a gun toting hedgehog has shocked me - and frankly isn't needed as "in your face" as it is, I must admit, going in the direction of something like Jak and Ratchet and Clank is actually pretty good as a stand alone game, away from the main Adventure series. If this game is to deliver the atmosphere it's trying to pass off, I damn well hope it isn't going to smear it's image over the other characters through cameo appearences. Obviously I'd expect Eggman to be in there. Possibly Sonic. But no need to feature any other character, lest you ruin what is left of the spirit, dignity and respect of the series.
As I say, I think SEGA should've kept Shadow's dignity as "The Ultimate Life Form" and let him have some abilities to make him unique from Sonic. Preferably ones that don't include BULLETS.
Secondly, this is the best chance they have of recreating a story driven experience almost as good as Sonic Adventure 2. That is my favourite thing about Shadow, as much as I hate his character. His backstory. This is a golden opportunity to make up for the awful Sonic Heroes plot, and quite honestly, see the true nature of Shadow's past. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that.
If SEGA are insistant on the whole Gun thing, there are three other things I want them to include. That way all will be forgiven.
1) An ability which allows you to shoot yourself in the head. Terminating Shadow's life would never be so much fun.
2) The clones from Sonic Heroes. Laying into them with a machine gun wouldn't actually be all that bad.
3) Same with Chao, please. Or at the very least, Cream.
*sigh* I really worry for the game industry sometimes.
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