Sonic goes "open-zone" in Sonic Frontiers next year
And it looks absolutely lovely
Here he comes, that speedy blue boy. Where will he go? Who knows! He can run around in an open world now, no longer restrained by specific paths which cause him to inexplicably die when he steps a toe off of them. I am, of course, talking about the newly announced Sonic Frontiers. The next 3D Sonic game is set to arrive late 2022, and we got our first glimpse of it at The Game Awards tonight.
I have to say, it looks absolutely lovely. Were those ruins not obviously shaped like rings, I could almost picture them in something like Breath Of The Wild or Shadow Of The Colossus.
"An experience like never before, accelerate to new heights and experience the thrill of high velocity open-zone freedom," the website says. "Battle powerful enemies as you speed through the Starfall Islands - landscapes brimming with dense forests, overflowing waterfalls, sizzling deserts and more."
That's about all we know so far. It's not totally clear what the threat to this pretty landscape will be, or who else from Sonic's posse will be joining the fray. I'm just so curious how a more open Sonic game will work. Will Tails have free roam of the skies? Will we need to employ Knuckles to smash rocks to let us through areas? So many possibilities!
Sonic Frontiers is set to release late next year on PC and consoles. Do have a look at the website if you get a chance, it has some super pretty screenshots.
We stayed up late to cover the PC gaming news at the marketing extravaganza: hit our The Game Awards tag for everything, or skip to Every trailer at The Game Awards 2021.