subject: Sonic Black Knight Wii - review [print this page] There is no doubting that huge effort has gone into creating a cinematic feel to the game, but it is quickly brought crashing down to earth with the sound of receipts rustling as consumers race back to the store for a refund when it comes to game play.
Where has all the fun gone? Where are the loop the loops, pinball mini games and super speed that we all grew up with and now expect from Sonic the Hedgehog? Not here, that's for sure. If you are in the market for poorly designed waggly sword fighting that would embarrass any pirate worth his salt, then read on.
This is the latest in the new storybook series from the Sonic team. These are all tales based around stories of old in this case King Arthur and the brave Knights of the Round Table.Sucked through a portal that takes Sonic back in time to to this wonderous world, he finds himself in battle against the sorceress Merlina and a suit of armour filled with a nasty gaseous substance pretending to be King Arthur. Are you still with me?
Being honest, graphically, the cinematic sequences are stunning. If only as much effort had gone into the gameplay, they could have been on to a winner. They have used high end voice talent for the voice overs, but the script sounds like it was written by the Chuckle Brothers I mean very, very corny.
There is a really nice map that you can use your Wii controller to move the on screen scroll over and trigger stages. You can also do swapsies online with chums using the treasury mode. If you have seen screenshots and movie trailers for the game, you will no doubt have been impressed. I was. But, and this is a very big but, the game really does not live up to the graphics. There are amazing pyratechnics, clashing swords produce eye blistering sparksindividual blades of grass swish and sway as Sonic rushes through them, the scorching plasma fields cause the screen to distort from the heat. It is almost as if they have used cinematic designers rather than game designers and have ended up with a game that has the aesthetics of a big screen production, but the but the gameplay of a pantomime.
My advice, go and buy Sonic Unleashed. At least you will have some fun.
