This isn’t Sonic Team’s first foray on the dark side. Past releases like Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic 2006 have played with making Sonic’s world bad and dangerous, complete with edgy rock music and dark elements. But the true bearer of this torch is 2005’s Shadow the Hedgehog. Sonic Team used the game to explore dark and mature themes – adding weapons, an action plot, and a strange dichotomy between hero and villain.
While the reception for these games ranged from mixed to negative, players seemed to get a sadistic joy from turning Sonic’s vibrant, fun world into a chaotic mess. But will this work out for Sonic Forces?
It seems like Sonic needs this change after the combo debacle of Sonic Lost World and the Sonic Boom series. Those titles almost made the fanbase want to jump Sonic literally and figuratively. Going back to bright, irreverent Sonic seemed to be the right answer with the 25th anniversary of everyone’s favorite hedgehog. But Sonic Team decided to go a different route with the 3D Forces. This release wants to capture the momentum gained from Sonic Colors and Generations while allowing Sonic to be in true peril for the first time ever. That’s where new villain Infinite comes into play.
An Infinite Introduction
That intro would send any average being cowering in a corner. Infinite is the baddie Metal Sonic and Shadow wish they could be. The fact that he is impenetrable to the mighty Sonic’s tactics and tricks makes him one bad dude. He’s condescending. Egotistical. Dangerous. Evil. Everything players need in a good, challenging villain that our favorite blue hero has been needing since the introduction of Shadow.
Infinite will be a definite challenge for Sonic and his friends, as it will take the team of classic and modern Sonic to try and bring him down. The mind races with the dark, twisted “edge” Infinite brings to Forces.
Music Sets the Mood
While the intro was menacing, it’s Infinite’s theme that will leave players quivering with fear. This electro-rap rock head banger from members of the band Dangerkids is a theme worthy for a menace like Infinite. The trade between angsty vocals and aggressive rap lyrics creates an uneasy tension and impending doom needed to introduce a new edge to the Sonic universe.
The theme characterizes “the edge” that Sonic Team is looking for in this latest entry for the Sonic franchise. The thought of Infinite entering every scene sends a tingle in one’s spine.
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All this edge might be too much for any player to handle, but Sonic fans are a different breed. They can definitely handle Infinite and his dark presence permeating Forces from beginning to end. Bring it on 4th quarter!
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