The word ‘frontier’ is used to describe the border between two countries, but also the limit of settled land: beyond it’s the wild, the unknown. It’s natural to be uncertain about what you don’t know, and so players have been uncertain upon seeing the first screenshots and clips of Sonic, the blue hedgehog known for speeding through tight, linear levels, in a large open world. Does a lonely, melancholy environment convey the kind of vibe Sonic fans want?
Yet while we share some of that anxiety as we wake up as the Blue Blur on Starfall Islands for the first time, once we’re in control and have started exploring in our hands-on, it becomes clear that Sonic Frontiers really is a bold and exciting direction for Sonic Team to take, with plenty of promise. Here’s what you can expect from the world’s first ‘open zone’ game.
THE WORLD
Dubbed ‘open zone’, this open world approach truly unleashes the ’hog
Sonic Team has been keen to emphasise that Sonic Frontiers isn’t open world but ‘open zone’. What does that mean for the archipelago of Starfall Islands, where Sonic is stranded at the beginning of the game? It’s basically a vast hub, rendered in photorealistic detail using the latest iteration of the Hedgehog Engine, except it’s also a big playground that has all the mechanics you expect
