So, we all know that Sonic can't tell a story to save his life, right? Well, the Modern games anyways. And looking back at Sonic Forces... I knew right off the bat it was bad. But I didn't know HOW bad. Time to dive right in and go with Sonic Forces... me to play this game. Ugh.
STORY
Before we get to the main story... let's go back shall we? We'll start at Episode Shadow.
EPISODE SHADOW
Our story begins as Shadow, Rouge and E123 Omega are on a mission sent by G.U.N that Eggman has hired a group of mercenaries called the Jackal Squadron. We never see them. It's implied they're already dead by the time Shadow infiltrates Eggman's lab? Or fled? I dunno. The writing is shit.
Anyways, Shadow arrives and meet's a jackal who we can't see his face. ... Except we have the tie-in comics which showed his face. Whoops. The jackal boasts that he's the Ultimate Mercenary and Shadow's all like: "Lol, nope. Get rekt nerd." And beats him up and insults him which makes the jackal all trigged and dons the mask and becomes Infinite, our new main antagonist of the game.
So... Infinite get's insulted, get's beaten up, and throws a tantrum and decides to destroy the world. ... Good Lord, he's like Broly. So, Shadow investigates some disturbances after some time has passed. Infinite mind fucks Shadow by saying cryptic and backwards things through the mouth's of Rouge and Omega and realize he had the power of illusions.
And then... he just leaves and let's Shadow do his thing. This was his so-called revenge by the way. ... Lame. So that's Episode Shadow in a nutshell, game over, right? Nope. We still have the main story and whoo, boy. It's, uh... something, alright.
MAIN STORY
We start the game proper as the world has been conquered by Dr. Eggman and his new commander, Infinite. Tails, along with a group of random stock Avatars-I mean, survivors, are cornered by the doctor. Sonic comes to save the day when he see's Metal Sonic, Zavok, Chaos, and Shadow with Infinite.
Sonic tries to attack the masked jackal when he just moves aside as if he was nothing. Tails, just... hides and watches his brother slash idol get his ass kicked as if this was an episode of Dragon Ball Z. And then... it just fades to black and some text explains that Eggman now rules 99.9% of the world and the remaining percent is the newly formed Resistance.
Uh... show, don't tell guys? Anyways, we have Amy, Charmy, Vector, Espio, Silver, Rouge and Knuckles. As for the others, Shadow is MIA or believed to side with Eggman (He isn't, but let's politely nod and pretend he is) and Tails is also missing along with Omega. In comes our custom character but for the sake of this review, I'm gonna call him Gadget, when really, that should be his fucking name. He has a grappling hook device on his wrist.
*ahem* They think that Sonic's dead and after a few scouting missions and five minutes. I'm not even kidding, Sonic is reported to be alive and held prisoner in the Death Egg Prison for six months. And, uh... we just realized this now? Wow, slow news. So they infiltrate the base and find Sonic is... uhm... fine.
He doesn't look traumatized or even damaged at all. He's his usual jokey, sarcastic self. Huh. It's almost like nothing happened at all or something. Weird. Anyways, Sonic fights off against Zavok as he disappears, Sonic, being a dumbass, doesn't question this and bolts and saves Gadget already giving a bad first impression in my eyes, but whatever.
They escape and I guess... leave all the other trapped Mobians in the prison as it blows up? Truly, they're the best. Meanwhile, we finally see Tails trying to repair Omega after fighting Infinite, I guess? Look, the game doesn't explain diddly dick, okay? I'm working with what I got. Chaos appears and Tails is ready to fight!
... Oh, wait. This is at the age and time where all the characters are useless. Especially Tails. He cowers in fear and we get to view that Tails booty-I mean what. A portal opens and Classic Sonic appears and just kills Chaos like nothing. That's it. We never fight him again. Tails. Buddy. You fought him with Sonic and alone in Sonic Adventure 1! What the flying fuck?!
Ugh. I digress, Tails recognizes Classic Sonic but says he came from another dimension. Wait, I thought he came from the past? Turns out, this is Mania Sonic. And he's... just here for fan-service. Meh. So, Sonic encounters Infinite and beats the shit out of him after saving Silver who get's in another Dragon Ball Z-esque battle, flying and zipping everywhere.
... Man, I've been making a lot of Dragon Ball references, huh? Coincidence? Hmm. So after all that, Tails and Clas-er, I mean, Mania Sonic, go to Greenhill and see Infinite and Eggman conversing about some plan they have in 3 days and that Infinite stupidly let Sonic go. Eggman has wisened up over the years and realizes: "Hmm, if I leave Sonic alive, he'll fuck up my plans. Better take care of that pronto!"
Infinite says nothing but is really think "My bad.". Oh, as for the connection between Infinite and Gadget? There is none. Gadget's rescue team was slaughtered and was cornered by the masked jackal. He gives the character an ultimatum, he can stand and fight, but be killed like the rest. Or run away and survive.
... Yes, really. Infinite's a huge idiot with a giant ego. And self-esteem issues. So after much fluff and reuniting Tails and Mania Sonic back to base, it's time for Operation Big Wave (Geddit?) on Metroplis. But it backfires horribly since they just remembered. "Oh yeah, Infinite has the Phantom Ruby and conjures illusions. Fuck. We suck."
So yeah, Knuckles is an awful commander. Gadget and Infinite face off each other and the jackal shows off how E D G Y he is, but not really. After easily kicking his ass, Infinite uses the Phantom Ruby to kill Gadget, but the ruby piece he picked up earlier in the game nullifies the effect... somehow. Huh. That's a HUGE design flaw. Why didn't Eggman test this or inform Infinite? Oh yeah, because this story is rushed to shit.
Blah, blah, blah. More missions and crap that don't offer to the story. Finally, they plan the assault on Eggman's real base of operations and hope to shut down the mass production of the Phantom Ruby and shut down his empire for good. Sonic faces off against Shadow, but the real Shadow comes in and explains what happened behind the scenes.
Again, show don't TELL. Fuck! So, Sonic and Gadget team up and kick Metal Sonic's and Infinite's ass and the jackal just, uh... disappears? I'm not exactly sure what happened. But it's revealed that Eggman has the real Phantom Ruby all along and is the final boss! Oh no. Who could have seen this coming.
We have our anime showdown, Sonic makes a speech and everyone believes in themselves, Eggman transforms into a giant robot and the player mashes the attack button. The day is saved and... uh... wait, where did Eggman and Infinite go? Hello? Guys? Mania Sonic disappears and Tails get's all worked up about it for some reason.
Tails, you knew this version for how long? And not worked up that the real Sonic was TORTURED FOR 6 MONTHS??? Some friend you are. Anyways, roll credits and Gadget starts his own adventures and stuff, who cares? Bleh. And that was Sonic Forces-fuck this game is awful! Ugh. Let's get this over with.
GAMEPLAY
The game plays exactly like Sonic Generations and Sonic Unleashed. However, the drift function is gone now. May I ask, why? And some of the levels are poorly designed or don't fit the theme as to what's going on. Plus, the boss battles all suck. There is no challenge in this game as it's made for BABIES. Yeah, I said it. Fight me. (Please don't.)
Sonic plays as he always is, and the custom character is a mixture of Adventure and Unleashed Sonic and uses a Wispon to attack. And they're broken. Especially the Drill and Flamethrower ones. Mania Sonic... is so heavy and sluggish this time around. I have no idea why.
You need to build up a spin dash just to get over a ramp or slope, otherwise he'll slide off. Either this game is poorly designed or Mania Sonic should cut back on the chili dogs.
SOUND
The voice acting is great and I like Infinite's voice, voiced by Liam O'Brien. Who is absolutely wasted here. He could have been such a cool character too...
MUSIC
The music's good mixing in with techno and orchestral pieces. No Crush 40 though, aww... But the music's good so that's a plus. Yay.
FUN FACTOR
I guess there can be some fun with customizing the avatar character with different clothes and accessories, but is it really worth it? No, not really. I can't see many people coming back to this when we have Mario Odyssey and Breath to the Wild.
FINAL THOUGHTS AND SCORE
This game had so much potential and it completely fucked itself so much. Infinite's a lame crybaby who's sensitive when you look at him wrong, the story's all over the place and the characters are fucking useless. It's the Sonic Show all over again! Although, it did show off the characters best traits I guess. Whatever. My final score is...
5/10
A "meh" rating. It's average. The game could have been so much more if they focused more on the story and what they were trying to do. We know so little about the Phantom Ruby, Infinite and the Jackal Squadron. Who is Infinite really? Why does he hate the world?
What happened to his squad? Are they even alive? And what happened to him and Eggman at the end? We never see them again. Oh well, maybe we'll get another good Sonic game in 2027.
... Phhtaaahaahahahahahaa! Ahh... As if.
Sayonara.
Oh! Wait! I have an idea. I'll introduce a new segment called...
REWRITE THE STORY
Okay, first thing's first. Infinite's Backstory. It sucks. Let's change some things shall we? The relationship between him and the custom character, or Gadget, as I call him. There is one. They could be childhood friends, maybe even some acquaintances that eventually grew close. Whatever the case, a bond's been made. As for Infinite's breakdown, what if it was all the stress and the loss of his squad? Not: "Wah! Shadow beat me up and was mean to me! I'm gonna tell my Dad on you!" Because that's fucking stupid.
All of his failures, all of his mistakes were his own. He sided with Eggman because of his hatred with the world, probably something happened in his childhood or maybe some event, whatever the case, that could be one. The other is the loss of his Jackal Squadron, and realizes there were no survivors and he was the only one left. And last, trying to face off against Shadow, knowing how futile it was because Shadow is and expert G.U.N Agent and the Ultimate Lifeform, but Infinite in his rage and heartbreak doesn't care.
What's even more insulting and soul crushing, Shadow left Infinite alive and left him in misery over his actions. It was because of his own ego, pride and selfish decisions that led him here and his team's deaths. His mind breaks and he dons the Infinite name and discards his old identity and life, never want to be reminded of his stupidity. Even forgetting Gadget.
Most of the scenes happened, but this time, Tails actually fucking does something! When Tails see's Sonic getting his ass kicked by the illusions of Shadow, Zavok, Chaos and Metal Sonic. He rushes in to help, knowing he was no match with the fearsome villains. Infinite scoffs at this and easily kicks Tails away and he hits a wall with a loud thud. The last thing he see's and before he passes out is Infinite staring at him and saying: "Hmph. A futile effort. Killing you would be a waste. I think the loss of your hero and brother is enough to put in the deepest pits of despair! Farewell and let this memory haunt you." And fade to black.
We actually see a cutscene of Eggman and the villains destroying some places as he conquers more of the world instead of a black screen with text. That's fucking dumb. Cut to Gadget along with a rescue team. As they try to escape the carnage in Sunset Heights, Infinite shows up and kills them as Gadget hides. He's scared shitless and see's a wispon weapon. He aims it at the masked Jackal and shakes.
He then realizes something... This jackal looked familiar. Not just in appearance, but his voice as well. Infinite is about to kill him when he stops. Something was tugging in his mind. A memory of his past. He... recognizes this wolf. But he brushes it off and crosses his arms. "I have no idea who you are... but standing against me is foolish. You are not even worth my time to play with. Go. And if I see you again... I will kill you. Now, away with you."
Most of the scenes still happened, only this time, Sonic is actually tortured once they find him. He's all roughed up, his fur is a mess and he looks tired. But he tries to keep his happy-go-lucky attitude and make some jokes. Only this time, they're forced and angry, and why not? He was humiliated, his friends and brother could be in danger, and was treated like garbage.
Once he's saved, it's clear that he's not mentally fine. He might be traumatized about what exactly happened since he didn't say. But once he's comfortable or when this is all over, he promises the group to spill what happened. Meanwhile back with Tails, he tries repairing Omega and grows frustrated. He berates himself for being so useless against Infinite and letting Sonic get beaten up.
He feels like a horrible friend and brother. He used to be better than this! What changed? Then, Chaos appears and he get's scared only for a second before anger takes hold of the two tailed fox. "You know what? I'M SICK OF THIS! I faced you with Sonic and took your fourth form on my own! THIS IS FOR SONIC!!!" And the fight begins, but then realizes a change. Chaos can actually switch forms without the Chaos Emeralds which throws Tails off and realizes that this Chaos knows his every move.
Cue Mania Sonic and see's what's going on. After a brief exchange, they team up and fight Chaos. This Chaos is unaware of Mania Sonic's moves and his existence and get's all confused. Once the protector of the Master Emerald is defeated, Tails notices that he's Classic Sonic. "But wait... you don't know who I am do you? Well, not me, me. Just... I'm not making sense, am I?" Mania Sonic silently chuckles but knows what Tails meant.
"You're not Classic Sonic are you?" A tilt head of confusion is all that Tails needs to know. "A Sonic from a different timeline... Interesting. Wait, what am I doing?! I have to get back! The Resistance needs me!" Mania Sonic agrees to go with Tails and join the battle since he explains in his own way that he was sent by the Phantom Ruby and Tails realizes where it actually came from. It came from Mania Sonic's world and headed to their version of Eggman.
We then reunite with Gadget after Sonic battles with Infinite and saves Silver. And he is PISSED. Infinite tries with Sonic's head, but he says nothing. Anyways, Gadget finds a piece of the Phantom Ruby and thought it would be a good idea to hold onto it. It might become important and he runs into Tails and Mania Sonic. They actually have a conversation and realize that Gadget is a new recruit for the Resistance and shows him the Phantom Ruby which interests the fox greatly. They make it back as Gadget explains on the way that Sonic is alive.
They make it back to base and Tails is ecstatic and hugs Sonic, shedding tears of joy and saying how sorry and how useless he was in saving him. Sonic reassures him that Tails did his best and at the time, Infinite was still a mystery. This is when Gadget explains his connection to him much to the surprise of everyone in the base. Now, it changes some things as when he encountered him, Infinite seemed hesitant and recognized him before he went back to his persona.
They start Operation Big Wave and ends in disaster, this time, Gadget faces off against Infinite and tries to make him remember so this could end. Infinite adjusts his mask, something that the group notices often. But Infinite says he doesn't remember a thing after a pause in his sentence. "I remember nothing about you... you... little red wolf." That slip sealed the deal. He was suppressing his emotions and tried to act tough.
They fight and Infinite tries to kill him using the Ruby and Gadget's activates and nullifies the illusion much to the jackal's confusion. Seeing the effect now, his power is useless and flees. Gadget is disheartened that his friend turned out this way, Sonic, Tails and Gadget give chase as they overheard earlier that have something planned in 3 days.
Infinite summons a place called Null Space and pulls Sonic and Gadget inside as Tails tries to figure out how to get them out of there, but this time, Infinite follows and we have our third battle. Infinite tries to play tricks by messing with the environment or going into past locations. But they beat him as Infinite flees and says that escaping Null Space is impossible. Gadget almost has a breakdown as he feels sorry for letting this happen.
Sonic calms him down and gives him a genuine smile and says that it's okay and that it was brave of him to try to save Sonic to which the character blushes. He then has an idea. If his speed can break the sound barrier, maybe with enough speed and energy, it can break whatever's keeping them here. He says himself, it's not a sound theory and he isn't Tails, so it's best to wing it then do nothing.
And they escape much to Eggman and Infinite's surprise. And the jackal is really surprised, he doesn't hide it either. But it changes nothing as Eggman is confident that this plan will work. The same events happened as Sonic actually fights the Fake Shadow, but it seems they're evenly matched. Nothing Sonic does seems to faze him or even hurt him.
Until the real Shadow shows up and dispatches the fake one while he was caught off guard in shock. Shadow then explains what he was doing and we see a cutscene of him investigating what he knows about Infinite, the Jackal Squad and everything from the sidelines. Sonic then says why didn't he show up and help earlier? "If I did, Infinite and Eggman would know about me and try to silence me. I had to remain in secret. I apologize for the trouble I caused. I am here to fight with you all."
Shadow then notices that Sonic doesn't seem to be himself and then quickly realizes what happens. He says nothing but the look in his eyes pretty much translates to as: "Take your time. I won't pry." Sonic appreciates the sentiment and join back up with the others. Gadget then fills Shadow in on about Infinite and he lowers his head in shame.
It's then revealed that the Jackal Squadron and Infinite, never worked with Eggman before. They were hired by him as they were Bounty Hunters and Mercenaries. And they were very skilled at what they did, gaining an infamous reputation, rivaling their skills like G.U.N soldiers. Shadow explains that they killed almost all of the members of the squad, some fleeing for their lives as they realized that Infinite was crazy.
Rouge confirms this as she and Omega were on the mission tasked by G.U.N. Now knowing the whole story, Infinite was a victim of a huge misunderstanding and manipulation from Eggman. Shadow truly regrets what he did without confirming the facts and helped make Infinite who he is today and that they have every right to hate him, much to everyone's surprise. But the custom character doesn't and now understands Infinite's true motivation.
The final battle commences as Eggman uses Infinite to summon an illusion of the sun, Tails points out that Eggman and his army would be killed as well. But the mad doctor seems unfazed. In fact, he gives a crazed smile and explains that the illusion would destroy the Resistance only, leaving Eggman and his followers alive. Gadget has an idea and uses the piece of the Phantom Ruby to dispel the illusion.
He does so and the battle starts as more copies of past villains, including Infinite copies are made. Sonic, Mania Sonic and Gadget try to stop Eggman's reactor in making more Phantom Ruby copies when Infinite shows up, and his power is weakened from summoning the sun. They try one last time to give Infinite closure and atonement, and his facade seems to be breaking. But the fight happens anyways.
All of a sudden, he's brought back to Eggman's base, much to the jackal's confusion. Eggman explains his reason. "You see, when I put the Phantom Ruby with you, I thought you held potential. But it turns out I made a mistake. You're just an idiot in a mask who has no idea what powers this gem holds! As such..." He pulls the Phantom Ruby out of Infinite's chest and walks away, leaving him in shock. "You're useless to me! I have copies of you already! I don't need a failure like you! Hohohoh! No wonder your Squad died. Because of your idiotic choices. Now get lost! I have a world to conquer and a Resistance to eliminate!"
Finally, Infinite's emotions break through as he starts to cry. What Eggman said was all true. He was truly a moron. He decides what he has to do and makes it to the battlefield. I'm going to take liberties here and make him atone for what he did. Sue me. (Please don't.) The group express surprise see the real Infinite on the field, but realize the Ruby is not on his chest, it was taken away. Infinite finally removes his mask and they notice tear stains on his fur.
"Please! I know I've done horrible things... let me atone my sins and help you guys stop the doctor! You can do whatever you want to me afterwards! He... he used me... he never trusted me to begin with." Knuckles looks over at Sonic and Gadget. "Well, guys? Your call." He said, Gadget walks over to Infinite and smiles. And he finally speaks, although quietly. "I believe you... Zero." Infinite's eyes widened as only one person knew his real name. "Thank you. I think I know what he's planning. He's overclocking the Phantom Ruby for some robot he built."
Tails grows horrified at this. They knew Eggman was insane, but not to THIS extent! He was getting truly desperate. Infinite or rather, Zero relays everything he's heard and has been told, giving the Resistance an advantage. He looks away from Sonic's gaze, realizing that he also did torture the hero of Mobius for 6 months. But to his surprise, Sonic sighs and places a hand on the jackal's shoulder.
"Look, I ain't happy of what you did and the lives lost." Infinite flinches at that. "But... you remind me of Shadow. In fact, most of my friends made mistakes, and they got second chances. What happened with your Squad was terrible and I'm sorry. But we didn't know. And... some have survived." That put the jackal's heart at ease, but was scared of what his former members would think of him. But he puts that aside as Eggman shows himself with the strongest Death Egg robot yet.
It plays out like normal, only this time, Eggman uses the Phantom Ruby and conjured fake Infinite's that do different attacks. Fire, electric, ice, water, earthquakes, you name it. Even changing the battlefield to some random location, tripping the heroes up. With the robot defeated and Eggman down, something strange happens. Out of the robot's chest is some mechanical beast with the Ruby as it's heart.
"It can't be... has the Phantom Ruby gained control?! Has it become sentient!?" Infinite cries out in shock with the communicator he was given. "I... I don't know! But we can't let it get away! You have to stop this thing guys!" Tails shouts as Sonic, Gadget and Mania Sonic team up. The final battle is the same.
After the Phantom Ruby is destroyed or disappeared, Eggman is seen getting away with his Egg Mobile. "NO! It was perfect! I had the world in the palm of my hands! How did I still fail?!" The mad scientist shouts in rage as he slams his fist on the console. Sonic grins and crosses his arms. "Simple Egghead, because of-" "Oh, don't you dare...!"
Infinite grins. "Because of friendship and the bonds we made! You lost, now accept defeat like a man!" Infinite finishes as we see Eggman's face is red. "I HATE THIS STUPID HEDGEHOG!!! I HATE YOU, YOU, YOU AND ESPECIALLY YOU, YOU FLUFFY CHINCHILLA!" Eggman flies off as the jackal looks at himself. "Well. That was unnecessarily uncalled for."
The group laughs at this as even Shadow chuckled a little. Time has passed and they start rebuilding the cities and towns that were ruined. Gadget sneaks away as he see's Infinite sitting over the ledge and sighs, he has the mask in his hands. "... You okay?" The character says softly, Infinite, or Zero, looks at Gadget and shakes his head. "I caused so much... pain and misery. No one would forgive me..." He said sadly.
Gadget places a hand on his friend's shoulder and smiles. "We can work together and show everyone that you aren't evil like Eggman. Maybe we can even find your old squad members?" A small smile tugs on Infinite's lips as they both stand up. "Thank you. As for this..." Zero throws the mask away and lands with a thud, breaking it into pieces.
Sonic comes along and see's Gadget and Infinite. "What are ya gonna do now, you two?" He asks. Gadget and Infinite explain what they were going to do, no matter how long it took. Sonic smiles at that and wishes the two luck. "You're lucky you have a friend who stands by you. Both of you. Good luck guys and remember... we're here."
We see Gadget and Infinite going on their way as Tails walks up next to Sonic. "You know... those two remind me of when you and Shadow fought. The Ark Incident." He said, the hedgehog chuckles at that and sighs in nostalgia. "Yeah... a new generation begins. C'mon Lil' Bro. Let's help fix this world. You with me?" Tails nods. "Always, dude." They give each other a fist bump and laugh as they head back inside the base.
THE END
Phew. It's not perfect, but hey, it's better than what we got, right? It's sad that Fanfics are more realistic and faithful of what could have been. If you made it this far... God damn. If not, that's okay too. But this really needed a HUGE rewrite.
