Fans couldn't wait to finally get a look at Sonic Frontiers' gameplay. Being the first game in the series to boast a real open world, a lot is riding on this being a successful gamble. However, now that we have some footage of Frontiers in action, the fanbase or more divided than ever. One of the main complaints about the Sonic Frontiers gameplay footage is its physics - or lack thereof. Unlike older Sonic games, it looks like the blue blur's momentum doesn't matter, and large sections of the running will be automated. This has fans saying that Frontiers should be delayed, pushing back its holiday 2022 launch window. Related: Sonic Frontiers Looks Empty In All Of The Worst WaysAs demonstrated by Twitter user @DaveLuty, early Frontiers footage shows that the game has very different physics to the fan favourite Sonic Adventure 2. In the older title, Sonic would have to build up momentum to make it across grind rails and loops. If he didn't have enough speed, he wouldn't make it.Frontiers, on the other hand, doesn't seem to take Sonic's speed into account. Simply jumping on the rail with no built up momentum sees the hedgehog effortlessly scale an incline, meaning much of Frontiers' platforming may require little effort from the player.

Fans have complained about the lack of momentum in recent Sonic games for years. The most infamous example of this was perhaps Sonic 4 allowing Sonic to defy gravity and stand upside down on loops. Unlike classic Sonic games, our hero literally could not fail to make it across these loops, removing much of the difficulty and agency from the player.

It's an unpopular trend that Frontiers seems to be following. As noted above, the only way to build up speed seems to be by boosting, with slopes not being taken into account. And with Sonic now running in an open world, it's only all the more obvious.

Sonic Frontiers still has several more months to impress fans, and it remains to be seen if it can win the community over in other areas. But for now, Sega can probably put this down as a pretty unsuccessful gameplay reveal.

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