So... Sonic Unleashed has now been glitched by a talented team of crack monkeys. Using a certain move with the Werehog, you can go through walls (or floors... this one usually causes death) and effectively skip huge sections of the Werehog's levels. However, in usual 3D Sonic game spirit... this isn't enough to make the find interesting outside of speedrunners. So, let's find a reason to make people WANT to do this. I present to you... "beta" levels.
Adabat - Jungle Joyride Night - Jungle Fright MissionIn this instance, part of the normal level is used as a mini level. However, it's sealed off by an "impassable" door. Going beyond this area reveals a slightly different waterfall swinging sequence, leading to the "last" room of the normal level, with the usual puzzle. Solving that though reveals a new room with water raising platforming in the style of Lost World in SA1. I imagine this room was blocked off due to difficulty with raising the water graphics. You can see there's no water visible, but you certainly hear it. Reaching the end will bring you to the original goal ring of the level in a rather incredibly designed room. Will it be seen again as a standalone mission through DLC? I sure hope so.
(Note: going there in the normal level will still let you into the room, but none of the objects are there, making it a proverbial dead end.)
Shamar - Arid Sands Night - Act 1This one isn't so hard to enter initially. It's actually exploring most of the area that's hard. As you can see, this area (which was featured in the
Shamar debut trailer and was seemingly fully finished) was removed. Perhaps it could be because the level was effectively doubled in size because of it? We've already seen how many people complained about how slow the Werehog was. Others think that we're going through it backwards and it could just be another mission to come in the future. The level is pretty much there. All it'd take is some object placement cues. Do note that there's still more left to be explored but a way to get to those areas hasn't been found... yet.
My thoughts? Comparing the sheer enemy count and the addition of a buzzsaw where, in the final of the area, there's just a random grabbable ledge, I have a feeling we may see this yet as a "Hard Mode" for the level. Some of those fights do not happen at all in the level, like the one near the fountain. That room is empty.
And finally, though not as interesting:
Mazuri - Savanna Citadel Night - Final Exam missionPretty much, it's an alternate puzzle. Yep. It even has its own working goal ring. Perhaps it was originally going to be used but was removed in favor of something more action oriented or it'll be quietly snuck back in as a mini mission later on.
Needless to say, people are finding lots of interesting leftovers in the game. Could it be a sign of things to come or just Sonic Team's usual laziness of not removing things? We shall see soon enough. Do remember the 360 and PS3 versions are listed as Content Download owning. My guess is we're going to have to wait for Japan to get the game on shelves before we even see if any DLC will appear.