Gamesradar is currently reviewing the games at the Leipzig Games Convention and Sonic Unleashed has just been previewed by the site after 10-minutes of playtime.  They gave Unleashed a 6/10 and had to say the following about it:

Sonic Unleashed plays like a highly polished retrospective, remixing elements of Sonic Adventure, Sonic and the Secret Rings and the original 2D games. The only problem with that? Only one of those elements was any good in the first place. So while the 3D, into-the-screen sections control fairly responsively and with much more flexibility than the blue ballistic’s Wii debut ever offered, they still fall victim to the “Am I actually playing this?” syndrome inherent to the 3D Sonic games.

Automatic speed boosts, springs set up in unavoidable positions, grind-rail after grind-rail… Yet again we just set Sonic running and left him to it. And worst of all? The 2D sections we’ve been so excited about worked the exact same way in this particular demo. And don’t even get us started on the werehog combat sections. We didn’t get to play them, but they looked painfully sluggish and made up of some of the most generic platforming we’ve seen in ages.

The preceding was pretty much what I have been thinking for months now, so let’s look at the score board.

Pessimists: 1; Optimists: 0If the game continues to get mediocre reviews like this one, “The Cycle” will be all but complete and the Wheel of Mediocrity ™ shall turn once more.  From fan perspectives, a lot of hope is riding on Unleashed, for that it could finally be that return to glory the franchise needs.  Could these previews sway their opinion or will they ride this storm out for another possible crash and burn?  If it fails, is Sonic done for good in the eyes of all gamers?

Unleashed Optimists, take my advice and lower your expectations now.  Not all the way, just…a little.  Six out of ten will look “all right” if you do so.