Dunkey's Newest Video Is Causing A Serious Problem For Sonic Frontiers
"Sonic Frontiers," presents players with a new take on the blue blur's traditionally linear gameplay. In its "Open Zone" world, "Sonic Frontiers" players have plenty of room to run around at the speed of sound with all the traditional movement-oriented landscape features one would expect, like ramps, grind rails, and springs, as well as new ways to traverse the landscape. Fans of the franchise have been looking forward to "Sonic Frontiers" since it was announced, but critics are mixed on the new title and reviews have not quite lived up to the hype.
Generally, reviewers have praised the new open-world approach to "Sonic," but noted its flaws — Travis Northup of IGN said "Sonic Frontiers" does a good job of mixing up the formula "even when some of its ideas fall flat." YouTuber Dunkey, who recently started his own game publishing company, weighed in as well in a video uploaded November 14.
Though it initially got lukewarm-to-positive reviews from critics and positive reactions from fans, Dunkey's mostly negative critique of "Sonic Frontiers" appears to have caused an onslaught of 0-star reviews on all platforms. Though many of these reviews have since been taken down, plenty are still up, and the YouTuber had to step in to address the review bombing of "Sonic Frontiers." According to the YouTuber, the wildest part of the whole situation is that Dunkey doesn't believe his fans are behind the onslaught of negative reviews.
Review bombing hasn't affected Sonic Frontiers' score much
At the end of his video, Dunkey compared the then-8.8 user score of "Sonic Frontiers" to games that scored less — like "Elden Ring." "Sonic Frontiers" has been steadily hovering at about a 7/10 among critics, though user scores declined a bit after Dunkey's video was uploaded. As of publication, the average user score has dropped slightly to 8.3/10. Most of the 0-star reviews have since been taken down, but plenty are still up, and more may be coming.
Though few reviews directly reference the YouTuber, some use "Dunkey" as part of their username or emulate catchphrases the personality is known for. One said, "this game makes you feel like Sonic" in their 0-star review, a reference to Dunkey's popular video on the PS4's "Spider-Man." The same day he uploaded his review of "Sonic Frontiers," Dunkey posted a screenshot of reviewers with his name in their username. "'Sonic' fans are review bombing their own favorite game to make my fans look bad," Dunkey wrote. "They really thought they were slick calling their account DunkeyLover2005."
He said he never intended to send review bombers after the game and noted that "Sonic Frontiers" has had more positive than negative reviews. It's unclear whether "Sonic" fans intentionally donned Dunkey-themed usernames to review bomb "Sonic Frontiers" and make the YouTuber look bad or if there's more here that remains unknown. Still, even against adversity, "Sonic Frontiers" is trucking through.