Sonic Blast

Here's an illustrated review of the Sonic Blast set, up to the fifth power, with evaluations of the animations, sounds, and special effects. More to come as I gain levels.


Overall, the animations need to be tweaked so that the power emanates from the character's mouth. That applies to all of them.

Shriek

Animation: Below Average. The Shriek animation should be reminiscent of the Scream animation, but not exactly the same, since they are the weak and strong of the same attack. Currently both are identical, and although they convey the projection of force, they are too much like (exactly like) the animations for Mind Control.
SPFX: : Great. I love the "heat seeking cheerio of DOOOOOM."
Sound: : Very Good. The "sonar ping" quality of this power works very well for characters of both genders, and is not unpleasant to listen to. It also has a kinetic quality that imparts the feeling of force, probably because of the low-to-high pitch change in the sound which makes it sound like a "bounce".

Scream

Animation: : Below Average. This animation is unsuitable for the same reasons as the Shriek. It's not that it's a bad animation, it's simply below average as an attempt to differentiate Sonics from the other powers in the game. Specifically, Shriek and Scream should use the "hands cupped around the mouth" emote that we all do in real life when we want to channel sound in a long straight line (as in when you are calling for someone over a great distance). Shriek should have one hand up to the side of the mouth, and scream should have both.
SPFX: : Excellent. The concentric circles homing in on the target are very effective at portraying a sonic blast.
Sound: : Poor. This distinctly male "Rrrrah!" sound is simply inappropriate for female characters and is irritating to listen to over and over. This set could benefit from a set of sounds that do not sound like a human voice specifically, so that they will be appropriate for all characters.

Howl

Animation: : Good. The use of the arms helps convey the feeling that the character is letting more force flow from her, but is channeling the force into a cone. The open face-up palms (instead of clenched fists seen in Shriek and Scream), specifically help this impression of guiding the force into a cone.
SPFX: : Good. The one larger "pulse" ripple is great at showing the sonic shock washing over the enemies.
Sound: : Poor. We are not wolves. Really. That's not what I meant when I said "not like human voices." I do like having a distinct "TONG" that coincides with the emanation of the larger "ripple," though. That feels very nice.

Shockwave

Animation: : Good. The raised arms give the feeling of projecting force in a wide area, but different than the Howl animation. Just letting it go, so it can permeate everything and shake the rafters.
SPFX: : Good.
Sound: : Good. The sonic-ey warble is good, but this power could benefit from a low bass rumble in it. Don't remove what's there, but add a track below the current sound which evokes "rumbling ground" (perhaps borrowed from an earth power).

Shout

Animation: : Average. The same as Shriek and Scream, but for this level 8 power that does way more damage, I expected something new. Oddly, if the ones for Shriek and Scream were changed, I think this one would be fine.
SPFX: : Good. There's a sort of "spray effect" when the attack strikes the target, which reminds me very much of the vaporous blast surrounding an aircraft when it breaks the sound barrier. It's a nice touch.
Sound: : Good. The bass line in this power makes it feel more powerful than Shriek or Scream. The ping echo at the end goes on a little too long, though - it starts to feel like a sound effect from a 1950s sci-fi movie.

I got to ask... what font is that and how do I get it?

Red Circle - it's the "official" CoH font, and can be downloaded for free here.

To the OP: Thanks for the review, with illustrations! I was very disappointed by the wolf-howl; that's as high as I've gotten my test character.

Thanks for the review. I played a Sonic/Fire blaster up to Level 5 yesterday. I loved the potency of the powers, but I wasn't overly impressed with the sound effects. I think there should be different sets of sounds for male and female toons, for starters. Female voices are generally higher than male, and if they can do it for the "grunt" a character makes when he or she leaps, they could do it for the Sonic powers. The warwolf-ish sound associated with Howl really seemed out of place. I was expecting more of a Tarzan yell out of that one.

There were a lot of comments flying around in Broadcast that the sonic set was overpowered and therefore would never make it to Live without getting nerfed. So just for the sake of comparison I went and created an Electric / Electric blaster and ran through the tutorial and the first few AP missions with him. In the tutorial, I was killing even con minions with a two shot volley of my secondary / primary with him just as I was with the Sonic / Fire build. No difference once I got to AP, either. So I'm rather suspecting that they've ramped up damage in the lower levels. Possibily in response to the groaning about how long it takes to reach travel powers.

On a related note... */Fire is neat blaster combo. The immobilization in Ring of Fire is just what the doctor ordered for blasters who want to keep foes at range. I hadn't played around much with blasters up until this point, but on Test I was really having some fun with it.

I rolled up a sonic/energy blaster yesterday for the heck of it and was.... disturbed... by the sound effects of Scream. Two of my housemates kept looking at me. It basically sounded like she was throwing up and I finally had to turn the volume off because while I was having fun with the power, I couldn't handle the sound associated with it.