Arid Sands


 * For the hub world on the same continent, see Shamar.

Arid Sands (ホットデザート) is the sixth or seventh Action Stage in the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed (depending on the order of previous stages), and the fifth stage in the PlayStation 2/Nintendo Wii version of Sonic Unleashed. During the events of the game, Sonic the Hedgehog and Chip look through this area in their search for the keys needed to unlock the local Gaia Temple.

Arid Sands takes in a hot sandy desert inspired by the Middle-East, and includes both Shamar and the ancient ruins that lie outside of the modern town.

Overview
Arid Sands' setting is based on real-life locations in the Middle East, such as Petra, Jordan, Iran, Iraq and Quatar. As its name would suggest, Arid Sands' environment is that of an arid desert region.

In Arid Sands, the stage takes place across Shamar and in the far outskirts of the town. The town areas in Arid Sands are located on the even landscapes in this stage, far away from the rock formations, and feature closely built medium-sized flat buildings, whose architecture is based off real-life buildings in the Middle East. Along the sides of the open sand-stone laid streets of Shamar, there are sheets of cloth set up on the buildings to provide shade from the sun, shallow fountains running alongside the roads and several green plants, such as regular trees, bushes and palm trees, that grow outside the streets. On the PS3/Xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed, the town area in Arid Sands also have outdoor shops set up alongside the roads, sometimes in the form of marketplaces.

Outside of Shamar, a desert of beige and yellow sand makes up the outskirts, though it features very few sand dunes. Several large sand-colored rocks dominate this desert landscape, forming large rock formations in the shape of stone pillars, cliffs, deep valleys and long gorges. In these outskirts, Arid Sands also features the ruins that Shamar are renowned for. Countless ancient ruins made of sand-colored stone, resembling large walls and temples, with stone pillars being a prominent element of their structure, can be found across Arid Sands' desert terrain, either sticking out of the sand, standing on top of the rocks or being carved into the cliffs themselves. Besides buildings, there are also ruins of stone paths that lead through the desert. Additionally, found growing besides the paths outside of Shamar in Arid Sands, are green palm trees. Also, on the PS2/Wii version of Sonic Unleashed, the open desert areas in Arid Sands have a few oases in the form of small lakes.

In the daytime acts, Arid Sands is brightly lit up by the sun, and has a blue sky with only a thin cloud cover. In the nighttime act, Arid Sands is only lit up by the buildings inside the town, and flaming torches in the outskirts, while having a deep blue night sky.

Gameplay
In both the daytime and nighttime acts of Arid Sands, the player travels through the town of Shamar, before exiting the town and starting to travel across the desert in the outskirts, where the player comes across several of the ruins.

In the daytime acts of Arid Sands on both versions of Sonic Unleashed, the gameplay features a great deal of Wall Jumping and platforming across the various ruins. On the PS3/Xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed, the daytime acts of Arid Sand has the unique environmental hazard of stone pillars that can fall down on the player when he/she runs by them, causing damage to the player upon impact. On the PS2/Wii version of Sonic Unleashed, the daytime acts of Arid Sand has sections of shifting sand that can push the player off course when walking across it.

In the nighttime act of Arid Sands on the PS3/Xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed, the water barrel gimmick is introduced, where the player can use water barrels to extinguish Fire Masters in order to damage them to without the player harming himself/herself.

Head for the Goal
This act includes the majority of Arid Sands, with the player passing through Shamar and the desert area filled with ancient ruins. At the beginning of the act, the player first travels through a few sharp turns, alternating between sand paths and building blocks, before entering the town. After passing through the city, the player come across a bridge over an oasis, and then enter a series of gorges with stone paths. From there, now in the middle of the act, the player will enter another section filled with ruins rising from the desert sand, which he/she has to travel across. After leaving the ruins section, the player enters a new series of gorges, here with ruins in the cliffs. After that, the player will reenter Shamar, with the Goal Ring at the end.

Gather Rings at Top Speed!
This mission mainly include the middle section of the "Head for the Goal" mission act, taking place across the section filled with prominent ruins. Here, the player has to collect 270 Rings within one minute and thirty seconds. Once that is done, the mission is completed, and the player is rewarded with a Moon Medal.

Don't Break Anything Along the Way!
This mission includes roughly the last third of the "Head for the Goal" mission act, starting from the where the player reenters the gorge areas from the ruin section, to the end of the act. Here, the player has to make it to the Goal Ring within one minute and thirty seconds, without breaking any of the pots that are located on the path. Once the mission is completed, the player is awarded with a Moon Medal.

Gather Rings at Top Speed!
This act takes place in an area separate from the "Head for the Goal" mission act, which is filled with tall and large temple ruins. Here, the player has to collect 70 Rings within one minute. Once that is done, the mission is completed, and the player is rewarded with a Moon Medal.

Act I: The City of Sand
This act takes place within the walls of Shamar. Here, the player has to travel through the streets and alleys of the town and make it to the exit out of Shamar. Throughout the act, the player simply passes through the various streets and alleys and has to defeat incoming waves of enemies in order to proceed. At the end of the act, the player has to defeat a wave of enemies and then a Big Mother in order to access the Goal Ring.

Act II: Scorched Rock
This act takes place in the rocky outskirt just nearby Shamar. Here, the player passes through a long and wide gorge that cuts through the rocks. At the beginning  of the act, the player enters the gorge where he/she has to defeat a wave of enemies. After that and proceeding through the gorge, the player arrives at a recess, where he/she has to defeat some enemies and use a water barrel to extinguish some flames blocking the path. From there, the player ascends the cliffs and arrives in a open gorges filled with ruins and a bottomless pit that he/she has to cross using narrow paths and Dark Bats. After then having defeated a wave of enemies on safe grounds, the player proceeds and then has to defeat some minor enemies and two Big Mothers to access the Goal Ring.

Act III: Valley of Spirits
This act takes place deeper within the mountainous areas of the desert, as the player arrives inside narrow valleys forged deep within the rocks. At the beginning of the act, the player has to travel precariously over bottomless pits using swinging poles. From there, the player enters another area with a large bottomless pit, where he/she has to proceed across extremely narrow bridges while avoiding Egg Flames' attacks. After that, the player enters a new section where he/she has to use moving platforms to cross a third bottomless pit to get to the other side. Here, the player then has to defeat a series of Deep Nightmares and following two Titans to access the Goal Ring.

Act IV: Altar of Oblivion
This act takes place inside the deepest depths of the gorge in the desert, with ruins being carved into the narrow rock walls everywhere. At the beginning of the act, the player passes through the gorge and eventually arrives in a open area with temple doors, where he/she has to find the correct door leading out of there. From there, the player then has to retrieve a water barrel from inside a side gorge filled with flamethrowers to extinguish some flames blocking the main path. From there, the player proceeds through the gorge and eventually arrives in an area where he has to defeat a wave of enemies. From there, the player then has to solve a puzzle by using an iron crate to active a switch that unlocks the path and then use another iron crate to block some flamethrowers blocking the unlocked path. At the end of the act, the player the has to defeat a series of enemies and following a Red Titan to access the Goal Ring.

Act 1
This act covers the majority of Arid Sands, stretching across Shamar and the desert outskirts of the town that are filled with ruins. At the beginning of the act, the player starts out by racing through the town of Shamar, sometimes having to use the Sonic Drift to make it through streets with sharp turns. As the player leaves the town, he/she will race through the desert to an area filled with ruins, running through at least three sections of ruins. After the third section, the player is send into a large valley, where he/she has to grind on grind rails to a new section of ruins. After leaving these ruins, the player arrives in a gorge area where he/she first has to run along the walls and on the bottom of the gorges, before arriving at the Goal. It is in this act that Sonic and Chip are looking for one of the halves of Shamar's Gaia Key.

Act 2
This act takes inside a canyon filled with ancient ruins, and focuses on Quick Time Event gameplay. Here, the player moves from section to section, using Quick Time Event Springs, which propel the player onto rocky features around the canyon walls, or Quick Time Event Ramps that send the player flying through midair, until the player reaches the Goal Ring. Failing to complete any Quick Time Event will result in the player falling into a bottomless pit, making the player restart the stage over from the beginning.

Act 1
The majority of this act takes place inside the town, while the remainder occurs outside of town, and focuses heavy on combat. In this act, the player first proceeds through different town squares and passages, where he/she has to defeat all enemies present in the area in order to unlock the path and proceed. In some cases, fights occur in small space with little room to fight. Around the middle of the act, the player will arrive in a large square with a sealed door to the left that the player has to pass through. This door, however, can only be unlocked when the player brings all four Key Stones that are scattered all over the square to the pedestals at the door. Once unlocked, the player proceeds to the outskirts of Shamar, where he/she is faced with the Master variant of Dark Gaia's Minions while having to scale a cliff using blocks. At the end of the act, the player then has to defeat a Titan and more of the Master variant of Dark Gaia's Minions to unlock the Goal. It is in this act that Sonic and Chip are looking for one of the halves of Shamar's Gaia Key.

Apotos and Shamar Adventure Pack DLC
The downloadable content pack for the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed, the "Apotos and Shamar Adventure Pack", introduced two additional daytime and nighttime acts for Arid Sands to the game. These acts are basically extensions of the original acts in the game, but are much more difficult to complete. The pack was released on Xbox Live for 250 MS Points on 21 May 2009 and on the PlayStation Network for $3.00 on 4 June 2009.

Act 1-2
This act is basically the same as the daytime Act 1 in the game, expect the act has been modified, having been given a generally harder layout with more gimmicks, more enemies and more hazardous and abundant obstacles, such as spikes and bombs.

Act 3
This act takes place amongst the ruins in the bottom of a large canyon. Here, the player's objective is to find and collect all the ten Chao that are scattered all over the stage within ten minutes. Throughout the act, the player has either defeat certain enemies within an area or utilize various gimmicks in order to reach the next area with Chao, while also avoiding hazardous obstacles such as spikes, bombs and flamethrowers.

Act 2
This act takes place in the canyons and gorges in the outskirts of Shamar, filled with ruins. Here, the player first starts out by moving through the canyon, taking out enemies and ascending the cliffs. After reaching the top of the cliffs, the player will face a Titan and a few minor enemies. After passing through the area with the Titan, the player continues further down a new section of the canyon, using Dark Bats to cross gabs and bottomless pits all the while. After passing through a sealed door, the player will enter an area where he/she has to defeat two Titans and a few other minor enemies, before making the Goal Ring appear.

Act 3
This act takes place on the ruins adorning the walls of the canyon in the desert. Here, the player starts out on a platform on the wall of the canyon. From there, the player has to cross over a bottomless pits, using climbing poles hanging from ruins above the player and/or Dark Bats. After the first section of climbing, the player will arrive on a small platform with a Titan on it, whose attacks can easily knock the player into a bottomless pit. From there, the player proceeds to some lower platforms, for then to enter a another section where the player has to cross a bottomless pit using poles and/or Dark Bats. After this, the player will arrive at another platform where he/she has to defeat another Titan and some Fire Masters to make the Goal Ring appear.

Trivia

 * The ruin at the end of the daytime Act 1 on the PS3/Xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed bears a strong resemblance to the monastery at Petra in Jordan.
 * The DLC Act 3 is similar to Act 3 for Rooftop Run. This marks the second appearance of Chao in the game.
 * It's possible to reach 2900 mph while boosting through a checkpoint at Act 1 of the day stage of Arid Sands, making this Sonic's fastest running speed shown in the Sonic series' history.
 * In the upcoming video game, Sonic Lost World, on the Nintendo 3DS version, Act Two of the stage Desert Ruins has similar background music to the Daytime background music used in Arid Sands.