Sonic Forces will let players create and play as their own custom characters

Sega has revealed the third playable character in its latest Sonic the Hedgehog game, Sonic Forces, and it's not anyone players will be familiar with. Rather than Knuckles or Tails, players will be able to create their own custom characters for the first time in the series' 26 year history.

A new trailer revealed the surprising new feature, which will give players the ability to choose between seven different animals as the basis for their character, which they will then be able to customise the skin colour of and clothe however they want.

Each animal archetype will have its own abilities, as listed below, with additional abilities granted with unique gadgets and weapons, called 'Wispons'.

Sonic Forces was announced as Project Sonic in July 2016. Set in a world conquered by series villain Doctor Eggman, the game stars both modern Sonic and the classic, more rotund version of the character, who come together to fight in a resistance against Eggman.

As far as we currently know, levels will be split between modern 3D ones and new takes on classic side-scrolling levels - such as the Green Hill Zone from the original game. Footage from that particular level debuted in April.

The news will thrill a certain subsection of Sonic the Hedgehog fans who've always drawn their own versions of Sonic characters - some more innocent than others - and will now be able to realise them properly in an official game in the series.

Sonic Forces doesn't yet have a release date, but it is expected to be released later this year on Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One and PC.

Here are the seven types of character players will be able to choose between:

• Bear — Blows away enemies with a homing attack.
• Bird — Flies high with double jump abilities.
• Cat — Keeps one ring after being hit.
• Dog — Restarts with five rings after the player dies.
• Hedgehog — Collects rings when getting damaged.
• Rabbit — Has longer invincible time after receiving damage.
• Wolf — Automatically draws in rings when near them.

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