Too Human
- November 08, 2007 11:34 AM PST
- Email this!
This game will make you feel like a God.
Too human has remained in the dark for a while now. After its less-than-stellar receptions over the years, it's no surprise that Silicon Knights has held off on showing anything until they're good and ready. I'd like to think this was a good move, because from what was shown and from what I played, the game definitely seems good enough to be shown now.
LightsFor those who don't know, Too Human is an epic Action RPG based around Norse mythology. You play as Baldur, a member of the Aesir, who is sent on a mission to snuff out a machine army that threatens the existence of gods and mortal men alike. Silicon Knights has applied their own distinct twist to the mythology, such as the gods themselves being nothing more than cybernetically enhanced humans, and the Aesir being a corporation (that's right, the Norse pantheon has gone Capitalist). Some of this may sound strange, but it all does tie into the mythology. Even the futuristic look of the game (which actually takes place 20,000 years in the past) makes sense if you know all about Ragnarok.
Baldur battles mechanized enemies that are part of the Aesir, a corporation from Norse mythology.
Camera
Story and setting aside, the game itself is shaping up to be a lot better than expected. One of the main issues from before was the camera, which is not controlled by the player. Basically, the camera follows the player from behind, which did present a few slight problems, but wound up being a vast improvement from before. The camera has a few other nice touches, such as cutscenes where the camera follows you from an enemy's perspective. Overall, the camera does convey some noticeable flaws, but it's still one of the best automatic camera systems I've seen in quite some time.
ActionThe gameplay itself is a lot of fun. At times it did seem a little bland, but its simplicity ensures easy accessibility to virtually anyone who plays this game. My only complaint is that it seemed a little too simple for gamers who demand immense depth in their gameplay. The melee combat is mapped completely to the right analog stick. You merely press and hold the stick in the direction of an enemy and Baldur dashes forward, whacking away at them until they perish. The thing is: this made it easy for me to pull out my cell phone check a friend's text message that I received, while also playing the demo. One of the Silicon Knights employees saw me one-handing the game and gave me this worried look, like I discovered a horrible flaw in their gameplay that they hoped nobody would notice.
Swinging your weapon in battle is as easy as twisting the right analog stick.
The game also features an automatic lock-on system that doesn't work as well as it should. I found myself wasting a lot of weapon energy by firing a grenade at the wall that the game seemed to want me to shoot, rather than at the countless enemies in front of me. The game, often times, just didn't lock onto the enemies that were right in my path. I was able to look past this at first, but when I started dieing because of it, I realized it was definitely a major problem.
Still, those two were the only major flaws I noticed. While they are pretty big problems, the game as a whole was still a lot of fun to play. A flick of the right stick causes you to smack enemies in the air, allowing you to blast them to a pulp while they hover above the ground (a la Devil May Cry). And when a grenade eventually did hit a group of enemies, the result was ingratiating. There's also the RPG element to consider, which is quite deep. They offer the choice of five classes to choose from, all of which have a unique, Blizzard-esque type of skill tree attached to them. On top of that, you also have the choice to go either human or biotic later in the game, which presents yet another skill tree. And the skill trees are pretty extensive, which shows that Silicon Knights has put a lot of thought behind the RPG facet of the game.
What sets Too Human apart from other American RPGs is it's incredible art direction.
Makeup!
One of the main hooks of the game is going to be content. Whether or not it'll be worth it is up to you, but I personally thought the game's content stood out, due to the fact that, well, it's one of the first western RPGs I've ever seen with great art direction. Even the limited amount of time I got to play presented me with some decent-looking armors and weapons to slap onto Baldur. By the time the demo came to an end, my Baldur looked pretty freakin' cool. The game's style mixes a futuristic, cyberpunk type of look with actual Viking aesthetics. During the intro to the game one of the characters activates a bear hologram around his body before running into battle - almost like a futuristic bear sark. Even cooler is a near-iconic moment where, whenever a teammate or NPS dies, a Valkyrie appears to take them to Valhalla. Freaking sweet.
Cut and printOverall, the game is shaping up to be pretty good. The first thing you'll notice is how it takes a lot from the Diablo formula. A few other upcoming RPGs seem to be doing the same, but Too Human is one of the few that actually does it good. It doesn't tamper with what still works today, and revamps what is outdated. So far, the result seems to be a fun and simple enough game for anyone to enjoy, yet a deep enough RPG for hardcore gamers' thirsts to be sated.
