| System: X360 | Review Rating Legend | |
| Dev: Silicon Knights | 1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid | 4.0 - 4.4 = Great |
| Pub: Microsoft | 2.0 - 2.4 = Poor | 4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy |
| Release: Aug.19, 2008 | 2.5 - 2.9 = Average | 5.0 = The Best |
| Players: 1-2 | 3.0 - 3.4 = Fair | |
| ESRB Rating: Teen | 3.5 - 3.9 = Good | |
by Matthew Walker
Feb. 15, 2007 - It has been a long battle for Silicon Knights to bring their creation, Too Human, to the public. It was originally slated for development with PlayStation as a 5-disc RPG. Shortly after it was shown at E3 '99, Nintendo announced an exclusive with Silicon Knights in 2000 and then it was thought Too Human would arrive on the GameCube, but that never happened. Even though Silicon Knights is best known for the Eternal Darkness title and the Metal Gear Solid port for the GameCube, it would be 2005 before anyone heard about Too Human again. Announcing a partnership with Microsoft to develop Too Human as a trilogy for the 360 confirms that after a long anticipation, the wait is almost over.
Too Human has several influences that will be apparent throughout the game. The first one that will be recognized is the intertwining of Norse mythologies. The most notable difference will be that the Gods are not Gods, they are cybernetically enhanced humans. The runes on the cover of the box even suggest the influence of Norse mythology, they read "Of God Of Men Of Machine." The parallels between Norse mythologies will be apparent through all three titles of the trilogy. Since everything is a direct parallel, you can expect to see versions of Asgard, the Valkyries, and even the God of Mischief himself, Loki. Secondly, the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, author of the book Human All Too Human, will play a heavy part throughout the story of the game. One of his quotes, "He who fights with monster might take care lest he thereby become a monster," has been shown at the beginning of the trailer.
Players will assume the role of Baldur, the God of Light, second son to Odin and brother to Thor. Baldur has been given the charge to protect the humans from advanced machines. So it will be an all out war between machines and sentient beings. The game itself will be from a third person perspective that will allow the player to unleash massive combos upon a host of enemies. Nearly every weapon imaginable, including swords, hammers, pistols, and lasers, will be at your disposal. You will also be able to get upgrades for your cybernetics and, possibly, your armor. If the action becomes too much and you need to take a break, there will be an in-game Matrix style computer network that you can patch into called Cyberspace. Too Human will also be supported online through Xbox live. There, players will have the opportunity to join up to four others in cooperative play similar to Phantasy Star Online.
The gameplay is where the appeal of the game truly is. Use your weapons to pull off incredible combos, not unlike games like Devil May Cry. Very similar to Devil May Cry inspired games, players will be able to use their melee weapons to launch enemies into the air and suspend them in midair with their guns while they fire away. The controls of the game have been set up to make light work out of doing otherwise complicated combinations. You will use the right analog stick to strike with a melee weapon and the trigger buttons to fire your weapons. This simplistic approach to the controls will guarantee hours of enjoyable gameplay.
One of the unique things about Too Human, aside from the graphics, will be the camera angles, dynamically controlled so that the best possible shot of special attacks will be shown. This different style of camera control will give the game more of a cinematic feel. This could pose as a problem however, since you will almost never control the camera yourself. Equally a concern is the possibility of the independently controlled camera getting stuck in a certain spot making it hard for your next move could harm the playability of the game.
Too Human looks beautifully rendered according to the trailers and screenshots, and it is to be expected since it is using a modified Unreal engine. The character models look highly realistic even when accompanied by several detailed robots on screen. The environments are equally detailed with the same passion as the characters. As you'd expect, the lighting and shadows perfectly play off one another. With anywhere from 50 to 100 enemies planned to be onscreen at a time, it will be interesting to see if the images shown in the trailer will still look as intoxicating.
Sleek character designs, quick gameplay, and all the Norse mythology you can shake a stick at, Too Human will finally arrive on the Xbox 360 August 2007. It has only taken eight years to get to this point. Yes, the road has been long for Too Human, but with everything that is set to be in the game hopefully it will have been worth the wait. Let us just hope that Ragnarok is not around the corner.
By
Matthew Walker
CCC
Project Coordinator
Game Features:
