Buy, Borrow or Bury: Too Human
Well, this certainly is a very interesting game. I already posted about all of the drama surrounding Silicon Knights and more importantly Denis Dyack, so I’ll leave that alone in this review. I will however provide a little background as to the game’s development cycle. To be blunt, this game has been in the works for a long time. Though some claim that development started as many as 10 years ago, the truth is that at that point the game might have been conceptualized. In fact, the game hadn’t started being truly developed until around 4 years ago. Ten years may have been overkill, but 4 years is still a long time to make a game.
There was one facet of the trials and tribulations surrounding Too Human that I failed to mention in my drama post, and that’s their trouble with Epic and the Unreal 3 engine. Basically, Silicon Knights sued Epic (creators of the Unreal 3 engine - an engine used all too often but some example games are Gears of War, Bioshock and, of course, Unreal Tournament 3) because they failed to deliver an Unreal 3 engine development kit on time. I’m not going to take sides on this particular battle, I just wanted to point out that this is yet another snag that could have cost Silicon Knights some time.
So then, after all of that work does Too Human come out on top? First off let me say this - Too Human can be compared to a game style that’s as many as 10 years old. At the same time the game is an example of innovation. Sound confusing? It is. Basically, Too Human is an action RPG akin to Hellgate: London or Diablo II but it takes the action aspect of the game to a whole new level. Your character can pull off a bunch of Devil May Cry-ish maneuvers, and you can wield both melee and ranged weapons which complete that feel. The combat feels much more fluid and intense than in any other action RPG you’ve probably ever played. There are combos you can pull off, a somewhat limited list of special attacks for you to master (much like a fighting game), and the usual bit of skill and inventory management that you would expect from any decent RPG.
The game is broken up into 4 separate segments, each looking vastly different with huge, interesting environments that are a bit linear. If you’ve ever played Phantasy Star Online you’ll understand what I’m talking about - you’re stuck to a single path and can’t stray much, but the level design is pretty despite all that. Technically the game performs quite well. Although I had heard a lot of questions about the animations in Too Human I never noticed any issues, and the framerate remains quite solid even with a large amount of enemies on the screen. I did notice some hiccups in the cinematics, mostly an inexplicable “shaking” effect, but I still can’t decide if it was intentional or not. The best way I can describe it is the cinematics (which are done in-engine) sort of make it look like the gameworld is having an earthquake, as models on-screen bounce up and down ever so slightly. It’s not a big deal but once you notice it you might find yourself taken out of the moment.
One of the biggest compliments I paid to Too Human’s demo was that the combat was very fun, and that carries over to the retail version of the game. It’s fast and furious and you feel like a true hero while you’re bounding back and forth between enemies pulling off finishing moves, juggling enemies in the air with your guns, and basically just running things all-around. You don’t really get much help from your squad very often, they sort of serve as cannon-fodder, but that’s never an issue because you’re so powerful. That’s not to say that everything is perfect, though.
I did have some issues with the gameplay. In any game I’ve ever played of this genre I’ve always been able to hold and stack health potions. That’s not the case in Too Human. If the enemies you kill drop 3 health orbs and you only need 1, you’ll have to leave the others on the ground and move on without them. That can be a bit of a pain sometimes when the enemies really pile on, and to be able to store potions would have saved me quite a few deaths. I remember hearing one of the Silicon Knights developers mention that they made the choice to be unable to store potions because they didn’t want the gamers to have to worry about managing their potions, but I think the problem could be solved in other ways. Hellgate: London in particular had an automatic potion system. In that game if you had 5 potions and you started to get low on health it would automatically activate your potion for you (unless you had none). The in-game death sequence is also an issue. Everytime you die you have to wait 20+ seconds as an intricate “cinematic” of your death plays. Too Human’s story is based on Norse mythology, so when you die a valkyrie comes down to usher you off to Valhalla. It’s a cool effect the first time you see it, but you’ll probably see it 100+ times throughout the game and it can really become tiresome.
The story is basically a retelling of Norse mythology, as I mentioned. It’s not of particular interest to me but I’ve talked to a few people who liked it a lot. It was enough to keep me interested, and includes re-imaginings of mythic Norse gods, treachery, deceit, and epic battles. Really that’s all anyone can ask for I think! The game kind of ends on a sour note, but it’s important to keep in mind that Too Human is being planned as a trilogy. With that in mind the story definitely sets up the second part of the three quite well, as it even ends on a cliff-hanger ending of sorts.
Of course one of the best parts about RPGs is the “phat loot” you get while playing the game. There’s absolutely no shortage of cool gear in Too Human. From several different pieces of armor, to multiple weapon types, you’ll have more than enough to collect during the game. You can also upgrade your gear with runes plus use those runes to upgrade charms for even further character customization. As with most other RPG games the items are divided up into separate classes (colors) denoting different rarity. However, unlike other RPGs, in order to use the more powerful items you’ll have to “craft” them from blueprints. This is a weak way to shoe-horn a crafting system into the game in my opinion. Really all it means is that, instead of getting the actual item, you get a blueprint for the item. You spend money to craft the item (crafting is completely independent of skill, class, or anything so the only thing that matters is the money) and then you can equip the item. It’s pretty frustrating, in effect, to have to purchase your items after you’ve already fought for them. With all of that said, earning loot in Too Human is just as addicting as it is in any other game. Just as in World of Warcraft you’ll be excited to show off your cool new armor or weapon to your friends.
That’s where we run into another problem. The multiplayer, while fun, is lacking. It consists of co-op play so you can make your way through the levels of the single player campaign with a friend…but that’s it. Just one friend. So then, despite there being 5 different character classes in the game you can only play 2 in co-op. Kinda lame. I guess the original plan was to have 4 player co-op but they never got around to it. I’d love to see that sort of functionality patched in at a later date, but until then we have to live with it. Playing with a friend is fun as you would expect. You fight together, earn loot and have a laugh. The only problem is that the co-op is completely devoid of the story. There are no cinematics, and so you’re forced to play by yourself in order to get the story.
Despite all of that I still think Too Human is a solid game. It most definitely isn’t for everyone and it seems like it could easily be one of those “love it or hate it” types of games. With all of the drama surrounding the game I think that it’s been hyped a little bit more than it deserves, but like I said in the beginning of this review I’m going to set all of that aside. I have to give Too Human a Borrow. You might love it, you might hate it. There’s plenty of replay value there if you do want to sink your teeth in. I spent nearly 20 hours beating the single player with just one character, and I’m looking forward to going back and replaying as another.
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