Review: Too Human

Too Human (2008)
Developer: Silicon Knights
Platform: X-Box 360
Induction Date: 08/20/2008
-Please read the Preview of the game here before proceeding-

Unfortunately she is only taking you to a respawn point instead of Valhalla.

Too Human is a highly imaginative retelling of the epic Norse Mythology molded into an action role playing game. You play as Baldur, one of the Aesir - or gods - of the new world threatened by a scourge of demonic machines. When the beast Grendl starts to hunt humans for food, Baldur searches for it and the journey begins. Silicon Knights has always been meticulous when it comes to their storytelling and that trait is evident here. The way that they have modernized the mythology into a science-fiction extravaganza is nothing short of awe-aspiring. It is fun to discover how each element of the original tale is translated into the game. The way the storyline unfolds recounts the mesmerizing plot progression of Eternal Darkness on the GameCube. Sadly, since Silicon Knights has been infected by the trilogy bug, we have to wait for the next two games to see the its conclusion. This is made worse by the fact that unlike games like Xenosaga or the more recent Mass Effect, Too Human doesn't feel like a stand alone product and the hypnotic cliffhanger at the end is certain to throw many gamers into a fit of uncontrollable rage.

Ghost ship.

Gameplay wise, the game is a dungeon crawler. The time spent playing the game is focused on running one of the four repeatable dungeons to level up your character and to pick up randomly generated items. The level cap at the moment is 50 and it is slightly disappointing that it doesn't take too long to get there. Perhaps it's better this way though because of the limited amount of dungeons to raid. The 5 classes have the same control layouts but they all have unique strategies to master and feel different from each other. As the character levels up, skill points can be assigned between the class tree and, depending on the player's choice, a "human" or "cybernetic" tree. There are a lot of depths in the variations found within the class builds and they are well balanced as long as the player focuses on a single branch within the tree. The overall control scheme is simple, even though it involves using almost all of the buttons on the controller. Basic melee attacks are executed using the right analogue stick while long range fires use the left and right triggers. The character automatically locks-on to the closest enemy but by cleverly navigating the analogue stick, different targets can be easily acquired. The special moves require only simple tweaking of the analogue sticks and are easy to master. As I mentioned in the preview, this simple control is actually brilliant in a dungeon crawling game, making the repetitive battle constantly effortless and fun as well as highly tolerable - especially the fact that early on, your character will die a lot and each death is punished with armor/weapon damage and a long respawn cinematic. Losing all armor and weapon bonuses can lead to an impossible boss fight.

Poor Freya.

Though the game would definitely benefit more from a 4-player co-op mode on Live, adventuring with just one other Aesir is still effective. The berserker and commando classes seem to be very popular amongst the Too Human community because of the awesome amount of devastation they are capable of. The bio-engineer is often forgotten because it is a healer archetype but having played one, it's definitely the most unique class to play as. The online play is generally lag free and there are different looting system that can be used to ensure proper wealth distribution. Though I have yet played with someone who has the exact same armor set equipped on my character, it would have been nice if a facial customization option was made available so that everyone could create their own vision of Baldur. Since all the cinematics are in real time, this would have been a great feature for the game that should be implemented in the sequel alongside at least a 3-player co-op mode. Too Human's visuals look somewhat dated and some of the ground textures look terrible - the fact that it kept getting pushed to a different console during its production - but the art design is pleasing. The soundtrack is outstanding and is very operatic. Some of the arias found in the first dungeon are quite memorable. There is a balance problem with the sound effects though as the explosions tend to get too loud. This is perhaps the loudest game I have ever played, making it almost impossible to experience the game in full blast for the fear of causing a public disturbance.

Tricky yet deep customization options.

Too Human is close to being a masterpiece. It has the addictive gameplay. It has the intriguing, mature storyline. It's a game that is hard to put down - I have put in 60+ hours into one of my five characters and I am still having a lot of fun playing it. The end game involves hunting down the class elite armor set as well as completing elite "charms" that add special abilities to your character. Some reviewers criticized that the game never gets easier because the enemies scale up with your character thus destroying any sense of progression and accomplishment. These writers apparently have not played the game long enough. There are so many ways to make your character powerful at level 50 that at this time, me and my friend are just ripping through the levels even though the enemies are 10 levels higher than us. Despite these compliments though, the only thing that is holding this game back is Silicon Knights themselves. By cheating us out of the complete game, they have shot themselves in the foot. Just imagine how much better the game would have been if all the dungeons in part II & III are included here, thus giving the players a plethora of things to do. Hopefully, they will come to their senses and do one of the following: a) Release the rest of the game on X-Box Live, or b) Combine part II & III into one game instead of having us wait for the last part when the sequel is released. Because this game is packaged purposely as an incomplete experience, it doesn't deserve a standing ovation even though it certainly doesn't deserve the negative press it's been receiving.

RATING: 3 out of 5