| Too Human |
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Developer |
Silicon Knights |
| Publisher |
Microsoft |
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| Rating |
M |
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| Xbox 360 | ||
But instead you must look elsewhere for the Too Human influences, Blade Runner, Aliens, Norse mythology, Tolkien scribblings and more – in fact Too Human’s story arc sometimes threatens to collapse under its own weight as Silicon Knights try to shove as many mythic references into the fictional side of the game.
In doing so, occasionally a bolt will pop as the pressure builds, a crack widens and some overall polish flakes off the game. What is left is an okay single player experience, with an enjoyable multiplayer that just does the job, all wrapped up in a cyber-mythic loot gathering quest.
The Aesir are humanities protectors, a grouping of cybernetic enhanced gods favoured by Odin to battle the war machines that threaten not only the human but also the worlds of Asgard.
As Baldur – one of the Aesir – its your job to select a playing class (one of five, from close combat expert to healer).
The single player game is a relatively short experience (though this is the first of a trilogy of Too Human games, cannot wait for Too Human Two), much of which will be spent in the equipment screen fiddling with various weapons, runes, charms, armour and more as it is randomly dropped after encounters. Very Diablo-esque.
The game is played in third person mode, with a couple of options for camera alignment; much of the action is a cinematically laid before the player. Without camera control however, there can be game-play hindrances.
Too Human has an equal reliance on ranged and close combat, the swordplay is fun, with Baldur sliding into the hordes, launching foes into the air generally causing pain Close combat is achieved through intuitive use of the right thumbstick, controlling the weapon direction accordingly.
The bigger enemies are – in most cases – better handled from afar with your ranged weaponry. Target locking for ranged weapons can be a pain depending on how well you come to grip with the controls, or simply the player’s style of play.
Target locking is an art to learn. But once you do get the hang of it, combine it with sword-play and special abilities, the main game-play of Too Human does indeed become enjoyable – especially with a co-op friend (which eschews story mode for simple action).
The battles are tough, but with a Battlefield:Bad Company style checkpointing system for a death, there is not much chance you won’t succeed. Enduring the animation of a winged Valkarie descending for Baldur’s body, to be born aloft and immediately return to the field of battle, oh! And some equipment degradation is the extent of penalty for dying in Too Human.
Then there is the RPG element of the game. There are a number of levels here, and for some, much time will be spent in micromanaging the development of their own personal Baldur.
The random loot consists of many types of Weapons (Both ranged and close-combat), Armour, Runes (for attaching to weapons and armour), Charms (providing abilities once achieving their quest requirements) or Blue prints for creating further Weapons/Armour.
A skill tree of sorts is also available for boosting some of Baldur’s combat abilities. I say ‘of sorts’ as the reality is that, once a direction of advancement has been taken, the player is pretty much locked in to that progression. There is however a ‘Respec’ option available for those that change their minds, with a minor penalty only necessary to do so.
There is also a path selection made early in the game, similar to the Mass Effect Paragon/Renegade choice, but with no going back. The player can either choose the benefits of Cybernetic enhancement (concentrating on damaging foes) versus the Human path (better combo action).
In general, Too Human is an interesting start to a trilogy of games, the fiction is bordering on the over bloated – calling enemies Goblins, Trolls, Dark Elves on top of the Norse and Sci-Fi elements was too much.
The single player game, has lacklustre environment design, an enemy AI that pretty much sticks to the hoard attack approach, and a camera system that is high on cinematic style, but low on useful game-play substance.
But
It is fun to get into the action, and fiddle with your character. Sure, you will die a lot and, like many RPG games, not matter how much you level up and change to stronger equipment, the game will also level up the challenge, making the game much the same from start to finish. But it is genuinely fun to play.
Your AI buddies are hopeless, but team up with a flesh and bone buddy and the fun level ramps up.
6.5 Cybernetic Implants out of 10
