User Review : Too Human

Too good? Or too bad?

To say that Too Human was in development for ten years isn't really fair. The game was constantly being shifted to the back burner while Silicon Knights worked on other projects, and as the generations went by, the game had to be rebuilt to run on new platforms. The game almost saw a release in 2006 for Xbox 360, but troubles with the Unreal Engine forced them to rebuild the game one last time before it could finally be released. So after all this time, is it any good?

The short answer is yes. I think it’s very good. However, it all really comes down to your own personal preferences. Every single design decision has the potential to make you smile or leave you scratching your head in confusion. For instance, attacks are mapped to the right analog stick instead of the face buttons. You might find this feature unique and refreshing or you could end up feeling like this control scheme is just clunky and unorthodox. The game doesn’t really punish you to bad for dying, which could be a very good thing for people who are prone to throw controllers in anger, but it could also have hardcore gamers asking themselves: “What’s the point?” The graphics can go either way as well. Character models are a little simplistic and the environments are kind of bland, but the game can throw tons of enemies at you in some of the biggest environments I’ve ever seen outside of a sandbox game, and it can do it without load times.

My favorite aspect of Too Human is the combat. It has quite a bit of depth for an RPG and it does a great job at making me feel like I’m playing something I’ve never played before. Holding the right analog in a specific direction will make Baldur dash across the screen and perform combos. Double tapping it will launch your enemy into the air so you can jump up perform an air combo, which is very important because you’re relatively safe while you’re in the air. Tapping both analog sticks toward the enemy will unleash your “finisher”, a very strong attack you can end combos with. If there aren’t any enemies in the immediate area, hitting both analog sticks in the same direction will send out a powerful projectile attack, which is good for knocking down those pesky enemies shooting at you from a distance. Holding the right trigger will fire your gun while the left trigger can activate its secondary attack or your other hand gun if you’re just using pistols. You also have a mechanical spider with its own attacks along with some very cool mystical attacks that can clear the room of enemies. The fact that you’re constantly finding new items to experiment with only makes the game all that more addictive, and playing it online with a friend is just icing on the cake.

The storyline is pretty typical videogame stuff. I’m not crossing my fingers for a movie adaptation, but I stayed interested throughout. The opening movie got me psyched to play the game while the ending had me genuinely interested in a sequel. Cutscenes were good and I felt immersed in the world of Too Human. The music was a real stand out with me. I can still hear some of the tunes in my head when I’m not playing. Sound effects were very nice.

When I was done with Too Human, the first thing I did was start all over again. I wanted to try out a new character class and find even more weapons and armor. I also wanted to try a new path with the skill tree. The fact that I wanted to play through it again immediately after finishing it is about the highest compliment I could give any game.