Too Human

Too Human
Developer(s)	Silicon Knights
Publisher(s)	Microsoft Game Studios
Engine	Silicon Knights Engine (Proprietary) with Havok Physics
Platform(s)	Xbox 360
Genre(s)	Action RPG, Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player, Online Multiplayer, Online co-op

Too Human is a video game produced by Canadian developer Silicon Knights for the Xbox 360. It is the first installment in a planned trilogy. It was released on August 19, 2008.

Story

The player takes on the role of Baldur (voiced by Crispin Freeman), one of the Aesir.

In Too Human, the Norse gods are cybernetically enhanced humans. Baldur, son of Odin, is one of these gods and it is his duty to protect the human race from an onslaught of an advancing machine presence determined to eradicate all human life.

The story chronicles the ongoing struggle between cybernetic Norse gods, the invading machine presence and mortal men, it features many Norse gods and characters from Norse mythology including Thor, Loki, Odin, Heimdall, Freyja, Hel, and Mimir. Yggdrasil: the tree of life acts as a gateway to an alternate world known as Cyberspace that is accessed through the advanced technology of the gods.

The human gods are using cybernetic implants to supplement their own abilities, thus becoming more machine like. Conversely, the advancing machine army is harvesting human blood and limbs in an attempt to become more human.

Baldur, the main character is viewed by the other Norse gods as being insufficiently enhanced, thus "too human".

Gameplay

Too Human is a third-person action adventure role-playing game like Champions of Norrath. It features twitch gameplay in the form of fast-paced melee and ranged combat while also maintaining RPG elements including skill tree progression and dungeon crawling.

As a third-person action adventure game, Too Human features two notable features which are melee combat being controlled dynamically off the right analogue stick and a camera system that is controlled by AI. The right analogue stick controlled combat removes the issues of three dimensional depth perception during combat while the AI controlled camera system allows for a cinematic experience while also being an aid to the story telling.

The RPG elements of Too Human include its story, different selectable classes, customizable weapons, armor and cybernetics, skill tree progression and item hunting. Too Human has 15 different weapon classes, including two-handed swords, hammers, polearms, pistols, rifles, lasers, dual wielded one-handed swords and staves. The character is able to customize their armor in terms of color and its effectiveness against certain forms of attacks while also being able to swap armor sets. This game features skill trees unique to all the various classes that can be customized to the player's liking, this combined with the fact that it also includes item hunting like Diablo greatly increases the replayability of Too Human. As part of a planned trilogy this game features a leveling system which allows the player to progress from level 1 to 50 in the first game, then continue on to the second game with the same character and level up from level 50-100, and in the third the character levels from 100-150.

Online and Multiplayer

Too Human will allow two players to connect over Xbox Live for cooperative play. This includes a drop in/out system so people can join you no matter where you or they are up to in the game. It is expected that co-op players will be able to take advantage of class combinations to defeat difficult enemies and gather rare items. The media releases of gameplay footage have shown an increasing emphasis on teamwork and cooperative gameplay.

Classes

There are 5 classes available in Too Human with more to be added in downloadable content. Each of these classes have their own direction in the skill tree although this can be changed by the player to produce unique classes. Similar to the skill trees of Diablo II, a player cannot max out all the stats of their character, however, players will be allowed to 're-spec' in order to allow players to get the most out of their character, without having to create a new iteration of the same class. Denis Dyack has said there will be downloadable classes in the future and that "(his) favorite class isn't even in the game yet!"

The 5 classes are the following:

• Bioengineer

The archetype healer.

• Commando

An offensive character focused on ranged combat via projectile weapons.Pistols,rifles,and lasers

• Champion

The most 'balanced' class between hit points, melee combat and ranged combat. The Champion also has a slant towards in-air combat.

• Defender

A heavy damage taker focused on resistance and large hit points.

• Berserker

An offensive character focused on melee combat. Capable of Dual weilding

Development history

Too Human was originally in development for the PlayStation as a 4-disc action-adventure game. It was shown at E3 1999, but shortly before its completion Nintendo announced an exclusive partnership with Silicon Knights, and the game was moved to the Nintendo GameCube in 2000. A teaser trailer was shown at SpaceWorld 2000 showing what appeared to be a re-building of the PlayStation game. The game never surfaced though, and the partnership between the two companies was ended. After this, the title was still thought to be in development for the GameCube, but those plans have since been canceled.

In the May 2005 issue of EGM, Silicon Knights announced a partnership with publisher Microsoft to develop a trilogy revolving around the Too Human universe exclusively for the Xbox 360. The game was originally being developed using Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3, but is now being developed using an internal engine. On July 19, 2007, it was announced that Silicon Knights was suing Epic Games due to "breach of contract", including "inadequacies" of Epic’s support, service, and cooperation with Silicon Knights concerning Unreal Engine 3. On August 9, 2007, Epic Games countersued Silicon Knights, claiming that they were using their engine as they pleased without any cost. If Epic wins the case, Silicon Knights would be forced to pay in excess of $650,000.

Promotional film: 'The Goblin Man of Norway'

As well as releasing many other promotional videos Silicon Knights have also been involved in the making of a fictional documentary titled, The Goblin Man of Norway. The film reported to be produced by the "Norwegian Film Committee", and is in three parts, each part being released sequentially.

The first part 'Excavation' relates the discovery of a high technology mechanical man possibly tens of thousands of years old found encased in a glacier, the second, titled 'Examination' contains pictures of the discovery, as well as a stone found nearby with a message of doom or 'curse' runically inscribed. The third part has yet to be released as of August 19th, 2008.

Demo

The demo was released on Xbox Live on July 14, 2008 as part of the Microsoft "Bringing it Home" E3 Marketplace content. The demo includes 2 playable classes, the Champion and the Berserker, and gameplay is restricted to part of a single level with cutscenes included. Online co-operative play is not featured in the demo. There is an easter egg in the game that allows you to play as Commando and Beserker classes, do this by setting your 360 date to 2009, however you must be offline to change the date. As of July 25th The Beserker has been unlocked without any clock modification on the console. As of August 11 the Commando Class is available for play as well. There was also a glitch found in the demo, which allowed the ability to play as the Bioengineer and Defender classes. The glitch can now be performed online for all classes.

On July 31, 2008, Microsoft announced that the Too Human demo exceeded 900,000 downloads. They said the demo has "been downloaded more than any other action demo on Xbox LIVE Marketplace in its first week of availability and has been one of the top played titles on Xbox LIVE overall."

Reception

Reception

Review scores

Publication	Score
1Up.com	C-
Game Informer	6.75, 7/10
GameSpot	5.5/10
IGN	7.8/10

Game Informer gave Too Human a 6.75 (out of 10). Among reasons given for the average score were problems such as mediocre game play and a poor targeting system. Also criticized was the fact that only the Bio-Engineer could heal itself causing the review to state that "player death for the other four classes is routine" leaving the reviewer to conclude that co-op play was the only way to enjoy the game requiring one player to heal both using the Bio-Engineer. Also criticized was the absence of the story due to a lack of cut-scenes in the co-op although the reviewer stated that this wasn't necessarily a bad thing referring to the game's plot as a "train wreck". In the second opinion side-bar the second reviewer gave Too Human a 7 citing similiar reasons as mentioned above and adding that Too Human was "...a mildly entertaining (and mildly flawed) way to collect loot and experience...".

External links

• Official Too Human Website
• Too Human Wiki, an external wiki