Silicon Knights’ Too Human opens with the above Nietzschean quotation, which turns out to be startlingly emblematic of the game’s ambitious nature. The Xbox 360 exclusive, originally conceived for the PS One, has finally arrived despite lawsuits, developmental reboots, and poor public showings, and attempts to recast the icons of Norse mythology in a cyberpunk setting and mesh the loot-collecting, character-building gameplay of Diablo with the guns-n’-swords aesthetic of something like Devil May Cry. So does Silicon Knights’ troubled epic surmount its lofty goals or fall flat on its face?
Admit it... I look fine.
One of the game’s most prominent components is its story, which sees the player assume the role of the Norse god Baldur and attempt to fend off a menacing race of machines which threaten humanity. At the same time, Baldur must unravel the machinations of the other gods of Aesir and come to terms with his own humanity. The majority of the plot is conveyed through unexceptional cut-scenes which are betrayed by stiff animation, a juddering framerate, and some clumsy character models, but the writing and voice acting are generally good enough that most players will derive some enjoyment from Baldur’s exploits. In truth, the curious melding of Norse mythology and technological dystopia plays out as awkwardly as the concept suggests it might, but it’s at least a unique idea that remains intriguing throughout. Still, the overall quality of the narrative is slightly disappointing given that Too Human heralds from the studio which blessed us with Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem and The Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen, two titles with far more satisfying stories.
On the gameplay side, Too Human is just as curious. Players must first choose Baldur’s class from a range of five, including the all-rounder Champion, melee-focused Berserker, and health-regenerating Bio Engineer, and traverse through generally-linear levels dispatching robotic hordes with a variety of blades, mallets and artillery in order to procure an even-larger selection of weaponry and loot. By cutting a swathe through foes, Baldur will level up and gain skill points which can be spent upgrading his abilities through branching skill trees which can, in a nice touch, be reset at any time for a small fee.
Baldur rued the day iPhones became sentient and rebelled...
The game's combat resides somewhere in limbo between the 'point and click' simplicity of Diablo and the combo and juggle-heavy flailing of something like a Devil May Cry title. Players control Baldur's melee attacks with a simple nudge of the right analogue-stick in the direction of their desired target. If Baldur's weapon cannot breach the distance, he will simply 'dash' across the screen, during which time one can even nudge the analogue stick in the direction of their next target. This allows Baldur to chain his attacks together and dart viciously around the battlefield dispatching foes with frenzied analogue-nudging (and unconvincing animation). Twirling the sticks provides a handy defensive attack in which Baldur attacks enemies which closely surround him. In addition, a quick double tap of the stick will launch a foe into the air, where they can be attacked with aerial melee strikes or juggled by a hail of bullets. These ranged attacks are handled easily enough with the left and right triggers, although the enemy 'lock-on' mechanic is troublesome to say the least; oftentimes Baldur will lock on to an invisible object while being pummeled with projectiles from another direction.
Once a player becomes accustomed to the idiosyncratic controls and develops Baldur's skill tree and armoury, the controls service the game relatively well. However, at no time do they feel like the best possible design choice Silicon Knights could have made. Assigning attacks to the right stick means that 360-degree camera control is lost, and the system strangely never feels quite as satisfying as a mouse-click. So while the combat itself is decent fun and fairly flexible, it never quite provides the complexity or thrills delivered by the truer, action-focused titles like Ninja Gaiden. The net result is a game which looks like an action title, plays somewhat like an action title, but never matches up to the best in the genre and is left looking a tiny bit ragged around the edges.
"You sir, shall eateth my cold, hard, steel!"
The role-playing facet of the title is far better serviced than the combat - there is a plethora of loot and armour dropped by vanquished foes and each and every one possess different stats and can be equipped at any time depending on Baldur's level. Further, these weapons and items you savagely pluck from the dead may be augmented with a variety of runes which impart different attributes to that item, such as increased ammunition, damage and range. For those interested in tinkering with some cluttered inventory menus (although not as poorly-designed as those in Mass Effect), the customization is truly rewarding and watching Baldur grow through acquired armour, weaponry and cybernetic enhancements provides the real impetus for persevering with the strange combat system.
Visually, Too Human is the quintessential mixed bag; character models vary from excellent (Baldur and the majestic Valkyries) to unintentionally hilarious (everything else) and everything generally appears fairly low-rate, with blocky textures and flat shading doing nothing to hide the fact that the game has had a troubled technical development. What ultimately saves the presentation of Too Human is its sumptuous artistic design; the game's half-dozen major locales are lovingly-conceived, and many of the characters look great - until they move. Sadly, the game's animation is uniformly ragged and stiff; Baldur jumps like Mario, which sounds good in theory until you realise he is a cybernetically-enhanced god. The effect is comical to say the least.
"It's all right Baldur, we'll get you some Pro-Activ...".
Aurally, the game is much more consistent, with very professional voice acting and a tremendous score which one never hears quite enough of. The vast majority of the music is comprised of brooding orchestral atmospherics and pulse-pounding battle anthems, and in conjunction with convincing sound effects Too Human presents a cohesive and well-executed listening experience which complements the action.
Too Human, it must be said, is a game built for replayability, even though the single player campaign can be experienced in about a dozen hours. It will take many more for the average player to reach the maximum level for every class, however, and this will be quite an appealing proposition for those who take a shining to the core gameplay mechanics. Rounding out the package is a competent two player online co-operative mode which takes your characters through the campaign levels while excising all the story elements. It would have been nice to see a local co-operative mode for those who prefer to play together though, and one cannot help but shake the feeling that the central conceit of showing off loot and weaponry really would have worked better with the promised, full-blown, four player co-operative mode which was jettisoned late in development. Still, with the promise of downloadable classes and loot, this is a game which should keep on giving for quite some time.
Too Human is ultimately a game which attempts to bestride the generic boundaries of action titles and RPGs and mesh rich Norse mythology with a cyberpunk aesthetic, and as such cannot be faulted for a lack of ambition. The problem is that Too Human never transcends its origins to become more than the sum of its parts. Oddball controls, an unsatisfying story, and a general lack of polish leave the game soliciting little more than a casual "...it's fairly good" reaction. So while far from a flop or disaster, Silicon Knight's magnum opus will probably be remembered as a game which reached for the stars and almost succeeded - which is not too bad an epitaph, all things considered.
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