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Too Human - Hands On Impressions |
Listed in: Xbox 360 Tags: e3, industry news
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At E3 this year there was no Xbox 360 game I was looking forward to playing more than Too Human, I'd seen hints and heard rumors that it was going to be playable on the show floor and got pretty excited at the prospect of getting my hands on Silicon Knight's latest. I might as well have conserved the endorphins, because while Too Human was indeed playable on the show floor, and while Chris G and I did have the game demoed to us on the show floor by Denis Dyack himself, the game really didn't look like it was ready for public display.
For anyone who doesn't know yet, Too Human is an epic three part story that focuses on Baldur, a cybernetically enhanced human who must protect mankind from an onslaught by an army of robotic monstrosities bent on our utter destruction. The story draws heavy influence from Norse mythology, so you'll come across many of the members of the Norse pantheon, trolls, Valkyrie, elves, the whole bunch, just not as you're traditionally used to seeing 'em.
Sounds pretty cool huh? Well that's because the story behind Too Human is cool, Silicon Knight's, the makers of the Original Legacy of Kain on PlayStation, and Eternal Darkness on the Gamecube definitely know how to craft a good story, and as history shows, a good game as well. So what was wrong with Too Human? Quite simply, it was too early to be shown. The floor demo comprised of two levels, one being an underground "Ice Forest," the other being the "Hall of Heroes".
The Hall of Heroes (my personal fave of the two on display) seemed to be the interior of some cathedral or holy place. The floors were inscribed with runes and symbols, and dust drifted from the high vaulted ceilings. The Ice Forest seemed like a giant underground cavern, jagged rocks jutted from the earth and snow capped stalagmites and stalactites dotted the landscape.
In both levels Baldur was accompanied by a squad of four teammates who unfortunately did absolutely nothing in the demo as their AI hadn't been implemented yet. It's not really like you need them though, the control scheme for Too Human is very simple and easy to get the hang of. The left analog stick controls movement, the right stick swings whatever melee weapon Baldur happens to be brandishing at the time. If memory serves the trigger buttons control Baldur's left and right ranged weapons, in this case they seemed to be uzi style sub-machine guns. As wave after wave of enemy attacked you cut a swathe of destruction down the middle using a combination of both (it helped that you never seemed to run out of ammo).
There was some depth in the combat system hinted at in the demo, with the ability to call on special magical attacks when enough enemies had been laid to waste. Pushing the "Y" button created a very cool miniature gravity well, which pulled all nearby enemies into a swirling vortex just above Baldur, before exploding and blowing them all to bits.
The two levels also helped showcase how vastly different gameplay could be depending on what upgrade path you choose. In the Ice Forest I took control of a Baldur who seemed to be more of a medium heavy armor class man, wielding a large staff he dealt destruction in huge sweeping arcs, slow but methodical. In the Hall of Heroes, this Baldur was more lightweight, reflected by the lighter armor and his lightsaber like sword. He was much faster, much more agile, but also more vulnerable to attack.
And finally I get to the problem with Too Human, at least as it was on display a E3. It didn't look like these screens suggest, there was much more aliasing, and the frame rate was pretty much unplayable. It really ruined the experience and I think a lot of people who played it came away with somewhat negative impressions despite all the promise the title holds just because it looked so rough. There's pretty much no doubt that Silicon Knights will be able to sort things out by the ship date, but it definitely took some of the sheen off the shine to show it in its current state. That said I look forward to getting my hands on it again and forming stronger opinions.
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