Too Human

[SchizoidFreud]

Make that 6

[MarketTantrik]

Cool.

Lotsa buddies to try out lotsa different co-op combinations.

[SchizoidFreud]

newb question: theres a 4 play online co-op right?

[Keyofx]

^^ Axed.

[MarketTantrik]

Still waiting......

[Keyofx]

Theres an online media embargo in force till a day prior to release. Or so I've read.

[MarketTantrik]

Addicted to Too Human

 

From: http://xboxoz360gamer.com/2008/08/17/addic...k-rabbit-holes/

________________________________________________________________

 

This will not end well for my social life . . .

 

by TWODOGSz

©2008 Aaron Bertenetti:

 

Too Human Final Notes - Parts 5 & 6:

 

I’ve played the demo upwards of 10 hours. Not the full game. The demo. And as noted earlier I began that journey as a noted cynic who was unsure as to what my final thoughts regarding Too Human would be. Given the circus surrounding it with E3 ‘06, Denis Dyack and NeoGaf front and centre, it was not until the demo was released that I was able to form my own opinions on Too Human’s worth and block out the noise of the anonymous cybernetic sea. And it seems others are doing the same…

 

The purpose of this multi-part article has always been to seek forgiveness for my earlier judgements. In particular, my personal failure was to judge a book by its cover and by what misinformed others were saying, rather than by the contents within.

 

It’s an incredibly sad day in this industry when people who call themselves gamers decide to attack a game simply for being different and outside the box of mainstream conventions. I may have been a cynic of this title in the past but I’ve never advocated nor endorsed the disgraceful behaviour of many anonymous gamers who have openly wished for this or any other game’s failure.

 

Any gamer who genuinely wishes developers to continue to innovate, push the medium and invent new IP should be wishing this game all the best, whether they personally like Too Human or not. Otherwise we may well find a day with an uninspired industry producing one homogeneous product simply because some people’s misguided wishes came true.

 

My personal view in light of hands on time is that Too Human is like a bottle of fine wine! You could drink the glass and complain about some sediment, or you could drink the bottle and marvel at its unique full bodied flavour. We firmly recommend the “bottle approach” (3-4 playthroughs) before you make your mind up.

 

It’s an acquired taste, but you won’t know if you’re a wine lover or beer drinker until you give it a go for yourself. Although in Australia we tend to drink both. A lot!

 

Check out the earlier parts of the series:

 

You can revisit my take on the Camera and Combat here

 

You can revisit my take on the Graphics and Story here

 

And you can find our Easter Egg guide to the demo here

 

But the purpose of this particular article is to make my final two confessions and eat the last of an oven full of very humble pie…

 

Part 5: “Loot Sweets! Loot Sweets! The playable, craveable treats!”

 

Arguably the backbone of any dungeon crawler’s replayability is the depth and variety of loot. The lure of finding the good stuff is a major component in the success of decade old Diablo 2 and MMO World of Warcraft. Finding the good stuff is what it’s all about. And whilst the emphasis on loot in Too Human is almost immediately apparent, it’s the depth, variety and sheer quality that takes longer to appreciate.

 

In my previous article on Too Human, I waxed lyrical about how stunning the loot looks. And given that whatever you equip on the menus is immediately visible on Baldur in-game, all the right aesthetic buttons are being pushed. What I haven’t spent much time discussing are the impressive mechanics behind the loot system that ensure that all this gear simply isn’t just a superficial collect-a-thon but rather a core mechanic of gameplay.

Lets Get Physical…

 

Unlike other dungeon crawlers that are burdened by the Diablo “click, click” syndrome and can only differentiate equipment via a spreadsheet and dice, the emphasis on a dual analogue-stick control system in Too Human opens up a world of difference that extends to the physicality of a character as a result of his equipment. When I initially explained Too Human’s control scheme in a Fight Night analogy I mentioned how classes felt different and as a result played differently. The Berserker feels like a featherweight with quick feet and rapid jabs, as opposed to the Defender’s slowly plodding heavyweight manoeuvres. What’s caught me by surprise is that this system extends beyond classes and integrates loot.

 

A one handed sword feels faster than a two hander behemoth. A berserker with dual wielding swords moves and attacks more fluidly and responsively to a player’s commands, than when carrying a more cumbersome or heavy weapon. This integration of the loot system and combat system increases the weight and depth of both, as opposed to the more traditional approach of isolated systems based purely on stats and a roll of the dice. Not only does this increase the potential for unique and varied gameplay experiences, but more importantly it increases player immersion. When I’m carrying a hammer and swinging it, it feels like it, and that in itself is a startling achievement for the genre.

 

Too Human has the stat and loot junkies well and truly covered. It’s all here. Loot can be divided into weapons, armour, runes, charms, and rare blueprints for crafting of wildly varying styles, colours, levels, names, stats and status effects (ice, poison, fire, etc). The loot naming engine deserves special mention for coming up with some of the coolest (Ancient Magnums of Malice), funniest (Ancient Broadsword of Rooting) and downright questionable (Thighguards of Ventilation) names I’ve heard in a long time.

 

Further, loot allows player customisation by virtue of 1500 different runes that can be found and inserted into empty slots on equipment to change appearance, statistics, effects, and the physicality of gameplay. The trade off with customisation is that the same runes may be required to activate charms and their effects once their mini quests have been completed (eg. Kill 30 Dark Elves).

All up Silicon Knights estimates there are several hundreds of thousands of combinations.

 

Given that much of this loot is randomly generated according to your level, skills, combat proficiency and exploration it’s hard to imagine any one will find it all. But thanks to co-op trading and an ingenious automated sorting feature, a player can customise on the fly what they want to keep and what the game should automatically salvage for cash.

 

If you’re the type of gamer that played Diablo over and over again into the early hours of the morning in looting with mates; goes questing in World of Warcraft for the next elusive and rare item you can’t do without; or simply wants more depth to your dungeon crawling combat where loot actually feels different; Too Human is likely to keep you satisfied on that basis alone well into next year.

 

Part 6: Classes, Skill Trees and…Ethics?

 

I have to admit that the RPG depth of Too Human was never immediately apparent to me. In fact as I discussed in regards to the combat previously, the gameplay videos have been terribly misleading about the nature of this game and until I got my hands on the demo they hid what at its heart is the first true dungeon crawler built from the ground up for consoles. So as much fun as the combat is, and as promising as the story sounds, at the end of the day Too Human is likely to succeed or fail largely based on its success in translating RPG staples from PC titles such as Diablo 2 and World of Warcraft to consoles. Judging that was certainly not the easiest tasks until I was able to play as all classes.

The Class Divide

 

On first glance there are simply five classes in Too Human. You have the all rounder and air combat expert (Champion); the melee master, dual wielding, speed freak (Berserker); the enemy magnet, slow moving, tank (Defender); the healer, engineer and co-op’s best friend (Bioengineer); and the running, gunning, Smash TV wannabe (Commando). And the more I play, the more I appreciate each class’ respective gameplay pros and cons and change my mind as which class I’ll play first.

 

Initially I loved the Defender for his ability to take the hits standing and his penchant for Sub Zero references. Then the Bioengineer drew me in with his ability to regenerate and his ridiculously powerful spiders. Not long after the Berserker grabbed me by the cojones with his all-action attitude and pin-balling combos. And this continues to go on the more depth I discover, to the point that I’m entirely shocked to find me seriously considering my initially least favourite class, the Champion, as the first cat off the Too Human rank come release day.

But what about skills?

 

This is where things get complicated. For each class there’s three skill tree paths that each offer a player unique active and passive abilities for that path. The abilities range impressively across melee, group and projectile skills, including active abilities in the form of spiders (3 per class), battlecries (3 per class) and sentients (1 per class). But what’s interesting, in a Norse fatalist way, is that a player must choose an exclusive path that will exclude the skills available within a classes other trees. This effectively creates three sub classes per class.

 

Further, unlike other titles where skills may have slight affects on the way classes handle, Too Human revels in skills that significantly change gameplay style and player control. For example, the Bioengineer may appear to be a simple healer at first but when you invest in his skills it quickly becomes apparent that he is a master of incredibly powerful (perhaps overpowered?) spider attacks that put most of the other classes to shame, particularly the EMP grenade.

 

He also houses unique abilities such as turning enemies into allies through touch. But perhaps most surprising it that he seems to heal more rapidly as a result of attacking enemies, directly contradicting the traditional role of a healer and adding a far more interesting risk/reward balance to the class.

 

Theses variations are mightily impressive for a console title and far too expansive to print here, so I highly advise you check out the Too Human Wiki for a more complete picture.

“Be careful when you fight monsters, lest you become one”

 

In addition to the expected classes and surprising skill tree variation are another two paths that open later in the game (not in the demo) when you make the choice of going down a cybernetic or human future for Baldur.

 

These clearly play off the overwhelming themes of Too Human’s narrative and it’s nice to see that many players may well face an emotional conundrum of whether to pick based on stats or based on personal morals. It also raises the question as to whether such choices will affect the narrative’s path within Too Human or in a more overreaching manner with the proposed trilogy.

 

These immense offerings of enforced choice not only indicate how differently classes and sub classes will play, but illustrate that there are conceivably 30 sub classes for players to experience. That’s a hell of a lot of replay value, but it’s also inconceivable how anybody would normally get to play all the combinations if they so desired. Thankfully it appears that Silicon Knights won’t punish players for changing their minds and will allow reconfiguring of classes to the extent that a player can afford it. That’s a great move and bodes exceptionally well for co-op!

Levelling Up

 

Too Human with its loot, expansive skill trees and surprisingly varied classes does the dungeon crawler proud on consoles. There is more than enough for gamers, particularly of the Diablo and World of Warcraft varieties, to spend countless hours levelling up and building skills. Whilst the story may only take 15hrs on a rapid play through, it appears that much like its inspirations Too Human will see levelling and loot junkies playing alone and together in co-op for months after release in search of the rarest of loot and the highest of level caps. In fact there are already WoW like Java applications to plan your classes out!

 

Too Human appears to have succeeded with the RPG elements of the game, whilst also making it accessible enough for newcomers to grasp the basics. It compares favourably with the depth of other console RPGs such as Mass Effect and Oblivion, and brings levels of depth previously seen only on PC, and then some. The loot is amazing, the depth is arguably unprecedented on consoles and it appears to successfully pave the way for the Too Human trilogy and the future of the dungeon crawler genre on consoles.

 

Footnote:

 

That concludes the series, but is merely the “end of the beginning” of my addiction. I’d encourage you to revisit my previous Too Human articles here and here, and play the demo if you haven’t already. You can find an excellent guide to the demo at SarcasticGamer and for all your Too Human needs visit TooHuman.net.

 

On the eve of release and on behalf of the team here at XboxOZ360-gamer, I’d like to thank Denis Dyack and Silicon Knights for staying the course through thick and thin, along with their supportive partners at Microsoft. We wish them all the best for a successful launch and a promising debut for the Too Human trilogy.

 

Too Human is released on August 19 in North America, August 21 in Australia, and August 29 in Europe.

___________________________________________________

[MarketTantrik]

Ctrl - Alt - Del's take on Too Human

 

 

:rofl2:

[Doobz]

omgwtfbbq dat wasn funny

[john117]

can i do that in the game ...

[MarketTantrik]

You'd wish, wouldn't you ?

[Doobz]

can i do that in the game ...

first clean your room yes i saw da pic's and then u can wear a severed head on your head and run around like an idiot

[MarketTantrik]

^^ Mind your language. That was an unnecessary and unprovoked response.

[MarketTantrik]

The Life and Times of Too Human

by Keane Ng on August 17, 2008 at 10:37 pm

 

From: http://www.ripten.com/2008/08/17/the-life-...s-of-too-human/

__________________________________________________

 

When Too Human comes out this Tuesday, it will mark the end of nearly ten years of development for one of the most beleaguered games of all time. Too Human has been spat upon; it has been put up on pedestals. Whether or not the game turns out to be as good as its creator has promised or is just mediocre, whether you’re “for” or “against” Too Human, it’s in the spirit of giving the game credit for making it this far that we present you with a brief retrospective of Too Human’s life, from 1999 to the present.

 

1999: Silicon Knights announces Too Human for the PlayStation 1

 

The year of the Dreamcast and the Phantom Menace also saw Silicon Knights, then mostly known for the Legacy of Kain, announce their plans to create an epic game spanning across five CD-ROM discs (remember when developers used to brag about how many discs their game took up?) and would feature a cyberpunk mystery plot that showed more influence from 1980s sci-fi than Norse mythology.

 

 

The game looked great at the time, the CG especially. But it sure as hell was a different beast back then than it is today. Take a look at the Videogames.com watermark on that image – yes, my young friends, that’s what GameSpot used to be called.

 

 

2000: Nintendo cops Silicon Knights

 

When Nintendo purchased Silicon Knights as a second-party, the development of Too Human seemed to go into limbo as the studio focused its efforts on the acclaimed Eternal Darkness and the somewhat controversial port Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes.

 

 

Too Human was mentioned in back corners and teasers were shown, but it wouldn’t be until Dyack and co. were free from Miyamoto’s iron grasp that we’d see anything from the game again.

 

May 2005: EGM reveals the new Too Human

 

 

In May 2005, Electronic Gaming Monthly ran a cover story that blew the doors open on the new, improved, and Microsoft-backed Too Human. Instead of the blatant Blade Runner rip-off of 1999, this was an epic planned trilogy that mixed science-fiction elements with Norse mythology, featured analog-stick based combat that promised to rival titles like Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden for depth and fun, and still maintained the trappings of a serious RPG. People were excited.

 

E3 2006: Too Human, more like Too Crappy amirite??

 

 

And then the party ended. Too Human made an abysmal showing at E3 2006. Under pressure to deliver a demo, Silicon Knights apparently threw together an unfinished playable build, with an atrocious framerate, clunky combat, and a horrid, way-too-zoomed-out camera. It was the beginning of a public outcry that would kickstart Too Human’s ongoing career as the punchline of a neverending joke.

 

Looking back a year later, Dyack would write:

 

”Last year’s E3 was very painful. I am glad it is dead.”

 

March 2007: Denis Dyack vs. the games industry

 

Denis Dyack – genius reverse psychology-engineering genius, or pompous blowhard? The debate might’ve started earlier, but it began in earnest in March 2007.

 

 

Mark MacDonald, then of Ziff-Davis’ Games Group, had criticized Too Human vehemently in EGM’s E3 06 coverage. In response to his comments, Dyack went on the EGM Live podcast to engage in a serious debate with MacDonald. Dyack seemed to hold a minor personal grudge against the journalist, but moreover had some serious criticisms for what he saw MacDonald as representing: a broken industry standard where developers are forced to put on display unfinished products for unfair criticism and review by journalists and the consumer public. Though, to be fair, Dyack’s ideas weren’t without some merit, the comments came off as whiny, narcissistic, and immature. A non-issue blown out of proportion by a hurt ego. Penny-Arcade’s Jerry Holkins would respond:

 

”All of this started precisely because people fully expect to be amazed by the man and the company he leads. There are worse problems than this.”

 

July 2007: Denis Dyack vs. Mark Rein

 

Too Human, like basically every other game made this generation, was originally powered by Unreal Engine 3. And while UE3 is apparently even good enough for Square-Enix, it wasn’t good enough for Silicon Knights, who sued Epic Games for breach of contract and fraud. The upshot of the suit is that Epic withheld superior versions of its engine from its licensees for itself, resulting in a disparity of quality between games like Too Human and Gears of War, which, despite running on allegedly the same engine, looked a hell of a lot better. Epic countersued, and the protracted legal process is still playing itself out – aside from the widespread embarrassment and controversy this attracted to Dyack and his game, the company will be forced to pay in excess of $650,000 if they lose the case.

 

May 2008: Too Human, two humans

 

 

With a decent GDC showing in 08, Too Human seemed to be back on track – positive impressions were on the rise, and hype was building, though plenty of people didn’t mince words when it came to criticisms. These came to a boiling point in May when it was revealed at Microsoft’s Spring Showcase that Too Human’s much ballyhooed four-player co-op mode was being gimped to a being only two-player. Citing the Too Human style gameplay as better suited for two people, Dyack and SK argued that this was a positive change. Even for defenders of the game, however, it was hard to see this as anything but a real blow to the title. Too Human’s critics, meanwhile, began to ravenously circle what they saw as the game’s quickly decomposing corpse.

 

June 2008: Stand and be counted

 

Denis Dyack, never one to back down from an argument, wouldn’t take the criticisms sitting down. In a thread posted on NeoGAF, Dyack called out all of the forum’s users to declare whether they were “for” or “against” Too Human. If the game came out and was a qualified success, those who would had cast their vote “against” would be given the tag “Owned by Too Human”. If the opposite happened, then Dyack would wear a “Owned by NeoGAF”.

 

Needless to say the thread spread across the Internet like wildfire, with opinions varying from admiration for Dyack’s ballsiness to outright ridicule. Dyack appeared on the 1UP Yours podcast to explain himself, and citing all manner of theoretical ideas about technology, society, and the Internet, seemed to dub himself as a hero for calling upon NeoGAF to either reform itself or destroy itself, because it was a negative force, not only within the games industry, but society as a whole. NeoGAF responded by laughing in his face.

 

July 2008: Too Human, ten hours

 

Around the same time, games media received preview builds of Too Human that were near-complete versions of the game. Previews were mixed, but the sticking point among the gaming public seemed to be the game’s length. Game | Life’s Chris Kohler, who posted one of the first previews, reported that the game ended abruptly after its tenth hour – a shame considering its emphasis on a deep and complicated narrative. Again, the critics feasted.

 

The Demo

 

After months of promising a demo, Silicon Knights finally released one to coincide with Microsoft’s E3 conference. Though opinions on its quality have been divided, it quickly became one of the most downloaded demos on Xbox Live Marketplace.

 

Game Informer gives Too Human a 6.75

 

Scans leaked of the latest issue of Game Informer last week, and they featured a review of Too Human with the score of 6.75. Which would be above average by most rational scales, but is actually equivalent to about a 4 out of 10.

 

August 19, 2008: Too Human is released

 

???

 

At some point, the story of Too Human stops being about the game and starts being about Dennis Dyack. Is that the media’s fault, or is it Dyack’s? When the game comes out, hopefully it won’t matter. Hopefully, by then, we’ll be able to judge the game without the burden of nine years of development and controversy weighing down on it.

______________________________________________________________

[KingCease]

I have a Feeling tis gonna be an over rated game. not very excited

[godspeed4476]

I have a Feeling tis gonna be an over rated game. not very excited

:shock3: just wait till MT reads this post

[KnackChap]

1up review up

http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3169393

 

Ouch!!

[CarbonCore]

Oh lord, thats less than what they gave to Lair, and Haze.

 

Will borrow at best, only because its hack-n-slash type.

[SchizoidFreud]

The HD Room's Too Human Review.

Cheers:

• Accessible and initially fun combat
  
• Stellar visual and audio presentation
  
• Narrative worth finding out "what happens next"
  
• Deep RPG options
  
• Online co-op
  

Jeers:

• Combat's limitations grow tiresome
  
• Redundant enemies
  
• Not enough to "do" outside of RPG customizations
  
• No sprint button slows down travel
  

Score:

7.9

 

[SchizoidFreud]

Too Human 2 to take less time

 

Denis Dyack reveals that "There won't be any more engine re-writes or anything like that".

 

Too Human has had a troubled development, but it will finally arrive in the UK on August 29 (August 19 in the US). This is all well and good, but what about the next two games in the planned trilogy? Speaking to VideoGamer.com at a recent press event in London Dyack confirmed that the plan is still to make a trilogy of games and that the next game won't take so long to complete.

 

"It's certainly going to be faster than the first game. The whole idea of doing the trilogy was it was meant for the 360. Plans are still on track, nothing has changed." stated Dyack. "We're not announcing anything on the second or third game here. We're here to talk about the first. But people should be fairly happy at the development process from here on in. There won't be any more engine re-writes or anything like that. So it should be a lot smoother waters."

 

When asked if gamers will face a massive wait for the second game in the Too Human Trilogy Dyack replied with a very firm "No, it should not be". How soon we'll see the sequel remains to be seen, especially as Too Human promises to deliver DLC to bolster the retail release post release.

 

Head for our full interview with Denis Dyack where he talks about everything from the quality of the game to the harsh reception it's received online.