The Chiz

Jul 24

Slightly More Human Than Acceptable.

Design, Games, Previews, Tests, Uncategorized, Video Games Add comments

Previous to playing the demo, Too Human hadn’t really struck me as a “need to play title.” Nothing I saw online really interested me, and the idea of another “Diablo-like” really didn’t sit well after I lost interest in Titan Quest so quickly. Nonetheless, I downloaded the demo and played with the starter class presented to me. An hour later the demo complete, I really found myself wanting more. The potential for more loot and interesting enemies to slaughter seemed great, and my techno blood lust was tangible. Alas, the demo was over and I wasn’t really interested in playing through the same level again so soon - with the same class, anyways*.

Too Human allows the user to play as the Norse warrior “Baldur”.

Something that immediately frustrated me was the control scheme, and I’m sure that more people had the same issue. I was so set in my ways, that using the right analog stick to do anything but control the camera seemed like an instinctual raping. This may seem like a poetic exaggeration, but as seasoned video game veteran it was downright embarrassing to be fumbling over my game pad like a club-fisted idiot. However, I persevered. The Robot Goblin battles needed a hero, and the game’s theme had captured my interest enough for me to press on. After a while I found that I wasn’t noticing the irritating controls scheme as much, and then not at all. By the time I had finished the demo I was comfortable enough with the control scheme to realize how elegant the setup actually is. By mapping all melee attacks to the right analog stick, the player has an incredible amount of directional control over his attack - a feature ever important to a third-person hack n’ slash adventure.

Suddenly, hitting a button for every attack seems like child’s play. Being able to choose the precise location of your attack as you would plot out a point using a protractor is the new hotness. It really demonstrates how you can create a game in a familiar style, yet emerge with a better control scheme (at the expense of some slight gamer frustration). Combined with immediately interchangeable melee and ranged attacks, and suddenly the gamer is given an immense amount of control over his avatar, able to weave intricate and stylish attack combinations at will. I experience great glee every time I use an over sized hammer to knock a goblin into the air, and then shoot him out of the sky with a burst of plasma fire.

The game uses a somewhat familiar inventory system. There are several melee and ranged weapon “types”, and the player can equip one melee and one ranged weapon at a time. The weapons and armour come in varying levels of colour-coded rarity, with power scaling up based on how unique the item is. It’s all essentially a loot-whore game wrapped in a unique and exciting theme. Really though, who wouldn’t find cyber vikings exciting? Cyborg Valkyries!

Too Human also uses a nifty puzzle mechanic involving environment manipulation. The techno-Norse version of the internet is a lush mountain region known as “cyberspace”, accessible only by a sort of super advanced well. When the well is used, the player is transported in body to cyberspace, where new items can be collected and where environmental puzzles can be solved to gain access to new areas in “real life.” This whole sub-game adds a sense of mystery to the already interesting theme. It also provides a break from the action and allows the player to cool down and mentally refocus on the tasks ahead. The soft transition from action to puzzles is pleasant and doesn’t feel forced.

All in all, I found the Too Human demo to be an exciting and interesting gameplay experience. It’s not short enough to be disappointing, but not long enough to be too revealing. This will most likely end up being an end of summer purchase.

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*I replayed the demo 4 times - once with each of the “locked” classes. Two of the classes may be accessed by setting your system date to 2009, and the other two are accessed by rapidly pressing “A” while moving the selection *off* of them with the left stick.

Slightly More Human Than Acceptable.

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