Home Gaming Too Human – Reviewed – XBOX 360

Too Human – Reviewed – XBOX 360

5 min read
5

By Philip Dunkley

Too Human

After many years, a game that has a very high expectation from the world has finally been released, and it needed to live up to a lot of expectations for this to be the case. The question that stands is the following, does it? This is one of those games that you either need to be a fan of the genre; otherwise it might just fall short of those expectations.

A few weeks ago, I did a preview on this game, and with all embargo’s, all I was allowed to say is what impressed me in the game, as It would be unfair to pick out any of the faults in an incomplete game. My experience has shown me that developers tend to polish things up towards the end, and code never reflects the true potential of the game.

Too Human

Let’s start with the story. Now here is one of the catches. I kind of know about Nordic history, due to a friend who is very into it, and I understood a lot of the cues that were passed in the game. It’s not the world’s most in-depth story, and some might find it rather boring, but I have always been fascinated by the cross setting of Fantasy and Sci-Fi. This game does this very well, and presents it to the player in a very detailed way.

Now the format of the game is as follows; it’s an RPG, but without the NPC characters, and not so much an open ended system, but it’s more a looting game, with loads of loot drops all over the place, and this is where the fans of the genre will enjoy this. I never knew I was a fan of this kind of mechanic, but I clearly am, and I enjoy this random ability to build the character. The only issue I have with is the auto levelling system of the enemies, so when you start kitting yourself out, and become a force to be reckoned with, the enemies level up to, so the battles kind of get boring, as it all feels the same. For a game that relies heavily on the character customisation, this game does not reward the player enough for your hard work.

It’s also based around a more hack and slash style, but there are ranged weapons for certain classes, but this is a flawed mechanic and does not work well. Don’t get me wrong here, it’s still fun, but it seems that the depth is lacking, and after spending a lot of time with this game, I just had to question the point of it.

It also has a mechanic which bothers me. When you die there is no real punishment. You just carry on from where you left off, and things continue as normal, without any real consequences. This takes away from the strategy of the game, and simplifies the system a little too much.

Too Human

The game is not flawed, but it just seems that this is not what people were expecting of the game, and a more RPG approach would have worked a little better. If you are expecting a Mass Effect, just look elsewhere.

From a control point of view, things are not par for the course here. You control the motion of Baldur with the one analogue stick, and the other analogue stick controls the attacks of the Melee weapon. Weapons are controlled from the trigger buttons. This actually does work, and it won’t take too long to get the hang of.

From a graphic point of view, the games looks good, and the Too Human universe got me very excited at points. It does have a bit of slow down in the larger battles, but nothing to deter from the overall experience. The only issue here is that due to the dual analogue fighting mechanic, the game controls the camera in its entirety. So this can cause a few camera angle problems, but once again, not too bad.

The audio in the game is also very good, with voice acting taking top points, and the soundtrack stirring up emotions. This adds to the environment, and the overall setting of the game.

In conclusion, Too Human is not a bad game; it just could have been more, especially in the story department. At no point do you really connect with any of the characters, and feel obliged to look after them. Yet it seems to fit together well, and the overall experience is well rounded. I enjoyed the game, but it could be because it’s the first time I’ve got into the looting genre, but I believe if you like this, you will enjoy this game, but like I said earlier, if you are looking for a Mass Effect or Oblivion rich world, look elsewhere, it’s not that deep, except for the character customisation. It looks like people are going to differ in opinion with this game, so I suggest try before you buy.

Too Human

Honest truth, your either going to love it or hate it, no in betweens here, so please understand that the score is my experience, but others have found it very frustrating, and did not enjoy the experience at all. I know this does not help too much, but there is no objectivity in this game at all.

Scoring:
Gameplay: 8/10 [Could keep you busy for hours, if you like the genre]
Presentation: 7.5/10 [It looks good, but won’t blow your mind]
Sound: 8/10 [Good voice acting]
Value: 8/10 [I keep coming back for more, and I finished it for the first time over a month ago]
Overall: 7.9/10 [Just misses being great, a shame really]

Last Updated: August 20, 2008

5 Comments

  1. j4nr1k

    August 20, 2008 at 15:18

    You’ve been sitting on it for over a month!

    You dastardy man you!

    The next 10 days is going to be so long to wait!

    Reply

  2. Goose ZA

    August 20, 2008 at 15:38

    Yup! Can’t wait =)

    Reply

  3. doobiwan

    August 20, 2008 at 17:18

    This is definitely an asparagus game.

    You love it or hate it, no middle ground.

    Reply

  4. Charl

    August 20, 2008 at 18:11

    Wonder if this game would do better or worse, if Dennis kept to himself? I played the demo, and walked away completely unimpressed. I have enough Dungeon Crawlers already. Local co-op would change my view though.

    Reply

  5. 2Three

    August 20, 2008 at 20:57

    And the best news about this game being out finally is that Denis might actually go away for a little while, although that remains to be seen. 😛

    2Three’s last blog post..Half Life 3: 2010

    Reply

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