Too Human Review - Xbox 360

7.5

Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 7
Audio: 6
Multiplayer: 8
Innovation: 6

RPGs that aren’t MMO and aren’t released months in advance in Japan are few and far between these days, so when one comes along there is plenty of hype and hope that the game will deliver all that is promised. Mass Effect was a great example of a RPG which probably set the hype bar a little too high for itself, though the downloadable content does provide further hours of gameplay. Too Human has a lot to live up to under the Microsoft Games Studios brand. Developer Silicon Knights has been working on ideas for this game since the Playstation 1 era, and has since worked on games such as Eternal Darkness and Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, so we see no excuse for it to be dull in any areas. Read on to find out our verdict.

You are Neo, Baldur, a cybernetically enhanced human, a Norse God, son of Odin, and it is up to you to destroy the Matrix protect the human race from the ever-increasing population of machines determined to annihilate that which bleeds. The story follows Norse mythology quite closely, using gods and characters from it such as Thor, Tyr, Hel, Heimdall, and Loki, so if you’re Icelandic this game may be what you have been waiting for.

Gameplay

As you take control of Baldur, you decide what class you would like to be. Too Human has five different classes available, each varying in speed, armor, and skills. For fun, we chose to run through the game as a Berserker - a fast dual-wielded weapon preferred class similar to Rogues in World of Warcraft. As you level up, skill points become available to you which you can add to your talent tree via the Skills menu. The tree is fairly simple, splitting off in to three directions basically from the get go, but meeting up at the end for the final skill. It is possible to re-spec your character, but if you want to play as a different class you’ll have to start over.

Too Human is basically a glorified hack-n-slash. The gameplay involves non-stop killing and very little strategy. However, for some reason this design is fun and lures you in to the whole leveling system. As you level up, your armour gradually looks a little better, and the stats you get from it allow for more freedom in battles. Weapons get increasingly larger and more powerful, and there are all sorts of added features to your gear such as runes which you can socket, and new items that you can craft in the thorough equipment menu. The game has a whole backbone feature which can’t be ignored if you want to progress without dying, and due to this we believe the gameplay in Too Human is something else. Sure, it’s quite similar to Mass Effect in regards to leveling and gear changes, but the armour and weapons in Too Human look a lot better.

As you level up, more skills become available to you. (continued next page)