Too Human Demo: Vindication for Denis Dyack
July 26, 2008 by Panzer Pev
Everyone knows the long and sordid history of Silicon Knights’ new game for the Xbox 360, Too Human. It had a terrible showing at E3 in 2006, is part of a huge lawsuit against Unreal 3 engine maker Epic Games and is being led by one of the industries most outspoken individuals in Denis Dyack. Since that poor showing in 2006 Too Human has been on its heels trying to repair the damage done by an on-floor demo that was crippled by an incomplete Unreal Engine and in a form not ready to be seen by the public. For Dyack, this battle has raged on now for almost 3 years…and is finally about to come to its dramatic conclusion. The game is finally releasing in August of 2008 and, as promised, Canada’s own Silicon Knights have released a demo for a game many not only expect to fail, but want to fail. Dyack has ruffled enough feathers and talked enough game to rile up the most outspoken gamers in the community. The question now is, did Dyack deliver a hit, or is it another Haze?
Once I fired up the game I was already impressed with the visuals. This has been a point of contention on the net with many claiming that the game looks no better than PS2 games with sparse envirnoment and terrible character models. Well, no, it certainly doesn’t look like a PS2 game. I have just come off playing some of the best games that the PS2 has to offer in God of War 2, Okami and MGS2. Too Human takes them all to school. The art design is excellent and the norse setting make for a truly unique game world. Character models look good, not great. Certainly, Too Human should not be confused with the visual powerhouses of the industry – think Gears of War 2 and Killzone 2. However, the game manages to have its own style and it works well here.
In the demo only one character class is unlocked, but you can access all of them through some easter eggs that the Silicon team threw in there. If you want to try all the classes, here is how you do it:
- Disconnect from Xbox Live.
- In the Dashboard go to System blade > Console Settings > Clock
- Go to “Date and Time” and change the year from 2008 to 2009
- Launch the Too Human Demo
- By changing the date you have already unlocked the Berserker and Commando classes
- To play as the Defender or Bio-Engineer position the screen on that character class. Then simultaneously flick the left thumbstick right and press A, to play the demo as a Defender or Bio-Engineer
Sounds complicated but its as easy as pie. Definitely check out all the classes. I’ve now gone through and played the demo with all of them and they are all unique with very different sets of abilities.
Now, the important part. How is the gameplay? Does the fixed camera work? Is it fun to play? Well, the short answer to all those questions is yes. As Dyack has been claiming all along, you really need to experience Too Human before you will understand it and how it plays. I’m inclined now to agree with him. Watching countless videos and looking through screenshots isn’t going to convey how this game feels, and it feels great. Using the right thumbstick to attack with the triggers as guns is not only intuitive, but is surprisingly deep. The combo system and air juggling turned out to be far more robust than I imagined and had a great time dispatching the hordes of cybernetic enemies that litter the screen. Many people have worried that the combat may be too simplistic, but I would challenge that notion after having played the game. I only played about 45 min of the demo with a low level character and was still learning the intricacies of the combat as I tried each character class.
Check out the video to learn more about the game from Dyack himself:
The bottom line is that Silicon Knights has delivered. While it won’t be the most graphically impressive game to arrive this year, the unique combat system, incredibly deep loot and customization system and what appears could be an engaging story all add up to an experience that I am officially excited to begin. I have to give Dyack credit. His game is good. My only hope is that enough people give it a chance so the trilogy can be completed. Before you write this game off be sure to try the demo. It may change your mind faster than you think. I already pre-ordered the game…let’s make it the success it deserves to be!
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I used to be the kind of guy to hate the things other people hated on, just because it was the thing to do. Now I’m the kind of guy who tries to see the intention of the developers, directors, and artists involved in any given project. That’s not to say I love every piece of junk put out because it’s artistic. It is to say, however, that I am capable of appreciating something that deserves appreciation, regardless of other people’s opinions.
For that alone, I am very eager to play this game. I have been hoping with all my might that it turns out to be JUST the game I’ve been waiting for. I haven’t been paying enough attention to the media to have a negative opinion of it. I just hope and hope that it’s a REALLY good game. Perhaps for that reason alone, I will see it as just that.
I am certainly excited for it’s release.
Caid Johnson
No, it certainly doesn’t look like a PS2 game, it looks WORSE.
The animation is utter sh!t, the story and dialogue is below the worst of games (below Engrish even), the level and character design is bland, the controls are GODAWFUL and the cherry on top of all this is that the names of items are ridiculous (they’re the only possible worthwhile aspect of the game for point and click addicts).
The only redeeming feature of the demo is that it saves you from making the HORRIBLE LIFECHANGING MISTAKE of buying the actual game.
How anyone could praise this sh!t is beyond me. It’s ABYSMAL ON EVERY LEVEL. DIEDIEDIETOOHUMAN! DIEDIEDIEACK
J.R. Hannemeier you are quite the narrow minded gamer.
haha..
pathetic.
JR, your an idiot, go away, grownups are trying to have a discussion here. I think everyone wants to hate this game because they want to fit in, I also think alot of Playstation fans want to see it fail so they can feel not so bad about the flop that was Haze.
But ultimately I think this game will be awesome, the demo alone has me itching to get my hands on the game day one of launch.
don’t forget the pure sh*tness games like killzone, killzone2, all metal gear solid games (what a fag of a char and all the chars in that game, it’s like final fantasy x 100 in it’s fagness. even the robots are fags. don’t forget the ppl who bought and played these games and the demos too. i saw the 1st screen shots of these games and i instantly knew it’s for losers. it’s why it’s stupid of ms to allow ff to be in their library.) resistance, heavenly sword, motorstorm, and the rest of the so-called games on the ps. how many units did any of these games sell again? i wonder if any of them even sold as much as halo2 alone in a single day let alone a month or more. i’m not a halo fan coz i’m into more blood and gore tactical military shooters for the most part but halo is 1 technically perfect fun game; it’s got the perfect control for any shooter games fps or 3rdps. i can play that game if i’m in a coma coz the controls are that perfect. heck i can masturbate and play halo blindfolded if i want to. it’s that perfect. it’s got everything else down perfect too and hmmm due to this all other shooters are copying it’s genre defining features and many still couldn’t copy a few of the other features i.e saved films w/everything in it and still use a mindbogglingly small storage space. if halo is a bloodier, gorier, realistic style military shooter it’d be my only game; even if it’s not tactical i’ll adapt to it’s runNgun style. oh ya, nintendo mini games are pathetic but still better than all of the full games on the ps. lol what a bunch of losers. it must’ve been made by whites.
going into the demo, i had not heard the “terrible graphics” rumor, but it was one of the first things i noticed about the game. The game looks pretty shitty, almost Quake-like. With the competition setting the standard these days, Too Human is below par.
The gameplay was decent but the voice acting and script was really weak. In no way was i ever interested or involved in the storyline.It’s not as TERRIBLE as a lot of people are making it out to be, but in no way is it anything special
i tried the demo and was somewhat impressed. to be fair my brother was even more so. he studies classical writing and was impressed with how rich the storyline was and its refrences to various books……or something, i dunno i glazed over at that point but i will definately pick it up
i just hope they make the hud somewhat prettier
Too Human is a great game and better than all of the ps3 exclusives combined (except MGS4).
i can’t wait to enjoy it.
graphics are very good.
I’ve played through the Demo extensively and will be purchasing this game when it launches.
To note, there’s a few things no one is commenting on in reviews. Is it that these people reviewing the games are blundering idiots or simply presenting a pre-written take on the game, wether it be for or agasint it.
ISO: ISOmetric view is a must! Press down on the Directional Pad when you’re ingame to move the PoV. Keep pressing it till you see “ISO” on screen and the camera is far up and behind. This gives the most fluid experiance for the game play availble.
Decay: Items have decay. They degrade when you die. In the demo it is appearing that looted gear is having a State of 10k and crafted items are 2k. The items worn at the time of death will lose 100 points from their decay. There is a randomly generated modifier on some items which increase the overal State, not sure if this is for the item or all worn.
Crafting: In it’s current form I am lead to believe that this game supprts some sort of RMT. If I can sell an Uber Blueprint for 20 MS POINTS I would be VERY happy! It appears that this was designed to implement a form of player trading and establish a currency based upon you’re gear being consumable thus needing to replace it over time.
I like it!
On the other hand, the cutScenes appear “shaky” and the inteface you experiance when selecting among items, stats, skills, etc, seems VERY clunky by design.
Also, I’m not too enthused about the appearance of the Trolls. They could have done a lot better with this…
Actually, J.R. Hannemeier works for EPIC. Of course he is going to hate on the game.
The graphics are good, the artistic design is awesome, the Voice Over is great, the music is remarkable, the controls and camera are phenomenal once you get the hang of them. The 5 classes are balanced, the skill trees are interesting, and the loot gathering is addicting.
Thats all I have to say.
The demo was not so bad as I had heard. having played it several times to get a feel for each class. The “graphics are sh!t” rumors are biased in my opinion, considering not every one has an HDTV, since most have SDTV’s, which can change the graphic quality to a huge extent.
The classes are overall very balanced, though it takes a while to get a hang of the strengths of each class plus their individual combat capabilities. I am not fond of the controls, though they can be intuitive at times considering the multitude of enemies on screen. The combat even in the beginning could use a bit more flash and effect, due to the lack of visual oomph, that can make powerful early on attacks seem like they don’t do anything despite the change in enemy health. The camera is okay, and the environments seem artistically crafted, though it has yet to be seen how epic the game can be in relation to the areas (massive set piece battles could help convey this)