Well, not really. I just wanted to sound pseudo-clever in trashing this game that has yet to be released. Which actually becomes moot, because, honestly, I really liked the Too Human demo they released on Xbox Live a week or so ago.
At first, the controls were kind of disorienting. The melee combat functions are mapped to the right analog stick, which means whichever direction you point the stick in, your character Baldur swings in that direction. The last two games I played that had the same control scheme were Blade 2 and Rise To Honor, two games that weren't very good. I've always been curious to see how far games could come along in delivering the kind of cinematic, unrealistic, against-all-odds melee combat seen formerly only in Hong Kong action movies, and I thought, even after putting up with the drudgery of Rise To Honor, that if done right, right analog combat could potentially give us this kind of experience.
With this in mind, I think, after my second run-through with the Too Human demo, that Silicon Knights has nailed it. I say my second run because initially, I was having difficulties with the combat, aiming, and camera controls during my first playthrough. Being an avid fan of games for so many years has conditioned me to expect certain things in third-person action combat; right analog controls the camera, you have one jump button, and you have two buttons that control strong and weak, or long-range and close melee attacks. If it sounds like I'm directly referencing God of War or the Devil May Cry series, it's because I am. Much in the way console FPSes have used Halo controls as a template, Devil May Cry more or less redefined the way a third-person action game is meant to be played.
However, the reason I'm now comfortable with Too Human's control scheme is because that it doesn't aim to be a God of War or DMC. As stated before in numerous interviews, Too Human is not a straight-up action game. Silicon Knights design takes the best elements of action-RPGs like Diablo and the previously mentioned DMC in an effort to make a satisfying dungeon-crawl / brawler hybrid. Although the controls aren't as tight as one accustomed to playing Devil May Cry would like, this game is an RPG first and foremost. You won't see people uploading videos of Too Human combo exhibitions set to music by Norwegian melodic black metal bands on YouTube anytime soon.
This doesn't mean that I don't still think that Denis Dyack is kind of a big reactionary crybaby, but I'm able to separate the artist and the product, unless it's someone like R. Kelly singing about how he needs a helping hand from Heaven right when he's being busted for making a video about peeing on underage girls. I can only imagine what said helping hand from the Heavens above would assist in holding.
So yeah, completely sold on the gameplay and controls. But that's not the biggest selling point for me. Call me whatever you'd like, but I'm really in love with the storyline and setting that Silicon Knights has crafted for Too Human. It's definitely a science-fiction setting, but through their interpretation of Norse mythology, Silicon Knights has created a really unique fantasy version of Star Wars-meets-Erich Von Daniken's Chariot of the Gods universe. Conspiracy theorist, X-Files lover, and then some; I'm very much gay for Too Human's storyline.
On a minor bit, I'm really hoping that the game's title has something, even on a cursory note, to do with the work it's clearly referencing, which is Human, All Too Human by Nietzsche. I could see some kind of Nietzschean undertones in the Xenosaga trilogy, but that's in the same way I could see Nietzschean undertones in just about any game dealing with an encroaching, ages-old force that corrupts those that feel its touch. If anything, I felt Ubisoft's Beyond Good and Evil was more clever in its reference, with the concept of media control and obfuscation pertaining to Nietzsche's work of the same name. But, that's a topic for a different day. I already used up my cosmic powers of the prententious while talking to MY GIRLFRIEND on the phone yesterday.
With all that in consideration, I have a feeling that Too Human isn't going to appeal to everyone on the scale of a Gears of War for the express reasons I'm looking forward to this game so much. Aside from all the missteps from the outset, what with the bad E3 showing about years ago, one thing I have to commend Silicon Knights on is the assumptions they make about their potential audience, which is (in my humble opinion) an older crowd raised on nostalgia of dungeon hack-and-slashers like Diablo and Rogue that gets giddy at the first mention of "random loot drops", and has a degree of familiarity with Norse mythology. Given the platform Too Human is being released on, the Xbox 360, I'd say that's not too many people. Which is a shame, because I think that Silicon Knights has something really special on their hands. On the same note, I think I'm going to name my high-horse Baldur in honor of this game.
In conclusion, here's an example of who Too Human is not made for:
Right to opinion aside, at least know what you're talking about prior to your attempt to give a game the MST3K treatment. And then failing. Miserably.
More on Soul Calibur tomorrow. In order to write about it, I have to be able to stop playing the damn game, which at this point is nigh impossible.
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