This game has been in the works for so many years--in the age of instant gratification that is--that it seems strange that there would be so much hype about it. But, only a week ago the Too Human demo came up on the xbox 360 marketplace and thousands flocked to it, overflowing the server to retrieve a sizeable 1.1 gig download. After a good fifteen minutes of waiting, more or less, depending on the connection, we are thrust into the unusual realm of Too Human. Here is where we get to put what we were promised to the test. Is it an action game? One would be hard-pressed to find an argument for why it isn't. Is it a collection game? There are indeed things to collect. Are there RPG elements to the game? You can level up with a talent tree strikingly similar, at least in my own opinion, to blizzard's Diablo 2 and World of Warcraft (I blend these two trees together because they are so similar. I have played them both enough to realize it). But is the game amazing? From what I've seen of the demo I will say that it is very good. I cannot say amazing.
Graphics
I hate to say that graphics are important to me because in reality, gameplay should be first and foremost in a critique of any game, but, with such precedents as Gears of War, Bioshock, Oblivion, Mass effect, there is a standard that a game has to meet, and I cannot confidently say--and this is from the demo mind you--that Too Human meets them. The cut scenes look good, really good actually, but the in-game rendering seems to have a problem. It seems as though each time you swing a weapon you see the under layer of the armor that you're wearing, so that suddenly, the onyx plate with blue highlights that you're equipped with turns a bright cobalt each time the weapon strikes, making you feel smurfish at best. Also, there are quite a few bugs in the system, and I will admit that they had to build a graphics engine from the ground up, but enemies will occasionally *blip* into existence right before you, and occasionally disappear. Enemies that should be dead and evaporating into an orange mist are bent over backwards in a position that would make the best of us blush and giggle. But this is really the most of the game's problems, and it's most likely something that will be fixed before the final rendering of the game onto disc.
Gameplay
The blood and guts of every game. Does it measure up? I would say so. It takes a bit to get used to the melee attack system, which involves using the right stick to swing at your enemies and target them as well, but once you get the hang of it you're knocking out enemies all over the place with energy attacks and flying hammers. The aerial combat is alright, but it also seems buggy, sometimes while the enemies are frozen in the air, you can put out a whole string of combo moves and find out that you never actually hit them. Arial melee combat is difficult to pull off in most games, I think Kingdom Hearts II really pulled it off well, but I think they could have done a better job with it here. Using guns feels a lot like Devil May Cry and I have no problem with that because that was a fun combat system. Overall I could see myself putting hours and hours into the game just because the combat system starts to flow and synch once you get the hang of it. The collection system is nice as well, having a very Diablo-esque feel to it. The items are completely random, except for a few drops that always seem to show up in a particular spot, and they have random suffixes to them, much like in WoW, where you can manage to get Unwieldy Pauldrons of the Rooster or some nonsense like that. It really adds to the replay value because you are never satisfied with what you have when you know that you can get better by going through it again and again. The talent system is simple. You get three points per level and you can apply them to a tree that branches off in three directions, eventually pulling back to a final skill, which you cannot even come close to unlocking in the demo. Each tree has its own unique advantages and it looks like there isn't one right way to do it, which is nice. Overall I could see this being a very enjoyable game to waste a lot of hours on.
Dialogue
One last item I would like to mention. The dialogue felt forced. To me it seemed like the writers pulled together what they may have known from Norse mythology and them mashed it into dialogue. Having read the Saga of Volsungs and the Prose Edda, I have a little background knowledge in the mythology and what they try to reference is not it. I admit that all people are allowed to take creative license with historical and mythological stories, but if someone is going to, they need to make it clear and not try to half ass their way through it. That is my own personal gripe and I highly doubt it is going to affect anyone else's gameplay. Overall I would recommend this game to a variety of players, ranging from the hardcore RPG player to the casual Action gamer, just don't expect this game to be the groundbreaking game that everyone said it was going to be.
