Too Human Hate Machine??
I really don’t understand. Unfortunately, it seems the general populace does not share in my excitement and appreciation for Silicon Knights’ latest release, “Too Human”. Metacritic has an average review score just under 70, and I personally feel betrayed by an industry I once aspired to join. TooHuman was, and is, one of the greatest and most involving entertainment experiences I have yet to witness in this lifetime.
That being said, I’d like to compare the title to another X360 exclusive RPG, “Mass Effect”. I had a great time with Mass Effect, just much more fun with Too Human, and I was shocked to see a 91 on Metacritic for Mass Effect. 11 sites gave it a perfect score, with less then a handful under %80. Now, you can go ahead and crucify me if you think the game deserved 11 perfect scores and a 91 average, but a supposedly “deep” universe filled with empty, lifeless, planets doesn’t really pique my interest. Lets look at all the things I despise about Mass Effect:
1. Menu System from Hell
2. Now Loading….Elevator….Now Loading……
3. Combat System from Hell
Still a perfect score guys? I understand we all drank the KoolAid on the speech engine and the good vs evil theme, but honestly when reviewed as a whole the game is a technical mess. The framerate was consistently pathetic, and the story wasn’t better then an average episode of Startrek.
The guys at Silicon Knights realized a few things while playing games like Mass Effect and Oblivion: Technical shortcomings kill immersion.
Ride a horse through the countryside of Cyrodil and watch the framerate plummet and get ready for some epic pop-in. Get more then a few enemies on screen in Mass Effect and it turns into the Mass Slideshow, broken up by loadscreens every two minutes or so.
Too Human has a few small loadscreens before cutscenes and at the start of new levels, but nothing during the action. Too many enemies on screen to count, with missles flying and explosions common place = consistent framerate. Too Human has a 15 second cutscene when you die, and some of the in-game chatter from the AI repeats if you retread an area by mistake. The floor textures are as breathtaking as the backrounds, and the camera options make for an unmatched cinematic experience. The camera will find haters, as you can’t directly control it at all times. Not saying this is the best camera work ever, but I did find it awkward controlling the camera for other games after a session with Too Human, just feels intuitive after a while and I definitley think it grows on you. I was a big fan of Norse Mythology before I picked up the game, and without giving away spoilers I can say they have done an excellent job transferring the core mythos with a fresh angle that I really enjoyed discovering.
I feel betrayed that game review sites are trashing my favorite game all year. If you liked Diablo2 you owe it to yourself to give the game a try.
I commend Silicon Knights for their effort and hope they give the same amount of dedication to the last two titles in the planned trilogy.
Posted by Erick - August 27th, 2008 -
August 28th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Still havent tried the demo yet so I’m going to reserve judgement - it does seem like a love it or hate it title though.
Still playing Ninja Gaiden II and don’t want to start anything else til that’s done.
August 28th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Agree with Erick, this game is a gem.
It takes time to grow on you, but once it clicks, it is amazing.
The coop is the best on any console.
August 28th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
yeah this game is a gem my ass!
August 28th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Don’t be so depressed… you’ll wake up tomorrow and a new day is gonna start.
You’ll get to see that it’s going to be the same for Killzone 2, many haters are going to bash the game for the slightest flaw.
That’s the problems with games that are overhyped, and do not get the promotion that Halo 3 had.
Life’s hard…
August 28th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
umm killzone is trash.. halo 3 was great.. and Too Human is fu**en sweeeeeeeet
August 28th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Revenger you’re a doofus. Killzone is black gold…and halo 3 was a disappointment. I haven’t played too human so i wont comment on it.
August 28th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
This game is incredible but can anyone understand why they are getting low scores???
I can give you a plausible reason, there is a company who is a major advertiser to gamespot, gametrailers and ign. This company is called Epic Games who are currently being sued by Silicon Knights for providing a faulty game engine.
I mean how can gamespot give it 5.5/10 when I just checked today and it was rated the number 1 game of the day.
August 28th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Im gonna go and get this game tomorow and im expecting nothing mayor from it, just like i did from devil may cry 4 and i love that havnt finished it yet.. my mind always goes back to guitar hero lol damn u!!!!
August 28th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
The major short fall with the game, and the only one for that matter, is the occasionally untinelligent camera positioning. While the camera does eventually behave with some prediction there’s a steep learning curve to overcome before it’s less obstructive.
Other then this I can only nit-pick at minor details which could use improvement, such as:
Repair All; Having the option to equip 2 different balastic weapons such as pistols and a canon and switch them on the fly; Better descriptions on Mastery runes regarding which class they benefit; etc
This game is a solid performer although many users aren’t going to be able to comprehend the plethora of dynamics at thier disposal when playing.
August 28th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Too much hype not enough substance. When reading about the game you were led to beleive that the game would be like God of War, Mass effect and a dugeon crawler all into one. Its normal people are disatpointed with the final product. The game is not bad but its not what was promised or even what they hinted at.
August 28th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
David -
I think that’s the biggest problem…Silicon Knights never said that was what the game was going to be….The MEDIA hyped the game up to an impossible level. There are so many descriptions of this game on the internet that don’t even come close to what the developers themselves are saying. It’s a sad case of misconception. You have one person saying its RPG, another saying it’s a hack-n-slash and yet another person saying it’s a crawler. It’s a shame that people can’t just play the game for what it is instead of comparing it to something they’ve seen or read. It gets a 9 in my book.
August 28th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
I think the situation reveals a serious flaw in the way game-related information has been fed to us in the past. 1up gave the game a 40-something but its been one of their most popular games all week - still sitting as of today at #3. At some point the consumer has to question the motives and prejudices of the author, I just wish you could put an asterisk next to that metacritic score
August 28th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
I’m with you. I don’t really understand why the hate is on for such a great game.
My guess is that Silcon Knights didn’t pay the right people enough advertising coin so they gave it a bad score….it happens.
August 28th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
The apparent bandwagon of hate spawned by Too Human only worries me because I really want to see this Trilogy through. I’ve heard comparisons to Advent Rising because of that games doomed trilogy.
I know I love this game even after briefly losing faith when I read a few post-release reviews. I even went so far as canceling my pre-order. But on release day, I came back and bought it. I haven’t regretted it since.
This game, through its developers, is standing strong by its unique and “Simple in concept, difficult to master” control scheme, storytelling, class balancing and for that I for one am thankful. While Dennis Dyack may be outspoken and forward thinking (and in some reviewers eyes, insane), it doesn’t take away from the fact that he does have a love of this industry and it shows in the work of Silicon Knights.
I for one have recommended this to every gaming friend I have.
August 29th, 2008 at 12:36 am
You must be smoking some grade A crack. Even with its MINOR faults Mass Effect is easily 2X the game Too Human is.
You are a retard. Commander Sheppard sends his regards.
August 29th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
/\/\/\
Gee - what a lovely thing to say.
Idiot.
August 30th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Bleem, I agree, there will always be the moronic ‘tard who feels his two bits are worth a mention, but what were looking for people is constructive criticizm, if you dont like the game explain why (no reasons like “it suxorz” or “its shit” wont cut it)
As for “Ross”s attempt claiming that Erik not only smokes crack, but is also a retard…
Maybe this is rather true of mr ‘Ross’ and he hates himself so for such a disreputable life that he feels the need to portray his faults onto others and then berate them on the internet.
Or maybe he’s just a simple bastard.
I havn’t played Too Human yet, however a friend has and he’s mentioned it in his blog http://www.bigsheep.net/?p=466
It does seem this is the game world equivelent of marmite,
Some will love it, others will hate it.