Too Human
Encyclopedia
Too Human is an action-RPG video game developed by Canadian developer Silicon Knights
and published by Microsoft Game Studios
for the Xbox 360
console. The game was released in North America
on August 19, 2008 and later in Europe
on August 29, 2008.
The game is noted for remaining in development hell
for almost ten years, originally planned as a four-disc action-adventure game
for the PlayStation
in 1999. Development later went into the Nintendo GameCube
in 2000 before eventually selling the rights to Microsoft
in 2005. It was scheduled for release for the Xbox 360 where it eventually became a finished product.
It is to be noted that although the name is the same each of these parts of the game's evolution is a completely separate game.
As part of a planned game trilogy, the story is a science-fictional futuristic retelling of Norse mythology
that portrays the Æsir
(Norse Gods) as cybernetic-enhanced humans, tasked with protecting mankind from the onslaught of Loki
's army of machines. The player takes the role of the Norse God Baldur, who is less cybernetic than the other Gods, thus being "too human". The game incorporates elements of hack and slash
and action-adventure with heavy emphasis on role-playing
gameplay elements such as gathering items, upgrading equipment and choosing character classes and alignments.
/adventure
role playing game, incorporating various gameplay elements from both genres, along with aspects of dungeon crawler and third-person shooters. The player takes control of the lead character Baldur in a third-person perspective with the camera distance being adjustable, even controllable during some in-game cinematics to involve the player in the story further. Camera control is limited to player, with the choice to re-adjust the camera back to its default third-person view being the primary following the player and swinging when the player does the same, similar to an auto targeting system. This is because the right analog stick is used for melee combat, instead of traditional camera control, with certain attacks and combos being executed by pushing the stick in the direction of the target with follow-up stick movements applying further attacks with projectile attacks only using an auto lock-on system. Attacks can be combined to execute attacks such as performing combos on enemies in mid-air, attack slides, and juggling foes in the air with projectile weapon attacks. Another aspect of combat are "Ruiner" attacks, powerful abilities that can indirectly affect surrounding enemies and can be mixed with other attacks to perform finishing strikes.
The RPG elements of the game come in the form of advanced character customization. At the beginning of the game, the player is given the choice between five different classes; Berserker, Champion, Defender, Commando, and Bio Engineer, with each having an advantage over another. The Berserker is focused on melee combat while the Commando is oriented on ranged combat. The Bio Engineer has advanced healing abilities and the Defender has a strong armor defense. Finally the Champion is a balanced all rounder with multiple air strike attacks. During the game, players can collect various items that they can equip and use. There are fifteen variations of weapon classes such as pistols, heavy lasers, dual and two-handed combat weapons, armor for different body parts, and "charms" that allow players to use powerful Ruiner abilities. Many items can also be bought and customized by color and effectiveness—using collectable runes—in-between levels back at the Æsir’s base of Asgard
.
As players progress through the game, they can level up by slaying foes and achieving high combos, allowing access to more efficient items and skills; these items and skills can be used in the game’s Skill Tree mechanic, where points earned with every level up are applied to improve stats and unlock new abilities unique to each different character class. In the early stages of the game, the player can choose between two alignments; Cybernetic and Human. The Cybernetic alignment allows use of certain weapons like heavy lasers and further cybernetic upgrades, while the Human alignment emphasizes quick movement and improved combos.
. Hosts can support only a second player with a “drop-in, drop out” system. This allows players to join games hosted in levels they have yet to complete, as long as the host has, allowing high and low level players to join games suited for either. Players can also use characters from their single player games and earn experience, levels, and items online that can later be used offline. Cooperative multiplayer also features the option to trade items with other human players regardless of their level.
" stalked Earth, bent on destroying humanity. As the war escalated, man and machine exchanged nuclear
and anti-matter weapons, leaving a once-lush world frozen in a thousand-year winter. Humanity now teeters on the brink of extinction. Earth's population is now only a few million sheltered in the walled enclave of Midgard
. The great sentient machines have prospered in the eternal winter. Humanity, however, is not alone. They pray to the Aesir and faithfully worship the great Organically Distributed Intelligence Network
. As protectors, it is the Aesir's duty to ensure humanity survives. Their cybernetically-enhanced bodies and minds make them far more powerful than mortals, and are properly revered as gods.
s bundled together (a similar format to that of Final Fantasy VIII
released in 1999). Also, unlike the finished product, the plot, while involving the theme of human cybernetic enhancements, was to be set in the distant future of 2450 AD instead of the alternate science fiction take on Norse Mythology.
Development halted when Nintendo announced an exclusive partnership with Silicon Knights, and the game was moved to the Nintendo GameCube in 2000. Prototyping for the game took place on the GameCube, but the staff at Silicon Knights soon devoted their efforts towards two other releases, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
, with further news of Too Human becoming mute, without any indication of future development being announced until five years later in 2005.
As well as releasing many other promotional videos Silicon Knights was also involved in the making of a fictional documentary
titled, The Goblin Man of Norway. The film was reported to be produced by the "Norwegian Film Committee," and is in three parts, with each part being released sequentially. The first part—Excavation—relates the discovery of a high technology mechanical man possibly tens of thousands of years old found encased in a glacier. The second part, titled Examination, contains pictures of the discovery as well as a stone found nearby with a message of doom or curse runically inscribed. The third part, Exhibition, shows the release of the find to the public and includes reactions from various people as to the impact the technology could have on society.
The demo was released on Xbox Live
on July 14, 2008 as part of the Microsoft
"Bringing it Home" E3 Marketplace content. The demo includes the Champion class, and gameplay is restricted to part of a single level with cutscenes included, which is only playable in single player. The demo also featured an easter egg
where the Commando and Berserker classes become playable by setting the console date to 2009. Later, as of July 25, 2008 the Beserker became available for the demo without any clock modification, as did the Commando class later on August 11, 2008. On July 31, 2008 Microsoft announced that the Too Human demo exceeded 900,000 downloads. It said the demo has "been downloaded more than any other action demo on Xbox LIVE Marketplace in its first week of availability and [had] been one of the top played titles on Xbox LIVE overall."
and Epic Games
announced that Silicon Knights would be exclusively using Epic's Unreal Engine 3
for all of their next-gen projects. Early development of the Xbox 360 incarnation of Too Human began on various incomplete versions of the engine, and their contract stated that Silicon Knights would receive a functional version of the engine no later than six months after the Xbox 360's development kits were finalized. In May 2006, two months after that deadline had passed, Too Human was presented by Denis Dyack
at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, and was widely mocked by game journalists. In that same month, undoubtedly influenced by the show's response, which Dyack blamed on technical issues, Silicon Knights concluded that many aspects of the game engine were inadequate and/or unexplained, and therefore the engine was not functional. Pressed to continue the game's development or lose funding from Microsoft, and no longer willing to use Unreal Engine 3, but contractually prohibited from using anything else, Dyack made the decision to start rewriting portions of the engine's code so it would behave and deliver results in ways that Silicon Knights was more familiar with and expected. Eventually, Dyack came to the idea that if they were to alter the last remaining portions of unmodified code, it would become an entirely new game engine, which he called the Silicon Knights Engine. Since the contract with Epic stated that Silicon Knights would keep and own the rights to any changes or "improvements" they made to the engine, Dyack felt that he would not be prohibited from using an engine that was composed entirely of improvements, and he also felt that he wasn't obligated to pay for an engine he considered non-functional. On July 19, 2007, Silicon Knights sued Epic Games
due to "breach of contract", including "inadequacies" of Epic’s support, service, and cooperation with Silicon Knights concerning Unreal Engine 3. On August 9, 2007, Epic Games counter-sued Silicon Knights, claiming that it was using its engine as it pleased without any cost. If Epic wins the case, Silicon Knights will be forced to pay in excess of $650,000.
, and 65 out of 100 at Metacritic
.
The game's concept of mixing science fiction with Norse mythology was praised by critics with X-Play
saying while it "sounds like a stretch", "on the whole, it works" where "the art direction manages to seamlessly blend the grandeur we think of with this mythology and make it come alive again with a healthy dose of futurism." GamerNode called it "a highly captivating beginning to an epic and meaningful tale about the ills of transhumanism." IGN
found it to do "a great job of keeping you engrossed in the game". It found the game's audio to be its stronger part, calling the music and voice acting "top-notch". Graphically, GameSpot
was most impressed with the environments that "feature excellent detail and lighting, with towering statues lording over the proceedings and shafts of light spilling onto mounds of snow." However it did note "each setting seems much like the last", with "stiff combat and facial animations [that] become more and more noticeable", a point Game Revolution
echoed by stating "the game begins strongly with some stunning art design throughout the first level" before becoming too familiar. GamerNode noted, "Too Human's graphical presentation is not jaw-dropping in a technical sense, but the cinematography, artistic direction, and environment design work together to present players with awe-inspiring scenes, conveying a sense of magnitude that ties directly into the game's plot."
Response to the game's unconventional use of the right analog stick for combat was mixed. Some critics like GamePro
finding it to make the game more "slick", while Game Trailers called it "broken", linking it to button mashing. While Game Informer
liked the idea, the change, it felt, made other aspects of the game worse, notably the camera control and lock-on system for projectile weaponry. In general, most critics dislike the analog stick configuration, arguing that it removes manual camera control.
A common criticism was directed at the death sequence where a Valkyrie collects the player's body as being too long. Official Xbox Magazine
called it a “sheer annoyance”, with other critics like TeamXbox
jokingly wondering the game's total play time if the sequence was skippable. Official Xbox Magazine UK however, while finding it "frustrating" felt that it prevented players from abusing the respawn system as result. Eurogamer
however felt the game's biggest problem was its relatively short length for its genre. As with other critics, 1UP
found the addition of cooperative multiplayer made the game more entertaining. While agreeing, Edge Magazine concluded "The irony is that many of Too Human's problems wouldn't exist if another pair of human players were allowed to enter the fold (as was originally intended)", referencing the previous feature of four player multiplayer being absent in the finished product. GameDaily
called Too Human the "Underperformer of the Year" saying, "we expected the years of development time to turn out something better than this."
NPD Group
reports that the game sold approximately 168,200 copies during the month of August 2008 in North America; it was the 8th best-selling game in the region during that time. Too Human "sold around 700,000 units" quoted from Denis Dyack in a Joystiq interview.
Silicon Knights
Silicon Knights is a Canadian video game developer. Founded in 1992 by Denis Dyack, the company is headquartered in St. Catharines, Ontario, Dyack's hometown....
and published by Microsoft Game Studios
Microsoft Game Studios
Microsoft Studios is the video game production wing for Microsoft, responsible for the development and publishing of games for the Xbox, Xbox 360, Games for Windows and Windows Phone platforms. They were established in 2002 as Microsoft Game Studios to coincide with the release of the Xbox, before...
for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
console. The game was released in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on August 19, 2008 and later in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
on August 29, 2008.
The game is noted for remaining in development hell
Development hell
In the jargon of the media-industry, "development hell" is a period during which a film or other project is trapped in development...
for almost ten years, originally planned as a four-disc action-adventure game
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
for the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
in 1999. Development later went into the Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
in 2000 before eventually selling the rights to Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
in 2005. It was scheduled for release for the Xbox 360 where it eventually became a finished product.
It is to be noted that although the name is the same each of these parts of the game's evolution is a completely separate game.
As part of a planned game trilogy, the story is a science-fictional futuristic retelling of Norse mythology
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
that portrays the Æsir
Æsir
In Old Norse, áss is the term denoting a member of the principal pantheon in Norse paganism. This pantheon includes Odin, Frigg, Thor, Baldr and Tyr. The second pantheon comprises the Vanir...
(Norse Gods) as cybernetic-enhanced humans, tasked with protecting mankind from the onslaught of Loki
Loki
In Norse mythology, Loki or Loke is a god or jötunn . Loki is the son of Fárbauti and Laufey, and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. By the jötunn Angrboða, Loki is the father of Hel, the wolf Fenrir, and the world serpent Jörmungandr. By his wife Sigyn, Loki is the father of Nari or Narfi...
's army of machines. The player takes the role of the Norse God Baldur, who is less cybernetic than the other Gods, thus being "too human". The game incorporates elements of hack and slash
Hack and slash
Hack and slash or hack and slay, abbreviated H&S or HnS, refers to a type of gameplay that emphasizes combat. "Hack and slash" was originally used to describe an aspect of pen-and-paper role-playing games , carrying over from there to MUDs, MMORPGs, and video games in general...
and action-adventure with heavy emphasis on role-playing
Role-playing
Role-playing refers to the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role...
gameplay elements such as gathering items, upgrading equipment and choosing character classes and alignments.
Gameplay
Too Human is an actionAction game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
/adventure
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
role playing game, incorporating various gameplay elements from both genres, along with aspects of dungeon crawler and third-person shooters. The player takes control of the lead character Baldur in a third-person perspective with the camera distance being adjustable, even controllable during some in-game cinematics to involve the player in the story further. Camera control is limited to player, with the choice to re-adjust the camera back to its default third-person view being the primary following the player and swinging when the player does the same, similar to an auto targeting system. This is because the right analog stick is used for melee combat, instead of traditional camera control, with certain attacks and combos being executed by pushing the stick in the direction of the target with follow-up stick movements applying further attacks with projectile attacks only using an auto lock-on system. Attacks can be combined to execute attacks such as performing combos on enemies in mid-air, attack slides, and juggling foes in the air with projectile weapon attacks. Another aspect of combat are "Ruiner" attacks, powerful abilities that can indirectly affect surrounding enemies and can be mixed with other attacks to perform finishing strikes.
The RPG elements of the game come in the form of advanced character customization. At the beginning of the game, the player is given the choice between five different classes; Berserker, Champion, Defender, Commando, and Bio Engineer, with each having an advantage over another. The Berserker is focused on melee combat while the Commando is oriented on ranged combat. The Bio Engineer has advanced healing abilities and the Defender has a strong armor defense. Finally the Champion is a balanced all rounder with multiple air strike attacks. During the game, players can collect various items that they can equip and use. There are fifteen variations of weapon classes such as pistols, heavy lasers, dual and two-handed combat weapons, armor for different body parts, and "charms" that allow players to use powerful Ruiner abilities. Many items can also be bought and customized by color and effectiveness—using collectable runes—in-between levels back at the Æsir’s base of Asgard
Asgard
In Norse religion, Asgard is one of the Nine Worlds and is the country or capital city of the Norse Gods surrounded by an incomplete wall attributed to a Hrimthurs riding the stallion Svadilfari, according to Gylfaginning. Valhalla is located within Asgard...
.
As players progress through the game, they can level up by slaying foes and achieving high combos, allowing access to more efficient items and skills; these items and skills can be used in the game’s Skill Tree mechanic, where points earned with every level up are applied to improve stats and unlock new abilities unique to each different character class. In the early stages of the game, the player can choose between two alignments; Cybernetic and Human. The Cybernetic alignment allows use of certain weapons like heavy lasers and further cybernetic upgrades, while the Human alignment emphasizes quick movement and improved combos.
Online and multiplayer
Along with the single player campaign, Too Human features a cooperative multiplayer component that can be played over Xbox LiveXbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
. Hosts can support only a second player with a “drop-in, drop out” system. This allows players to join games hosted in levels they have yet to complete, as long as the host has, allowing high and low level players to join games suited for either. Players can also use characters from their single player games and earn experience, levels, and items online that can later be used offline. Cooperative multiplayer also features the option to trade items with other human players regardless of their level.
Prologue
Before the Dawn of the Aesir, the great machines called the "Children of YmirYmir
In Norse mythology, Ymir, also called Aurgelmir among the giants themselves, was the founder of the race of frost giants and was later killed by the Borrs.-Etymology:...
" stalked Earth, bent on destroying humanity. As the war escalated, man and machine exchanged nuclear
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
and anti-matter weapons, leaving a once-lush world frozen in a thousand-year winter. Humanity now teeters on the brink of extinction. Earth's population is now only a few million sheltered in the walled enclave of Midgard
Midgard
Midgard is one of the Nine Worlds and is an old Germanic name for our world and is the home of Humans, with the literal meaning "middle enclosure".-Etymology:...
. The great sentient machines have prospered in the eternal winter. Humanity, however, is not alone. They pray to the Aesir and faithfully worship the great Organically Distributed Intelligence Network
Odin
Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....
. As protectors, it is the Aesir's duty to ensure humanity survives. Their cybernetically-enhanced bodies and minds make them far more powerful than mortals, and are properly revered as gods.
Characters
- Baldur, the youngest Aesir and ODINOdinOdin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....
's favorite son, and is the most beloved god amongst the humans. He is also the most seasoned warrior who understands the meaning of the Aesir, which makes him quite popular around AsgardAsgardIn Norse religion, Asgard is one of the Nine Worlds and is the country or capital city of the Norse Gods surrounded by an incomplete wall attributed to a Hrimthurs riding the stallion Svadilfari, according to Gylfaginning. Valhalla is located within Asgard...
. - HeimdallHeimdallIn Norse mythology, Heimdallr is a god who possesses the resounding horn Gjallarhorn, owns the golden-maned horse Gulltoppr, has gold teeth, and is the son of Nine Mothers...
, the “watchman” of the Aesir, whom no one would dare describe as "down to earth." Heimdall oversees all operations of the Aesir, making sure that each mission is planned and well-supplied. - FreyaFreyaIn Norse mythology, Freyja is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, war, and death. Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chariot driven by two cats, owns the boar Hildisvíni, possesses a cloak of falcon feathers, and, by her husband Óðr, is the mother...
, an adept of the ways of YggdrasilYggdrasilIn Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is an immense tree that is central in Norse cosmology. It was said to be the world tree around which the nine worlds existed...
, the World Tree. She spends much of her time communing with the spirits of CyberspaceCyberspaceCyberspace is the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.The term "cyberspace" was first used by the cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, though the concept was described somewhat earlier, for example in the Vernor Vinge short story "True...
. - ThorThorIn Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...
, the most revered warrior of the Aesir and Baldur's older brother. He is utterly fearless in battle. With his sentient hammer Mjolnir, Thor has become such an unrelenting opponent of the machines that they have begun to fear him. Over 95% of his body has been replaced by cybernetics. - LokiLokiIn Norse mythology, Loki or Loke is a god or jötunn . Loki is the son of Fárbauti and Laufey, and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. By the jötunn Angrboða, Loki is the father of Hel, the wolf Fenrir, and the world serpent Jörmungandr. By his wife Sigyn, Loki is the father of Nari or Narfi...
, a heavily-enhanced Aesir using Giant-based cybernetics. Although technically one of the Aesir, Loki’s blatant disobedience to ODIN and unnatural alliance with the machines make him much more enemy than ally. - Idunn, the Aesir's expert cyberneticist. Her Golden Apples—nanotechnologyNanotechnologyNanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
and molecular enhancements—make the Aesir immortal and superhuman. Without Idunn, the gods would simply be “too human.” - Tyr, the Aesir's master weapon and armorsmith. He maintains the Aesir's hundreds of thousands of variations of battle equipment and represents the “Old Guard” of the Aesir. He has an illustrious battle history spanning many centuries and is known for his exceptional bravery.
- ODINOdinOdin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....
(Organically Distributed Intelligence Network), the most powerful of the Aesir. He created the Aesir from flesh and cybernetics and infused them with the power of the Runes, thus saving humanity from certain destruction. He employs two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, which serve as the All-Father’s eyes. Through them, he watches all. - Hel, a gifted scientist and the daughter of Loki, She is the administrator of HelheimHelheim-Biography:Helheim was founded in 1992 by V’gandr and H’grimnir , who added drummer Hrymr. The band began performing in local Bergen festivals, and in 1993, the band released their debut demo, Helheim, distributed only within Norway.Soon after the release of their first demo, the band began...
, the smoke-filled necropolisNecropolisA necropolis is a large cemetery or burial ground, usually including structural tombs. The word comes from the Greek νεκρόπολις - nekropolis, literally meaning "city of the dead"...
where the dishonorable dead rot, and she is infected by both an incurable wasting disease and her father’s blasphemous nature.
Development history
Too Human was first announced in 1999 to be released on the original PlayStation with a first teaser showings during E3 that same year. Unlike its eventual format on the Xbox 360 as a single disc, the game was to be released across four CD-ROMCD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
s bundled together (a similar format to that of Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy VIII
is a role-playing video game released for the PlayStation in 1999 and for Windows-based personal computers in 2000. It was developed and published by Square as the Final Fantasy series' eighth title, removing magic point-based spell-casting and the first title to consistently use realistically...
released in 1999). Also, unlike the finished product, the plot, while involving the theme of human cybernetic enhancements, was to be set in the distant future of 2450 AD instead of the alternate science fiction take on Norse Mythology.
Development halted when Nintendo announced an exclusive partnership with Silicon Knights, and the game was moved to the Nintendo GameCube in 2000. Prototyping for the game took place on the GameCube, but the staff at Silicon Knights soon devoted their efforts towards two other releases, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem is a psychological horror action-adventure video game released for the Nintendo GameCube. Developed by Canadian developer Silicon Knights and originally planned for the Nintendo 64, it was first released and published by Nintendo on June 24, 2002 in North America...
and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes is a stealth action video game developed by Silicon Knights and Konami that was published in for the Nintendo GameCube video game console...
, with further news of Too Human becoming mute, without any indication of future development being announced until five years later in 2005.
Xbox 360 development
Development once again shifted to the Xbox 360 when Silicon Knights announced a partnership with Microsoft in May 2005, which included plans to develop Too Human into a trilogy. Despite initial development on the console, the game did not meet its original planned release date for “a 2006 holiday,” with development continuing for an additional two years.As well as releasing many other promotional videos Silicon Knights was also involved in the making of a fictional documentary
Mockumentary
A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...
titled, The Goblin Man of Norway. The film was reported to be produced by the "Norwegian Film Committee," and is in three parts, with each part being released sequentially. The first part—Excavation—relates the discovery of a high technology mechanical man possibly tens of thousands of years old found encased in a glacier. The second part, titled Examination, contains pictures of the discovery as well as a stone found nearby with a message of doom or curse runically inscribed. The third part, Exhibition, shows the release of the find to the public and includes reactions from various people as to the impact the technology could have on society.
The demo was released on Xbox Live
Xbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
on July 14, 2008 as part of the Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
"Bringing it Home" E3 Marketplace content. The demo includes the Champion class, and gameplay is restricted to part of a single level with cutscenes included, which is only playable in single player. The demo also featured an easter egg
Easter egg (media)
Image:Carl Oswald Rostosky - Zwei Kaninchen und ein Igel 1861.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Example of Easter egg hidden within imagerect 467 383 539 434 desc none...
where the Commando and Berserker classes become playable by setting the console date to 2009. Later, as of July 25, 2008 the Beserker became available for the demo without any clock modification, as did the Commando class later on August 11, 2008. On July 31, 2008 Microsoft announced that the Too Human demo exceeded 900,000 downloads. It said the demo has "been downloaded more than any other action demo on Xbox LIVE Marketplace in its first week of availability and [had] been one of the top played titles on Xbox LIVE overall."
Unreal Engine dispute
In May 2005, Silicon KnightsSilicon Knights
Silicon Knights is a Canadian video game developer. Founded in 1992 by Denis Dyack, the company is headquartered in St. Catharines, Ontario, Dyack's hometown....
and Epic Games
Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc., also known as Epic and formerly Epic MegaGames, is an American video game development company based in Cary, North Carolina. Its most recent success has been the Gears of War series of games, although it is also known for its Unreal Engine technology. It is the parent company of...
announced that Silicon Knights would be exclusively using Epic's Unreal Engine 3
Unreal Engine 3
Unreal Engine 3 is a computer game engine developed by Epic Games. It is the third generation of Unreal Engine, designed for DirectX 9/10/11 personal computers , the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation Vita, the Wii U, Android and OpenGL-based operating systems such as iOS and Mac OS X...
for all of their next-gen projects. Early development of the Xbox 360 incarnation of Too Human began on various incomplete versions of the engine, and their contract stated that Silicon Knights would receive a functional version of the engine no later than six months after the Xbox 360's development kits were finalized. In May 2006, two months after that deadline had passed, Too Human was presented by Denis Dyack
Denis Dyack
Denis Dyack is the founder and president of Silicon Knights, a video game developer. He founded Silicon Knights in 1992 after publishing Cyber Empires in 1991. He has a Bachelor of Physical Education Degree from Brock University...
at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, and was widely mocked by game journalists. In that same month, undoubtedly influenced by the show's response, which Dyack blamed on technical issues, Silicon Knights concluded that many aspects of the game engine were inadequate and/or unexplained, and therefore the engine was not functional. Pressed to continue the game's development or lose funding from Microsoft, and no longer willing to use Unreal Engine 3, but contractually prohibited from using anything else, Dyack made the decision to start rewriting portions of the engine's code so it would behave and deliver results in ways that Silicon Knights was more familiar with and expected. Eventually, Dyack came to the idea that if they were to alter the last remaining portions of unmodified code, it would become an entirely new game engine, which he called the Silicon Knights Engine. Since the contract with Epic stated that Silicon Knights would keep and own the rights to any changes or "improvements" they made to the engine, Dyack felt that he would not be prohibited from using an engine that was composed entirely of improvements, and he also felt that he wasn't obligated to pay for an engine he considered non-functional. On July 19, 2007, Silicon Knights sued Epic Games
Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc., also known as Epic and formerly Epic MegaGames, is an American video game development company based in Cary, North Carolina. Its most recent success has been the Gears of War series of games, although it is also known for its Unreal Engine technology. It is the parent company of...
due to "breach of contract", including "inadequacies" of Epic’s support, service, and cooperation with Silicon Knights concerning Unreal Engine 3. On August 9, 2007, Epic Games counter-sued Silicon Knights, claiming that it was using its engine as it pleased without any cost. If Epic wins the case, Silicon Knights will be forced to pay in excess of $650,000.
Reception
Upon the game's release, Too Human received a mediocre to fair reception from critics with an average review score of 68.45% at Game RankingsGame Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
, and 65 out of 100 at Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
.
The game's concept of mixing science fiction with Norse mythology was praised by critics with X-Play
X-Play
X-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits...
saying while it "sounds like a stretch", "on the whole, it works" where "the art direction manages to seamlessly blend the grandeur we think of with this mythology and make it come alive again with a healthy dose of futurism." GamerNode called it "a highly captivating beginning to an epic and meaningful tale about the ills of transhumanism." IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
found it to do "a great job of keeping you engrossed in the game". It found the game's audio to be its stronger part, calling the music and voice acting "top-notch". Graphically, GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
was most impressed with the environments that "feature excellent detail and lighting, with towering statues lording over the proceedings and shafts of light spilling onto mounds of snow." However it did note "each setting seems much like the last", with "stiff combat and facial animations [that] become more and more noticeable", a point Game Revolution
Game Revolution
Game Revolution or GR is a gaming website created in 1996. Based in Berkeley, California, the site includes reviews, previews, a gaming download area, cheats, and a merchandise store, as well as webcomics, screenshots, and videos...
echoed by stating "the game begins strongly with some stunning art design throughout the first level" before becoming too familiar. GamerNode noted, "Too Human's graphical presentation is not jaw-dropping in a technical sense, but the cinematography, artistic direction, and environment design work together to present players with awe-inspiring scenes, conveying a sense of magnitude that ties directly into the game's plot."
Response to the game's unconventional use of the right analog stick for combat was mixed. Some critics like GamePro
GamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
finding it to make the game more "slick", while Game Trailers called it "broken", linking it to button mashing. While Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
liked the idea, the change, it felt, made other aspects of the game worse, notably the camera control and lock-on system for projectile weaponry. In general, most critics dislike the analog stick configuration, arguing that it removes manual camera control.
A common criticism was directed at the death sequence where a Valkyrie collects the player's body as being too long. Official Xbox Magazine
Official Xbox Magazine
Official Xbox Magazine is a monthly video game magazine which started in November 2001 around the launch of the original Xbox. A preview issue was released for E3 2001, with another preview issue for November 2001. The magazine is bundled with a disc that includes game demos, preview videos and...
called it a “sheer annoyance”, with other critics like TeamXbox
TeamXbox
TeamXbox is a gaming media web site dedicated to Microsoft's Xbox and Xbox 360 platforms. While the majority of content is Xbox and Xbox 360 related, the site occasionally covers general technology and other video game news....
jokingly wondering the game's total play time if the sequence was skippable. Official Xbox Magazine UK however, while finding it "frustrating" felt that it prevented players from abusing the respawn system as result. Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
however felt the game's biggest problem was its relatively short length for its genre. As with other critics, 1UP
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
found the addition of cooperative multiplayer made the game more entertaining. While agreeing, Edge Magazine concluded "The irony is that many of Too Human's problems wouldn't exist if another pair of human players were allowed to enter the fold (as was originally intended)", referencing the previous feature of four player multiplayer being absent in the finished product. GameDaily
GameDaily
GameDaily was a video game journalism website based in the United States. Launched in 1995 by entrepreneur Mark Friedler under the name Gigex and focused on free game demo downloads, The site changed its business model from a flat fee per download CDN distributed service network to an...
called Too Human the "Underperformer of the Year" saying, "we expected the years of development time to turn out something better than this."
NPD Group
NPD Group
The NPD Group, Inc. is a leading North American market research company. The NPD Group consistently ranks among the top 25 market research companies in the independent Honomichl Top 50 report, which the media and the research industry acknowledge as a credible source of information on the market...
reports that the game sold approximately 168,200 copies during the month of August 2008 in North America; it was the 8th best-selling game in the region during that time. Too Human "sold around 700,000 units" quoted from Denis Dyack in a Joystiq interview.