Too Human Preview

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April 16, 2007 - Denis Dyack, the president of development studio Silicon Knights, has held his arm in a bucket full of ice for hundreds of days. Were this literally true, the appendage would have become frost-bitten and useless months ago, but we mean this figuratively -- as if that's any consolation for Dyack, who is also the director of the software house's forthcoming epic Xbox 360 trilogy, Too Human. The ice bucket is actually a metaphor for the suck-it-up-and-buckle-down attitude that Silicon Knights has clung to as a defense mechanism since its showing of Too Human at the Electronics Entertainment Expo last year -- an unveiling that was by some accounts a mistake and by others an outright disaster. The result was a tidal wave of backlash and through all the criticisms by media and all the verbal lashings by fans and skeptics, there was the ice bucket -- cold as a bitter storm.

Storms do, though, eventually pass, and plenty of games with poor first showings have gone on to become outstanding final products. Take, for example, a little title called Halo, which looked clunky and unpolished in its early state, but sure came together in the end. Now add in the fact that Silicon Knights has a proven track record. It created the Legacy of Kain franchise. It delivered one of the highest-rated GameCube titles, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, to Nintendo fans. And it even worked alongside the legendary Hideo Kojima when it developed Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes.

In Too Human, you play as the cybernetically-enhanced god Baldur.
It's a cold day in Ontario, Canada, as we stream into a high-tech theater hidden within Silicon Knights' St. Catherines headquarters. We take our seats in the front row and several Too Human team leaders sit quietly in the back of the space, eager to watch us as we play and ultimately learn what we think of the latest demo. After a year of waiting, this is make or break time and that simple truth has everybody, us included, a bit on edge. Everyone seems optimistic, but there's always doubt, especially when you've got something to prove. "When you're told for more than a year that your game sucks, you actually start to wonder," Dyack once said and we're sure that somewhere behind the excitement in his eyes -- perhaps in the very back of his mind -- he's wondering if we're going to love or hate this mega-project. The lights dim and the Silicon Knights logo appears on the oversized projection screen in front of us. We watch as a futuristic aircraft carves through a heavy snowstorm and Silicon Knights' god hero, Baldur, is reborn.

Gods, Machines and Men
Norse mythology is the backbone for Too Human. To create the game, Silicon Knights dug deep into the ancient Eddas and found its heroes and its villains buried within. These works, written hundreds of years ago, tell of gods, of giants, and of monsters. You may recognize the god of thunder, Thor, whose mighty hammer unleashed thunderclaps. However, you have probably never heard of Baldur. He is the pretty boy of gods by some definitions and maybe not the ideal choice for a warrior hero. He is said to represent goodness, joy, forgiveness and peace, but in Too Human he carries a big sword, wields two powerful guns, and he's out to destroy anyone or anything that gets in his way.

Norse mythology is the backbone of the game's storyline. Here, we can see a temple to the Tree of Life, which is in Too Human a doorway to cyberspace.
"[Why not go with] some of the cooler gods?" jokes Dyack when we ask him why Silicon Knights chose Baldur as the protagonist of its epic story. "You know, I think that's a really good question and the answer to that comes out in the story. Right now, it might seem like a bad choice, but I feel pretty confident that by the time the story comes full circle, people will think it was absolutely the best choice."

That leaves a lot to the imagination and Dyack is even less forthcoming about the nitty-gritty details of Too Human's storyline. Although we got to play a 15-minute demo of the game in a much more advanced state than it was at E3, and we saw new story-related cinematics, we were barred from beginning the game at its legitimate starting point. Why? Dyack would only say that the story itself starts off as one of discovery. "You're in the role of Baldur, but you're trying to discover what exactly is going on and why the machines are attacking man."

Don't miss our IGN Weekly episode; footage and an SK studio visit included.

Everything you know (or don't know) about Norse mythology is recreated or re-imagined in Too Human. The Yggdrasil, also known as the Tree of Life, is featured in the game as an all-encapsulating cyberspace gateway to certain regions and peoples. The gods of old have become cybernetically-enhanced super beings -- the protectors of mankind. The giants and monsters exist as the machines, which seek for some reason to destroy men. And even the Norns -- the Weird Sisters who lived beneath the roots of the Tree of Life in the mythos -- are recreated in Too Human as the Non-Organic Rational Nano Systems. In a cut-scene, Baldur connects to cyberspace by staring into what can best be described as a temple to the Tree of Life, and somewhere within cyberspace the Norns are waiting for him. One of the sisters is incidentally incredibly voluptuous and sexy. "[The factions] all have their own agendas," Dyack explains.

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Too Human doesn't take place in the future, but the distant past. The game asks the question, what if the Norse gods weren't simply legend, but real? And on top of that, what if the civilization wasn't primitive, but advanced well beyond our own society? The Aesir has become Aesir Corp and even as gods like Thor don seemingly classic armor and attire, they wear cybernetic enhancements, wield sophisticated weapons and fall from drop-ships in electronically-charged pods. The world is stuck in an ice age that has presumably been brought about by the misuse of weapons of mass destruction, although Silicon Knights won't comment to that. To save mankind from the machines, you must become more than human. "The story is called Too Human because all the other gods are constantly telling you that you're not upgraded enough, that you're too human, and so you need to upgrade yourself in order to compete against the menace of machines," says Dyack.

All of the cut-scenes are handled by the game in-engine.
Some of the few cinematics previewed to us offer a deeper glimpse into the storyline and give hints that something bad has preceded it. Baldur has apparently suffered some kind of mishap and is recovering from it. It takes about a minute of research into Norse mythology to discover what these instances could be referring to, but we don't want to spoil it for you so look it up at your own risk. The demo we saw focused on one particular tale that exists beyond traditional mythos -- actually, it comes from Beowulf. Baldur is on the trail of a beast known as Grendel, except it's no beast at all; rather, it's a machine with a taste for human blood. (Dyack said they included this literary reference in the game as an homage to its director of content, Ken McCulloch, whose nickname is Grendel.)

During a cut-scene, Baldur and another god chat as a giant machine arm floats in a holographic display before them. "You said it consumed one of the bar's patrons?" asks the god, to which Baldur responds: "Yes. It bit a man's head off and appeared to drink blood from his neck. Why would a machine do that?" We learn of all this through a seamless transition from gameplay to cinematic, which transpires without load times. As Baldur explores an atmospheric environment and fights machines, occasional flashbacks separate the action and explain why he and a team of humans are on the expedition in the first place. Even during flashbacks, you still contain control of Baldur. Dyack believes that this careful flow of story and gameplay, neither of which interrupts the other, is "speaking the language of film" and aspiring to engulf gamers in a smarter experience that goes beyond the videogame norm. In another cut-scene, Baldur and Thor search a snowy wasteland for the remains of an ancient war machine known as Jormungander, also called the world serpent. In Norse mythos, the serpent is a beast, but in Too Human it has become a robotic monstrosity. The parallels are represented at every turn.

A dynamic camera system takes control away from the player and shoots for movie-style auto-angles.
Open World, Different Classes
Too Human is ceaselessly compared to God of War, which seems unfair because one is an all-out action endeavor and the other is one part action and part RPG. There are linearly designed levels in Too Human, but what you may not realize is that the game is centered in a gigantic hub world, Aesir. It is from this enormous area, which spans a full skyline complete with an orbital string (an elevator into space), that Baldur is able to explore the city or enter into missions. This hub world has been created hand-in-hand with Too Human's ambitious four-player cooperative mode, which can be played over Xbox Live.

"With Too Human, we're trying to seamlessly integrate multiplayer with the single-player. If you're really going to do that, you should be able to jump in any time, anywhere and go on a 15-minute mission with friends or play five or six hours straight if you want to. In order to do that, the world has to be pretty open and hub-based so you can jump anywhere and come back very much like Diablo."

Silicon Knights didn't show us this hub world or offer too many specifics about it, but we've been able to gleam from screenshots and concept art that there are great halls and at least one cybernetics center which may assist Baldur in building weapons that he can later use.

The cooperative mode runs deeper than you may have guessed because Silicon Knights has really thought about how different character classes can be utilized in a team structure. As you begin the experience, you choose your class, which plays an integral role in how you progress through the adventure. There are five initial classes to choose from (with more on the way as downloadable content), and we've listed them below along with official descriptions verbatim from the game.

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The Bioengineer: "A master of cybernetics as well as mundane combat, the Bioengineer repairs damage sustained on the battlefield. He increases health bonuses for himself and his allies enabling them to take the fight directly into the heart of the enemy."; the Commando: "Favoring technological gadgetry and standoff methods of warfare, the Commando specializes in the use of mines, countermeasures, demolitions and rifles. Able to support his allies through long range, harrying tactics, the Commando is truly a force to be reckoned with."; the Champion: "The Champion represents Odin's divine force of retribution. A strong warrior able to deal out a wide variety of caustic force field and anti-gravity based effects, increasing the combat effectiveness of his allies. One-handed weapons are the Champion's chosen tools of combat."; the Defender: "With the blessings of Odin and runes of protection, the Defender is the backbone of the Aesir's defense. Heavy armor enables the Defender to absorb a tremendous amount of damage, leaving his allies to take the battle to the enemy unharried."; the Beserker: "The Beserker delights in the fury of close combat, forgoing defensive strategy in order to adopt all-out offense. Adopting a twin-blade fighting style and infused with the spirit of the bear, a Beserker will wade into battle for the glory of Odin."

Gods like Thor, seen on the far left, are featured in Too Human.

So imagine if you will a four-player cooperative game with each person choosing a different class. Theoretically, a Defender would lead the party, taking damage from the first wave of attacks. With the first strike from machines carried out, the Beserker could break from cover and pound out fatal strikes onto enemies, knocking them into the air, at which point the anti-gravity-enhanced Champion could take flight and continue the strike, swiping enemies over and over even while hovering above the ground. If any party member takes severe damage, that's where the Bioengineer comes in handy, as he's able to make repairs to hurt characters. It is your classic RPG experience, except handled real-time during combat. You begin to see the potential.

Dyack says that the single-player mode is balanced differently from the cooperative one to ensure that players get a challenging experience regardless of whether they are advancing alone or with friends. Furthermore, the cooperative mode has been built so that friends can jump in or out at any point and the game will change dynamically to reflect the additions and minuses respectively.

According to Dyack, gamers who didn't play the original Too Human will still be able to jump into the sequel with a generic, automatically generated Baldur who fits statistically within the universe. However, he won't be nearly as decked out or as customized as the versions of Baldur imported from the previous game by players who made it through the first adventure.

Mimir, who is hacked limb from limb, is able to access schematics and blueprints useful to the gods.

Silicon Knights hopes to extend the life of the franchise with added extras distributed over Xbox Live. Not just additional character upgrades, either. Says Dyack: "We may want to do some things like give people some interesting armor sets and there's actually a possibility of enhancing much more beyond that, but I think I'm going to save that for later." Pressed, he adds: "The game's been built around the idea of being able to download things. I think with such a cooperative heavy game, that's a must." And there is a very real possibility that you'll be able to download brand new missions for the title at one point, too.

Loot, Experience, and the Skill Tree
Enemies have experience points, which can be toggled to display on or off depending upon player preferences. If you're an RPG nut, you'll probably want to see the numbers and if not you'd probably prefer the system remain invisible. When enemies are destroyed, they also drop loot - weapons, blueprints, modules -- which Baldur can use in combination with experience to upgrade his own abilities. You access a standard inventory screen and apply the new upgrades to the character and they immediately enhance his ability and his look. However, you won't be able to max out your hero in a matter of minutes. Too Human is designed as a trilogy and Baldur will progress from level 1 to 50 over the course of the first game alone. How you manage your skills and direct your tree will ultimately influence the character that Baldur becomes.

"The skill tree is probably the most complex one we've seen out there and if anything we're a bit concerned that maybe it's too complex. It's got a lot of options and we don't want to overwhelm people with it. The fear of that is that we want this to be accessible to everyone, but our one relief is that when World of Warcraft came out and was so widely accepted with its skill trees, that set us at ease a bit. We said, 'okay, people can deal with this stuff,'" says Dyack. "Thee skill trees include just about everything. You can make different choices and certain trees will occur. They're meant to allow for certain specialization and customization. So, as an example, you will not be able to max out everything - you're going to have to make choices. A human Defender will be different from another human Defender depending upon the choices you make. Very different from a cybernetic Defender. There's going to be lots of choices to make. For instance, how many points do you want to put into the spider?"

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The director takes us a little deeper into the system with a couple of examples. "Let's say you choose a Defender and suddenly you have a skill tree for the class. When you level up, you'll get five points into, say, your armor factor, which will mean that every time you're hit you'll take less damage because your armor efficiency has increased. You could put more points into your hammer and shield to again decrease your defense. You could also put points into a Ruiner, as an example, which is a special move related to the Defender; he can unleash this attack that will either stun enemies or reduce their armor. By putting more skill points into the tree, you start to unlock new moves and abilities. We think it's pretty robust and people will like it," he elaborates.

According to Dyack, the characters are completely customizable. "There are 25 epic suits, but there are lots of combinations - crazy numbers. It's so insane. I can't remember the specifics, but it's in the millions. We'll never exhaust all those. There's no way everyone will have a chance to exhaust all those. I think the closest thing I can think of are games like Diablo or Titan's Quest, where you pick classes and then when you level up you put points in certain skills and it does significantly change the gameplay. Now in those games, they do it only on the statistical basis, but we're trying to merge these genres. So imagine those kinds of aspects but having it also affect your gameplay," he says. "So we have things that increase your hover time, the damage of your sword, the damage of your two-handed staffs or whatever you're going to be playing with. But we will also do things like increasing knock-back. I think people are going to find it very different from what's been out there."

In this flashback, Baldur learns of Grendel, a machine which drinks the blood of men.

Combat
With Too Human, Silicon Knights is treading on unproven ground where the game's combat system is concerned. Rather than employing a dual-analog movement and camera system, the game's camera is handled automatically (and very cinematically) by the game engine, freeing up the second analog stick for projectile and melee attacks depending on what type of weapon is selected. It's a configuration that doesn't feel immediately intuitive, in our experience, but grows on you the more you have at it. The Xbox 360 controller's left analog stick still handles movement of Baldur, but if he's fighting enemies up close, you'll merely press the right thumbstick in different directions to perform various sword swipes. You needn't tap the stick to swing the blade repeatedly, either -- you can simply hold the angle you want and Baldur will continue to unleash attacks. The system lacks the tactile punch of hitting buttons to perform a series of melee attacks, but it holds promise for gamers normally unable to engage in combat and simultaneously control a camera. The real advantage of the directional slicing mechanic becomes more and more evident as Baldur jumps into the air and slashes a series of combos into enemies. In our limited play time with the game, we never became masters, but we did have fun trying.

The second, more immediately accessible function of the combat is projectile fights - gunplay, in other words. Here, you simply hold down the left or right triggers to fire Baldur's left or right-handed guns respectively. The system will automatically attempt to lock onto the nearest enemy in your vision cone, but you can toggle between enemies simply by using the stick to turn left or right. You will find that in practice the combat system enables fast cycling of projectile and melee weapons. You'll launch Baldur airborne, deal out heavy sword slashes and then shoot enemies with both guns even as you fall back to the ground. There is a lot of potential. There are combos to be had depending upon the placement of the two sticks, too. For example, if you point one stick toward an enemy and then pull the other down, you'll be able to stab your sword into a machine, grab it by the neck and throw it to the ground.

"If I was to describe how the combat really works the best, people need to think about Geometry Wars. Geometry Wars for shooting and melee combat is the best example because that's essentially the most similar control scheme I've seen out there," says Dyack. "I love that game. It's obviously a simple and great shooter, but the controls are very straightforward. That's essentially what we're doing with the melee and firearm combat in Too Human. If you think about it that way, you can pick it up really quickly."

Silicon Knights is adding flair to these combat scenes with dynamic camera angles that shoot the action differently depending on what Baldur is doing. If he's engaged in melee, the camera will zoom closer, a depth of field blur will fade the background, and the immediate enemies will become the focus. If, on the other hand, he's gunning down foes, the view will pan back to reveal a greater selection of the game world. In addition, certain special moves will trigger a cinematic angle and a bullet-time effect that slows the action in order to separate the sequences from regular combat.

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In addition to these more traditional melee and projectile combat scenes, Baldur will be able to ride atop some machines and stab downward into them with his blade, as seen in some of the first footage of Too Human released. These moves were not at all demonstrated to us in the latest demo, however, which illustrates the point that we saw only a small fraction of what will ultimately be in the final project.

It's functional, it's fun, but so far it lacks the graphic umph that we would like to see accompany the combat scenes, especially since they play such an integral role to the game. The issues include a camera that doesn't always work as it's supposed to - every so often Baldur will turn toward the screen and it will take a moment before the engine rights itself to the appropriate behind-the-back angle again. In addition, some of the transitional animations are lacking. Silicon Knights' hero sometimes comes to a stop on a dime or switches directions altogether with no sense of momentum. There are a few key collision detection extras that we'd like to see introduced to really drive the point home that Baldur is really tearing into or bashing apart the machines he encounters. And finally, the fluidity, which drops below 30 frames per second, should be locked.

The character models are extremely detailed.
So will these issues be addressed?

"Yeah, that's why we put that disclaimer on the video you released," jokes Dyack. "I think it's fair enough to say there are a lot of things to fix. Animation is one of them. Framerate, obviously. We haven't even started to optimize it yet and when we start to optimize it, I say with confidence that we're going to hit a solid 30 frames per second."

Mimir accompanies Baldur and Thor on an expedition.
The 100-man team working on Too Human continues to pound away on the project. We ask Dyack the big question, which is, of course, when will the game be released? This, though, is one question he cannot answer. He won't even give us a hint. But perhaps more than he has been since E3, Silicon Knights' president is optimistic about the future of the game and the franchise. "I can say that with the release of the IGN Weekly video and the positive response, the ice bucket is over," he says, but, he is quick to add that development of Too Human rages on. "I think, as well, that the work is certainly not done."

Although nobody wants to give us a straight answer on the release date, Microsoft guru Ken Lobb did not entirely dismiss the possibility that Too Human could release this year. Asked how Microsoft could possibly delay three science-fiction games in one year - Halo 3, Mass Effect in Too Human - Lobb surprised us by saying that the titles were, despite the sci-fi label, entirely different in nature. He also said that if any company could market the games to the appropriate audiences, Microsoft could. After its Crackdown coup, we're inclined to agree.

Above: A look at the hub world of Aesir.
Stay tuned for a bit more on Too Human later this week, including a riveting story sequence cinematic in its entirety. Until then, tune into our media section for new screenshots.