Achievement Unlocked 08.22.08: The One About Too Human

Posted by Rod Oracheski on 08.22.2008

In a week made short by other obligations, 411mania's Rod Oracheski gets some questions answered about Silicon Knight's recently released title: Too Human, takes a look at the NHL 09 Achievement list, and delivers word on a few upcoming PS3 titles now slated to receive Trophies - along with two that won't.



Running short this week thanks to a parade of NHL stars and hopefuls. No, not the annual battle between NHL 09 and NHL 2K9 (though that's coming very soon) but a hockey camp a friend throws every year that has celebrity instructors. I did manage to get some gaming questions asked (and answered) though, hopefully I'll be able to collate all that when the camp's wrapped up - so if you've ever wanted to know what Georges Laraque thinks of video game fighting, check back next week.


I also got in touch with Silicon Knights, who shipped Too Human this week. If you've been living under a rock and not surfing various Internet forums, it's an action-RPG title that's been tickling in the back of their minds for about a decade.

The game has a Norse-mythology theme that recounts, or at least starts to, the most epic of stories: Ragnarok, the death of the gods. Expect a review next week, but for now let's hope these answers will keep you occupied:

411mania: Cinematics are becoming a bone of contention these days. Action gamers often feel they're being taken out of the game because of cutscenes, while RPG gamers tend to feel a game that lacks cutscenes also lacks story. Putting out a title that blends both RPG and action genres, was finding a balance to your storytelling a major issue for your team and, if so, how was it overcome?

Silicon Knights: It is always difficult to strike a balance of everything that suits everyone. At Silicon Knights we have directors for five areas of focus: Story (Content), Art, Game Design, Technology and Audio. It is the responsibility of directors in each discipline to make sure their area is represented properly in the game. We try to strike a balance between each area equally.


411mania: Starting a trilogy, regardless of the medium, is a risky venture.
You can't wrap up every storyline element in the first iteration, needing to leave some plot threads open for the sequels, but will also raise the ire of 'the Internet' if you don't wrap up enough of the plot. In all this you have to - once again - find a pleasing balance.
What's your take on where Too Human leaves the story, and do you feel people will be happy with what's resolved and what's not?

Silicon Knights: Yes, but this is always hard to tell. We are happy with it and that is a start ϑ. We feel the story is self-contained in the first game, but does have plot lines that spill over to the rest of the trilogy. We do wrap everything up that is introduced in the first hour of the story.


411mania: Norse mythology is a deep well that video games haven't drawn from often in the past, though a tide of recent games has begun to reverse that trend. What drew Silicon Knights to Norse mythology?

Silicon Knights: We focused on Norse Mythology because the gods are not immortal. They know the end of the world is coming, and rather than try to escape their fates they meet it with a grim determination. This mythos works very well with the themes we are focusing on with technology and its effects on society. Technology has changed us, and it is too late to reset the clock.


411mania: The switch from four-player to two-player co-op play was a change that many detractors, even ones that haven't played the game in either form, are still hanging on. Is there a chance we'll see four-player, or even three-player, make an appearance as a title update or in future titles?

Silicon Knights: Yes this is very possible.


411mania: It seems, based on feedback in various forums, that many gamers 'come around' to liking the demo after trying it for a second time and getting a better understanding of how the mechanics work. Were you worried going into the demo release that people wouldn't give it a chance to win them over? Were there people on staff - testers, etc... who experienced the same 'breaking in' period with relation to the controls?

Silicon Knights: "Too Human" has a new and innovative control scheme combined with a very different camera system. People who try to put the game into a box that they are immediately familiar with will have problems at first. However, given time we feel that people will come around. This is why the demo was released and had about one hour's worth of game play. We are confident in the game's design and control scheme. It is good to see people come around and get such positive responses from the demo. To date, the demo has been downloaded more than 1 million times.


411mania: The game has a surprising amount of control complexity for being 'just' a twin stick system - how much of that was in the initial design versus being added in during the development process?

Silicon Knights: The initial prototype only had point the stick in one direction. We wanted the basic combat to be fun and responsive at its core. The game's controls' complexity was added slowly as the design progressed to be simple, but deep. This was a careful balancing process that Henry Sterchi (Director of Design) and the design crew worked on for a very long time.


411mania: This is one of a handful of games this generation that eschew 'traditional' control schemes to focus on stick-based systems, with another being the NHL series. When that franchise made the switch with the 2006 release of NHL 07, complaints rained down from gamers who claimed they "couldn't" or "wouldn't" learn the new controls. Did that kind of refusal to try new things worry you, or did you trust gamers to be a more resilient lot than they thought themselves to be?

Silicon Knights: It is always a concern when you introduce something new. However, this genre has not really been introduced on consoles before, and unlike the NHL series, we don't have an established fan base yet, as it is a new IP with new controls. In the end it works, and we feel that gamers will like what we have created.


411mania: The word is the trilogy will be completed on the Xbox 360. How long until we see the sequel that I'm guessing is subtitled Rise of the Giants?

Silicon Knights: We are not talking about the other parts in the trilogy yet.


411mania: While we wait for a sequel, are there plans for DLC? If so, how substantial are we talking - new weapons and armour, or entirely new zones to battle in?

Silicon Knights: We have some great plans for DLC, but nothing to announce yet. Sorry.


411mania: As a Canadian-based development company, what do you think of the current state of the industry in Canada? Thoughts on the future?

Silicon Knights: Canada is a great place to develop games. We have a vast array of talented people in Canada and our cultural diversity allows us to resonate to gamers worldwide.

In other news that's not really Achievement related, OK - maybe a little, Alone in the Dark will apparently be getting a patch to fix about half the things wrong with it - including pausing the game while you're checking your inventory. Maybe when it's fixed you'll want to play it and get the Achievements - maybe not.

In actual Achievement news, Cliff Bleszinski (just so you know, Cliff - that's way harder to spell than Cliffy B) announced today at X08 here in Canada that the famed 'Seriously...' Achievement from Gears of War will have a successor in the game's sequel. Apparently called 'Seriously 2.0' this Achievement will call for 100,000 kills - not the 10,000 the first required. In happy news for offline gamers, the Achievement will tally your kills from those in single player, along with co-op, instead of from online games like the first one did.

In other actual Achievement news, the NHL 09 Achievement list is out and let me be the first to say it's CRAP if you're an offline gamer. Even if you're an online gamer, it kind of sucks since it leads to all kinds of boosting and whiners wanting you to take it easy on them so they can get [x] Achievement. I know EA wants to push their online leagues, and bravo for really taking a step forward with those by the way, but do it some other way.


A few games were confirmed to have Trophy support this week, including HAWX, Borderlands, EndWar, Call of Duty: World at War, and Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon. Some of those might see them at launch, while others get them added in down the road.

A couple also fell into the 'not going to happen' file, namely the new Prince of Persia, as well as Spider Man: Web of Shadows. Too late in the development cycle, apparently.



Been playing Too Human pretty solidly for the last two days and I have to say that I have no clue how this game would get a 5.5 unless it completely falls off the tracks in the last few hours. The graphics are good, sometimes great - sometimes just average. The sound, particularly the low-end in explosions is well done - even the voice acting for a script that's sometimes a bit odd.

But the real hook is the gameplay. It's a strange mix of dashing about wildly swinging your sword and then carefully going over all your precious loot to try and squeeze a few more points of damage or armour on to your character sheet. I've played a Commando up to 38 now, playing through the first three levels of the game and then going into the co-op for hours. Yesterday I had that 'OMG it's FOUR A.M.' panic - the first time a game's had that much 'just one more time' appeal in quite some time.

I was late writing this today because of Too Human, in fact. I always put off doing my column until the last hour or so before it goes up, never really knowing what to write about unless something big has happened that week, and on this occasion I was killing that time by playing Too Human with a friend over Live. I was going to quit and get to work when...IT...happened.

My first red drop - an Epic Rune, it turns out. Procs a special effect that leaves a toxic sludge pile under its victims. Can't wait to get that thing into use...

I plan on taking a melee class up to the higher levels before doing the final review, but I can tell you this - try the demo. Then try it a second time, and hopefully you've let go of your 'but the right stick is SUPPOSED to be the camera' notions by then. I liken it to the switch in the NHL series, when they went to the two-stick approach. It took me 10 games to get it to 'click' in my head, while some people just couldn't get the knack of it at all. Too Human is like that. But give it a chance, because - like NHL's skill sticks - it's definitely worth the effort.

Of course it should go without saying that if you're not a fan of the dungeon-crawling lootfest style of games, you probably won't like this one. Maybe you will, given the more action-based offense you'll find here, but it's not a genre that's for everyone.

Until next week, I'm out.