"Too Human is unique and in a class of its own" according to one of the developers, then how come it looks near identical to Hellgate:London? PC360Wii
The similarities between these two games are often pounced upon by those raring to bash Too Human. However, the argument that Too Human will be mediocre because Hellgate: London was is highly fallacious for more than a few reasons.
First and foremost amongst these are the implied reasons that Hellgate: London was less than stellar. Those taking potshots at Too Human in this manner imply that Hellgate was bad because it did not get the Diablo formula right. However, Hellgate was, for all intents and purposes, only consistently criticized for two things: horrid bugs and randomized dungeons. * Indeed, the gameplay was praised across the board, most especially the RPG aspects of it. Thus, if Too Human lacks these problems and produces no others, it can be assumed that it will, indeed, be a very good game.
Versus
Second, even if Hellgate were mediocre due to its gameplay itself, Too Human is different enough to merit not lumping the two together. First, its combat is very different, and, though it lacks the depth of, for example, Ninja Gaiden's combat system, it has far more depth than that of the point-and-click and hack'n'slash of Hellgate and even Diablo, complete with juggling a la Devil May Cry alongside smooth transitions between melee and ranged combat. This is complemented by the loot-gathering and skill-building aspect of the game rather than overshadowed by them, as was the case in Diablo and Hellgate. For example, if you were to choose to go down the Cybernetic rather than Human skill tree, your weapons would grant you special combat abilities (known as ruiners, which are powerful offensive spells) that vary by weapon (including radius, intensity, direction, and elemental properties) that are utilized in a manner that would not have been available to you had you gone down the Human path. Another such example is the way in which the numerous kinds of melee and ranged weapons are used. In Diablo, axes, swords, spears, etc. were, for all intents and purposes, the same. One might have given you a bit more reach, another may have been consistently faster, and another may normally do more damage, but, outside of the stats themselves, there was little real difference between the weapon types. In Too Human, however, there are three major weapon types each for ranged and melee attacks, each of which has three basic permutations under which all other weapons fall (e.g. the cannon group has laser, plasma, and slug types), each one of which offers a very different experience. Hammers, for example, toss enemies up into the air, opening them up to mid-air juggling (which boosts your combo meter) while swords allow you to utilize the sliding mechanic to "ping-pong" off of foes and, thus, effectively handle large groups.
Third, and most amusing, of the implications given by the Too Human bashers is the fact that, because one game in Too Human's genre failed, Too Human will as well. One of the following is stellar, the other is not.
Yet they are both in the same genre. Who'da thunk?
In conclusion: comparisons between Hellgate and Too Human are largely unfounded.
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*GamespyGamespot
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