1st Impressions: Too Human is a solid action dungeon crawler that is repetitive, but fun with friends
The Bad: Get's repetitive pretty quickly, camera has some issues, some graphical hiccups occur, no storyline while in co-op, you will die a lot and that can become quite frustrating.
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Usually, when a game has been in development as long as Too Human has, it either means one of two things: either they were making the game amazing, or they had to rush it out because they were taking too long. The later seems to be the case with this one, which was originally planned for the Playstation before becoming a 360 exclusive, but it still turned out to be a solid action dungeon crawler with great online co-op.
You play as Baldur, a cybernetic Norse "god" who is sent to defeat the enemies of the "gods". Just because you can only be one character doesn't mean that you won't have customization options. First off, you pick your class, which changes how you want to play the game. Each class has a speciality, so make sure you read all of the descriptions carefully before making a desision. Aside from your class, you also have the choice to follow the cybernetic path or the human path. Again, both of these have their advantages and disadvantages, so make sure you know which one you want before choosing. You also choose what items and equipment your character uses by gathering them from fallen enemies and treasure spires.
The gameplay of Too Human is essencially a combination of a dungeon crawler such as Diablo with Dynasty Warriors and a bit of the narrative from Mass Effect. You have a skill tree and inventory system similar to a dungeon crawler that adds some depth, but the skill tree is too shallow for a game of this type. I'm only level 20 and have already gotten through most the entire skill tree and am now just leveling up existing skills. It's an interesting fuzion of game consepts that works for the most part, but has it's share of problems. First off, you control your melee attacks using the right analog stick, which is cool except that you can't ajust the camera, which can often get in the way in the middle of a fight. Also,in order to attack you basically have to spin the stick around until you find something that works. There is no explanation on how to use the stick to attack or how to pull off each kind of attack. The gun controls are pretty simple. Fire with the right trigger, alternate fire with the left and switch targets by moving the left stick. Like Dynasty Warriors, you will often be surrounded by a ton of enemies and will have to either pick them off from a distance or swing your melee weapon willy nilly and hope that you can take them down. The only real variety in the gameplay comes in boss fights, mini boss fights, which are pretty frequent, and non combat sequences which play similarly to a scaled down version of Mass Effect. It is a pretty repetitive game, so if you don't like that aspect, this might not be a good choice. It can also be very frustrating. Enemies will often swarm around you and cause you to die, a lot. I've died over 100 times and it's not because I'm a bad player, it's because the enemies become more powerful as you do.
If you are willing to see past the repetitiveness, you will enjoy the action and narrative that Too Human has to offer. You can also experience the co-op mode online. Nothing beats beating the crap out of a ton of enemies with a buddy by your side. Unfortunately, none of the storyline cutscenes activate during co-op, so my recomendation would be to make both a single player and co-op character so you can enjoy both.
The visuals of Too Human are solid, but nothing extremely noteworthy. I encountered several instances of graphical hiccups and the character models aren't that amazing looking. It is noteworthy that Too Human is running off of a new engine created by Silicon Knights because of their lawsuit against Epic Games, creators of the Unreal Engine 3. The sound effects and voice acting are solid and the musical score is very well done.
Overall, Too Human is a solid co-op action game that fans of dungeon crawlers and hack and slash games will definately get a kick out of. It has it's share of problems, but it's still a solid action game that is worth at least renting if not purchasing.
Gameplay: Dungeon crawling meets hack and slash in this interesting mash up of styles.
Graphics: Decent visuals with occasional hiccups and ok looking character models.
Sound: Solid sound effects and voice acting but a really good musical score.
Value: This one might be one of those games where it's worth waiting for a price drop, unless you really like the gameplay style and want a good co-op game. At the very least, it's worth a rental.
Final Thoughts: By Oden, it's not too bad!