Too Human is a success to loot lovers everywhere.
I have a few questions to ask you before I begin the review. These questions will figure out if you, the reader, would love this game. Do you love constantly upgrading loot despite being level capped? Can you deal with the same small array of enemy types over and over? Is spending time with a friend complaining about an unskippable death scene your idea of fun? If so, Too Human is for you.
Pros
- A large array of loot.
- Fairly simple fighting mechanic that makes killing a breeze.
- Co-op is seamless and enjoyable.
Cons
- No way to show off your awesome gear.
- Some cheap deaths. (Sorry I couldn't avoid the rocket, I was frozen!)
- Death has no penalty, which gives no motivation to exceeding your ability to play well.
- Story is confusing.
First thing you'll think about when you pick up this game is how the story is. Well if you love cybernetic tales featuring your favorite Norse gods, characters, and lore then you might just love this even more. Not being a fan of the history, and playing mostly co-op the entire twenty hours I have logged it's very easy to dismiss the plot. (Especially since co-op does away with any cinematics or chattering ally soldiers.)
The gameplay is very simple to one who has some experience but newcomers may be confused. Combat is initiated via the right thumbstick; swinging toward an enemy will hit them. Flicking towards an enemy will pop them into the air for a juggle. Using both thumbsticks in the direction of an enemy at close range will do a strong finisher, and a far away enemy will have Baldur (the main character) shooting a blue damaging beam. At your disposal are a couple basic moves (jumping, rolling, aiming/shooting, camera control). Then there are your Ruiners, a wide and powerful attack that can be combined with other moves (called a 2 in 1) and hits a mass amount of enemies. More abilities exist depending on your class and specialization.
Classes; 5 to choose from. Bioengineer is the healing class mediocre in combat, Commando is exceptional in ranged, Champion is an rounded fighter, Defender is the damage taker, and Berserker can destroy enemies but dies extremely fast. Each class has different "trees" (abilities that branch), and every character after the first level has the choice of Human or Cybernetic which is an additional tree also determining the type of gear you wear. Humans are the combo lovers, and Cybernetic are the damage dealers.
But lots of customization would be nothing without the items to customize. A large amount await you in Too Human, and finding yourself still awake at 3 AM will not be surprising when there is much to do. At a level cap of 50 (about 20-30 hours of gameplay) the real replayability comes in the form of always trying to exceed that last piece of loot -- no matter how good it is.
Although I assume you want to know about the co-op. It's seamless and amazing. You immediately get to avoid all story which is great. Hanging out with a friend is never more fun, but it's a shame you have no way of showing off your character except to those friends you play with. In my 20 hours of co-op I had only one minor hiccup in the framerate. Leaderboards round out the game with questionable comparisons. Why would I care who has the most combos? Why not leaderboards for who beat chapter 4 and not dieing? No leaderboards for speed runs? Missed opportunity.
If you liked this review please leave some feedback. Or even if you hate it; I can do with criticism.
