Neither hide nor hair of Silicon Knights has been heard or seen since the stylish remake of Metal Gear Solid. A company with this kind of skill and style should be heard from regularly, but they keep most of what they were working on behind closed doors. Now with E3 here, AMN got a chance to sit down with Dennis Dayack himself, as he demonstrated Too Human, a cinematic action adventure game for the 360.
The game takes place in a futuristic world. The plot itself is under wraps, but the main character’s name is Baulder. Each of the gods in the game are loaded with cybernetic attachments. How the main character, Baulder, fits into this is unknown. However, we do know the gods of the game keep telling Baulder that he is “too Human”, meaning that he doesn’t have enough cybernetic attachments in him. Baulder will spend a large portion of the game not only battling enemies, but adding cybernetic attachments to himself in an effort to become stronger.
The key to Baulder is that his attachments are entirely up to the player, as is the way he fights and what weapons he uses. Silicon Knights have promised that every player can literally come up with different Baulders and have entirely different experiences thru the game. Some for example, may prefer Baulder to use only ranged weapons, while others prefer him to battle enemies with a battle axe. The combinations are nearly endless.
The design of the game is futuristic, but a lot of it is based on Norse mythology as well. Nary is a graphical trick lost on this game, as we saw particle effects, blood droplets, and explosions, all stack up to one pretty picture. Details abound, and even the nameless/faceless members of your team have detailed facial expressions. You’ll wince as the hero’s mighty axe scrapes along the ground, dragging up sparks as it goes. Bullet shell casings hit the ground and are knocked around by the foot of the hero as he slowly and methodically takes out enemies around him. Silicon Knights is known for beautiful graphics and they are not cutting any corners here.
The game goes for a kind of cinematic/fixed camera feel. Your character may be walking down some ancient hallway, searching for who knows what, then the camera will pull back slightly to reveal two spidery enemies, who look over your team like so much meat snacks. The spiders then disappear without Baulder or any member of his team being the wiser. The camera isn’t totally fixed, however, as it adjusts in real time to what Baulder is doing. For example, if Baulder launches an enemy in to the air, the camera adjusts to let Baulder keep track of him. Knock an enemy far away, and the camera pulls wide to show you where he landed. This particular feature isn’t totally perfected yet, but Silicon Knights has promised that before the game is released the camera will be perfected.
Combat in the game is a mix of Devil May Cry and Eternal Darkness. Baulder has access to his gun (or guns) at any time, and can swing his melee weapon at will as well. In action, gun-wise, we only saw Baulder using twin pistols and using a form of GunKata to destroy enemies. Baulder was often engaging multiple foes at once, shooting both without breaking a sweat. Melee-wise, we saw both an axe and a sword. The sword offered good range and damage capabilities, as well as having a nice attack range. The axe was almost a staff, and it was much slower than the sword. However, it had greater range and did much more damage. Of the two, the sword was faster, but the Axe had better range. Silicon Knights also promised there will be other weapons, like a plain staff, dual swords, and different guns. They also revealed that a good and skilled player can spend a whole stage defeating enemies without ever touching the ground.
Every weapon has a special Rage Attack. As it builds up, you can only initially use the X button to pull it off. This move is graphically impressive and takes out or damages a group of enemies. Eventually you earn a Y button rage attack, which is much stronger, then a B button attack which kills practically everything in one hit. Also, Baulder is capable of special instant kill attacks on certain enemies. When he ran across a Mech suit enemy, it was shown how his swords and guns didn’t damage it very much. However, once Baulder got close enough, he leaped on its head. Up there, he pulled out his sword and sliced thru a weak spot on the top of its head. Special kill attacks like that adds some depth to the game, and give Baulder a much more deadly feel.
Too Human
Replay was designed into the game. As you get stronger, you will be able to, at will, replay any stage with the new weapons and techniques you learned and earned. Why do this? Silicon Knights has promised that special weapons and equipment will be made available in each stage for those who meet certain accomplishments. As an example, finishing a whole stage without touching the ground will earn you a special item. Other special achievements mentioned: completing the stage without using guns, using only melee weapons, or never using a rage attack were also mentioned.
Finally, Silicon Knights mentioned one more surprise. All of the stages in the game are futuristic, but filled with Norse mythology… until you log online. Inside the game is a virtual reality internet, which Silicon Knights was only giving us a glimpse of. This isn’t futuristic at all, rather it’s a lush tropical jungle. It was mentioned that there is a huge world of exploration and opportunity. However, aside from its artistic beauty Silicon Knights was reluctant to show us any more of this fascinating game.
We at AMN will have more to show on Silicon Knights during E3 so keep your eyes on AMN.
