Now, that might sound like I'm readying an apology for this review already, but I want to be clear to the people that read this, and especially the people that just look at the score on a review (which maybe this will be lost on anyways), that while Too Human isn't a great game, and doesn't live up the defense that creator Denis Dyack has been slowly mounting the past couple months, there's still some fun to be had with the game, at least for a while.

For those of you completely unaware of what Too Human even is, it's a hack and slash RPG with heavy loot elements, and the easiest games to compare it to would be the Diablo series, or even Titan Quest, or maybe Untold Legends and that Everquest title on PS2 from a while ago. Basically, you have five different classes to choose from, and you advance across 4 different worlds, facing off against wave after wave of enemy, which in turn drop tons of weapons, armors, runes, charms, and cash that you use to outfit and upgrade your selected warrior.

The idea behind the game is simple, and while there's a lot of math type stuff going on underneath the hood, it's not something that a casual player needs to pay attention to if they want to feel particularly skilled. The control scheme proves this, as it's one of the more unique things about Too Human, where instead of tapping away at face buttons to perform your melee attacks, you instead use the right analog stick to direct and perform your basic swipes and slashes, and you can also use the left stick to create finishers (powerful attacks), or fierce moves that allow you to throw you weapon out in an arc, boomerang style.

The style of play can be a bit jarring for players at first, but by the time you're out of the first level you should be able to get a handle on what you're supposed to do when paired against different enemies. The controls are responsive, and I had no issues with pulling of a finisher or fierce attack whenever I wanted. The biggest complaint is the lack of any real ability to control your targets in the midst of a large group of enemies. If you're being swarmed from all sides by goblins, the only real thing you can do is point your stick in the desired direction and hope you're able to hit the guy you want. It's less of an issue for melee attacks than it is for your ranged attacks though, which the game almost forces you to try and control when it starts throwing the exploding polarity enemies at you, or the ones that cause a cesspool of toxic poison when they die. Not being able to target these guys reliably ends up in some frustrating death sequences, and it's my number one complaint when it comes to the combat.

To augment your basic melee attacks all characters are equipped with ranged weapons, either a pair of pistols or a rifle, both of which can use lasers or slug damage. The differences between the two pretty much relate to the enemies you're using them against, with certain foes being more susceptible to particular types. Rifles also come equipped with some type of exploding ranged attack, while you dual wield pistols by using both the left and right trigger.

Your characters are also equipped with a Spider-Bot that detaches from your back when you press the Y button, and stays in play for a limited time before needing to recharge. Depending on the skill tree you select to go down, this Spider-Bot can perform various functions, such as creating a shield for you, or attacking with a long range laser, or rooting enemies into place and making them easier to manage in large numbers. There were a number of Spider-Bot abilities I just didn't find very useful, and out of all my abilities the Spider-Bot was the one I found myself using the least.

Rounding out your attacks is the Battle Cry option, which you can activate by pressing X. Once again, depending on your skill tree of choice, the Battle Cry performs some type of function for a limited time. For instance, with the Bio-Engineers, using a Battle Cry can heal yourself or take away negative status effects, and it can even cause a temporary boost to your current stats. The Battle Cry seems to enhance whatever you natural skill is for the class you select, so your Defender becomes harder to kill, and your Berserker ups his damage considerably.

The last attack at your disposal is the Ruiner, which is a single, devastating attack linked to the left bumper. There are three levels for the Ruiner, with the third level obviously being the strongest. When I started with Too Human I had a tendency to hold on to the Ruiner attack for my boss fights, but I honestly find it far more effective against the run of the mill trash mobs, particularly against the shielded enemies or elite mobs. The type of Ruiner you have available can change depending on the skill tree you select, but the typical result is some type of temporary freeze along with high damage. I'd like to have seen a bit more variety with these attacks across the five classes, but they still remain effective regardless.

Your defensive options are limited, there is no real block ability in the game, but you can press B to roll out of trouble spots or avoid big damage attacks from the Trolls and Elves. Jumping is somewhat effective, since you can still attack in mid-air, and even target enemies below you during a jump. However, the lack of any type of block ability feels out of place, especially considering the Defender class default weapon is a hammer and shield combo.

As far as the enemies you encounter go, you'll start off against simple hordes of goblins, and quickly upgrade to the massive, armored troll units, and then encounter the polarity enemies that can either freeze you or explode on contact, and then you'll move on to the boss fights. As you advance thru the levels, most of these encounters remain the same, even if the appearances of the characters change. The polarity enemies give way to more status effects in the later levels, such as damage over time with poison or burns, and are by far the most annoying enemies in the game, particularly when they come down in large groups. There's also the Dark Elves, which are basically giant spiders that have some annoying ranged attacks that can aggravate everyone but the Defender (who won't take knockdown from ranged attacks like missiles or arrows), but they're not as problematic as I've heard others complain about, at least not once you get used to rolling and avoiding damage.

The actual boss fights, however, are all pretty disappointing. The first level fight shows promise, but it never really improves as the story advances, and the last fight is more of a time sink than a challenge, and definitely a letdown for a big game ender. Hell, the third boss fight ends up being a simple variation on one of the basic enemies, and while it has more hit points and armor, it's still the same fight you perform time and again throughout the level. It's a shame that there's nothing memorable to these encounters, especially considering that Norse Mythology can really lend itself to some remarkable villains, but it feels like that source of possibility is entirely squandered here.

Too Human's loot system is well fleshed out, and considering that the main draw of the game is going into these repetitive encounters to basically pimp out your main characters with better armor and weapons, it more or less manages to deliver. Early on they toss a set of armor at you that gives you a hint at what to expect, a full set of solid gear that can last you for quite a few levels, and a design aesthetic that makes your character actually look pretty awesome. However, as you advance into the post 20 game, you'll find that these full sets become more and more rare (or at least less ideal), and you'll also need to switch out your armor and weapons more and more often to be able to survive somewhat frequently in the later stages. Some of the armor choices look absolutely ridiculous as well, especially in a few of the cut scenes. Nothing beats watching Baldur try and address someone next to him while he has a pair of pauldrons on that completely block his view.

The other disappointment with the loot is that the secondary stats, (stuff other than armor), is pretty random, and it's hard to decide whether you should change out a piece of older armor with say, a better strength bonus, for a piece of armor that provides an upgrade to your fierce range, but then also provides a cannon upgrade that you can't even use since you're a Berserker. There aren't a lot of sets that I've encountered so far that seem to be class specific, and if there is, then they don't drop often enough. I understand that there are the level 50 elite sets, and around 44 you can start wearing the Altruist gear which allows you full customization using all open rune slots, but you'll end up having to make some tough choices later on, usually involving gear that has stats you need coupled with stuff you can't get much use out of because of your particular class.

Last but not least in the loot system of Too Human, are the Rune and Charm items. Runes are pretty straightforward, they act as bonuses that you can slot into gear to give it added effects, and it allows you better customization options than your typical gear drops. If a piece of gear has an open slot, you simply select the Rune you'd like to fit in place, and then you'll see the added bonus on the piece of armor once it's inserted. Charms, on the other hand, almost act like mini-quests. You can't get any use out of a Charm until you've met the requirements to use it, which is typically standard MMO type stuff, like kill so many of a particular enemy, or discover a few secret areas. Also, you need to outfit your Charms with Runes to completely finish them off, and while the rune stats don't have any effect here, as you complete charms you get access to better, higher level charms. The charm abilities themselves are pretty varied, and definitely useful, providing some much-needed abilities, like some type of defense against polarity effects, or giving your attacks a little extra bonus. Charms are one of the better features of Too Human, and one of the things, outside of acquiring new loot, that gives the game some legs past the main story. Granted, it's all going towards making your character more impressive, but it's better to have goals that make you change your style of playing than just dropping in and grinding away in the same fashion over and over again.

So, outside of all the gameplay stuff, how is the story of Too Human? Well, not so great. I really dug the design and idea of the game, with the whole cybernetic Norse Gods theme, but the story is pretty empty, and when you start the game, you feel like you've just walked into the middle of a movie, and have no real starting point to get acquainted with the characters, outside of some rudimentary knowledge of the mythology the game is using. Your main character is always Baldur, one of the Aesir, who has lost his wife and a bit of his memory after a tragic accident. You'll encounter some staples of Norse mythology along the way, including Thor, Loki, Hel, Freya, and a host of others, but none of the characters really stand out as anything memorable. There's even a bit that really feels like something torn out of the Matrix with the cyberspace wells and the NORN, and while there's a lot of stuff going on, I never really felt that I had a handle on much of it. I understand that this is the opening act of a proposed trilogy, but it doesn't do a great job in setting up this massive world and story.

This isn't helped by the sub par dialogue and the delivery of the voice actors either, who seem to grunt and groan from scene to scene. Thor in particular felt like a big letdown, and one sequence between him and Loki early on is bad enough to make fans of some of the worst fantasy novels die a little bit inside. However, the cutscenes are put together pretty well, and the final shot does a solid job of getting you partially excited for a sequel, despite the rest of the trash you had to sift thru (plot wise), to get there. The other annoyance is in the lines of dialogue during the levels, as you're typically accompanied by either soldiers or other Aesir, who toss out the same 5 or 6 lines over and over and over. It becomes really annoying to listen to, and I'll admit that I feel a small sense of glee whenever I see a Valkyrie drop down to pick up one of these dead jerks.

Too Human also offers up a multiplayer mode, wherein you can pair up with another Baldur from your friends list or wherever, and tackle any of the levels you've been thru, even going so far as to select certain checkpoints within the levels. You can also do this in the single player mode after you've cleared out a stage, allowing you to go back and grind at whatever spot you choose. When in this mode there is no story or cutscenes getting in the way of the action, and for the most part it's pretty enjoyable to team up for a while and go thru a boss fight or two, but it's definitely not required if you want to enjoy the game. I'd love to see a larger party option introduced, something to make it feel a bit more community minded like some of the other MMO's on the market, but for now it serves as a slightly different way to pass your time in the game. Basically, don't go into Too Human strictly because you want to play with a friend, it's not groundbreaking by any means, but it's better than nothing.

So yeah, while Too Human doesn't really seem to excel at any of the things it attempts to do, it still ends up being fun to play despite the flaws. Sure, it's annoying to see that damn Valkyrie death animation every time you die, and I'd love to be able to pick out my long range targets, but I still find myself coming back to play for an hour or two every night, at least until I hit 50 with my Defender. Even then, I'm looking forward to fully leveling another class (I've sampled the other 4 for the purpose of this review), and I'm hoping to team up with some folks for that Elite Armor in the end game. So while the story element feels like a failure to me, the actual gameplay is still fun in the end, and it's enough to keep me coming back for more and more. Go into this with your expectations tempered, and I think you can honestly get some enjoyment out of it.