Console RPGs with an emphasis on farming are not to common in this generation of gaming. Games with a short story mode that can be cleared in one afternoon, though even after that someone may pump in hundreds of extra hours just running a single level over for a specific piece of loot. Too Human works in this way, which makes it a fun and unique experience on the Xbox 360 even if it lacks in many other areas.
Like the story, for example. Too Human has a very cool concept at face value, classic Norse Mythology characters in a very futuristic world made up of guns, giant tanks, and cybernetic body parts. As cool as that sounds neither the plot or characters are fleshed out enough to really pull you into the world, which is probably the biggest problem with the entire game. You take on the role of Baldur, a God in the world of Too Human. Baldur is out searching for the mysterious monster GRNDL who randomly attacked a town bar the night before. It doesn't take long, however, until Baldur realizes that there is a much bigger problem at hand when hoards of enemies come after him with the intent to kill.
The game explores the origins of the monsters along with a revenge story about Baldur's wife being killed and who did it. Gameplay is constructed in a mission based way making the story very hard to follow at times. Unlike most games where you make it to a certain point, trigger a cutscene, and continue Too Human instead has the bulk of its story told through scenes that appear at the most random times. There are many moments where you will be just blazing through a level ready to go into the next room to kill more enemies when you suddenly walk through a door and a flashback or scene taking place elsewhere will play. Add this with some fairly stock characters and you may find yourself disinterested early on.
This can work to your advantage though since the rest of Too Human is very enjoyable. Gameplay is very straightforward, you run down a path, kill enemies, and repeat. To break up the action at times Baldur will be required to travel into cyberspace (a computer-like world of what the Earth looked like years ago before technology) and solve some very light puzzles with one of four different skills such as a fire that can burn away this evil essence blocking paths. Never expect to find yourself stuck though, as even these quick scenes are very straightforward and require no critical thinking.
What will require some thought though is the many customization choices Too Human offers. At the start of the game you are required to pick from one of five classes to play made up of the typical RPG roles: a healer, a tank, a melee specialist, a ranged specialist, or a balanced character. Within each of these classes is a skill tree, which offers even more customization; and as if that were not enough after the first mission you will be required to either select to follow a human path or a cybernetic, which unlocks another skill tree to browse and narrows down what kind of equipment you can use. There are a lot of options that let you play as you want, but if you continue on to get the best gear it will ultimately limit where you will want to spend your skill points.
While the skill trees and classes do allow for some options on how to play, the combat essentially boils down to taking on mass amounts of enemies at a time forming combos to defeat them. This is done through the games unique fighting system which uses the right stick for near everything. A simple three hit combo is done by holding down the right stick in the direction of the enemy you want to kill, your character will zoom after them and begin his assault. This alone won't get you very far, however, as you need to use advanced combos along with the special abilities of the ruiner an area of effect skill, and spiders, small robotic helpers that do various things based on Baldur's spec and class if you expect to take down some of the larger groups of enemies and bosses. The only exception to this all is the Commando, the ranged class of the game. Gameplay feels more like a watered down third person shooter for them, though it is still enjoyable. That can be said for the entire combat system as a whole as well, it all works well and is a very satisfying way to take on the robotic trolls and goblins of Too Human's world.
Another small portion of Too Human is the multi-player as it is very unique. When playing with anyone else over Xbox Live some changes are made to the game: enemy level scales with the highest of the two players in a match, all NPCs that typically follow you are missing, and all cutscenes are stripped from the experience. At first this may come off as odd, but it only boosts the central idea behind the game, farming loot. The point of multi-player in Too Human is not to make a fun experience for two people trying to go through the story, instead it serves as a faster way for people to go through a level and farm for specific pieces of gear that only drop off of certain enemies. The developers know exactly what their game really is and don't try to play it off as anything else. I can personally say spending 6 hours straight going through the first level over and over again with a friend while being forced to watch all the scenes would have been a nightmare.
The game's production though, is an entirely different story. While Too Human is not ugly it certainly does not compete at all with modern games. Environments look great sure, but character models are just weird and all their animation is very stiff. There are very few unique character models through the game, and you rarely see any of those in a mission too, which can give you a sense of repetition while going through a level.
Still, Too Human is a fun game for people wanting to experience a new way to fight enemies with a controller, and the dungeon-crawling-loot-farming person will be thrilled to play a game that can offer hundreds of hours of gameplay depending on what all you wish to achieve. Still, for a game that has been in development in one form or another since the original Playstation days I really have to wonder why the game is just average in many places, that is not to say it is bad but it is not mind blowing in the least.