I won't get into the drama that surrounded the development and release of 'Too Human' — suffice to acknowledge that it existed. You can read more about that elsewhere on the internet.

My only interest is in the end result; whether this retelling of Norse mythology works as a game or not.

'Too Human' presupposes that the ancient gods of Norse mythology were not mystical or magical beings, but that their powers derived from advanced technology. The "gods" can do what they do because they are normal men enhanced with cybernetics. And our knowledge of the myths of old are simply history corrupted by word of mouth and time.

'Too Human', specifically, relates the story of Baldur and is planned as the first part in a trilogy.

I have my doubts that the rest of the trilogy will materialise, but I sure hope it does, because 'Too Human' is an interesting dichotomy. On the one hand it is a terrible game, but on the other it presents a number of interesting ideas that I'd like to see followed through.

To illustrate what I mean, let's run through the game's features bit by bit:

Plot

The cyberpunk twist on Norse mythology is a great concept. Casting the Norse gods as cyborgs just works, but the idea is never carried through far enough. Like a lot of 'Too Human', it remains a cool concept only.

The characters are gods, sure, but never ever feel like they are. The game has a distinct lack of... epicness (if that's a word). It's basically robots and cyber-dudes with the names of classic Norse characters.

Now I know that 'Too Human' is envisioned as part one of a trilogy, but that doesn't excuse the game's almost complete lack of plot. Anyone with an inkling of knowledge of Norse mythology could tell you Loki is the bad guy. And if you didn't know then his first appearance, which is very much near the beginning of the game, totally gives it away.

That is the sum total of the game's plot: to establish Loki as the villain. What a wasted opportunity.

Gameplay

There is a lot that works as far as the gameplay goes. The use of the right analogue stick for melee attacks — while not my preferred method of input — is functional. It's not bad, just different. The problem with doing it this way, however, is that it means you have very, very limited control of the camera (the right stick being normally reserved for camera control). And that is extremely problematic.

If you've been playing games for a while you'll know there are few things worse than not being able to see where your enemies are coming from, especially if those enemies can fire explosive projectiles. Making this even worse, is the fact that you cannot block. Ever.

Think about that for a second. You are surrounded by enemies — getting shot at by off-screen guys, pounded by a giant troll — and you cannot defend against it. Even when you pop guys in the air, Dante-style, to finish them off with an aerial combo, you can and will take damage from projectiles. It is like the game is designed with your constant death in mind.

And I believe it is. You will die a lot in 'Too Human' and every time you die you will have to watch an unskippable cutscene. Yes, it might seem like a small complaint, but considering how often you die in this game, the amount of time you sit waiting for the scene to finish starts to accumulate.

The one good thing here is all the loot you can collect. In this respect, 'Too Human' resembles 'Diablo' and 'Dungeon Siege'. It's full of collectable stuff and thanks to Baldur being highly customisable, all the loot you acquire from slaying bad guys will go to good use.

You're faced with seemingly endless choices: Should you use dual swords or hammers, pistols or assault rifles, plasma ammo or lasers? There are hundreds if not thousands of variables as far as Baldur's equipment and skill mix is concerned.

The inevitable problem here is three-fold. Firstly, the mechanics of it just aren't as streamlined as it could be, resulting in a very clunky interface. Second, a lot of the information and stats aren't explained very well. Lastly, even though you're equipping new weapons and armour all the time, there doesn't seem to be any appreciable increase in your abilities when you are playing. In my personal experience taking down a troll seem to take just as long with my level 1 "Dual pistols of Will" as it did with my level 18 "Devastating Plasma rifle of Courage".

'Too Human' also has two-player co-op over Xbox Live. It works well enough, but initiating a game is a plodding exercise. When actually playing though, it does improve the playing experience tremendously. Cracking robotic goblin cranium is an infinitely better experience with a friend. The co-op mode forgoes the game's plot, which isn't really that much of an issue, considering the lack of any real story.

Visuals

'Too Human' looks awesome — for a PS2 game.

Aesthetically it is very good — the design guys have a lot to be proud of — but technically, the game just does not pass muster. From the moment the game starts, you'll notice the framerate drop now and again and some of the animation is extremely crude. There are also bugs and glitches, such as enemies that lay down in mid-air when they die.

The in-game camera is slightly better than the one used in 'Shinobido', but even in that game you had some control. As mentioned earlier, thanks to melee combat assigned to the right analogue, all you can do to save yourself from a bad viewing angle is to press the camera reset button. It doesn't really help much though, often giving you different, but equally bad view on the action.

What 'Too Human' needed was a fixed point view, like God of War's, which gave you both a good view of the action, without sacrificing the aesthetic perspective.

Sound

There is some solid voice acting, but the script belongs in a sewer. It's terrible and listening to the actors struggle their way through it is an equally difficult struggle for the player. Lets not forget the repetition of lines that your squad spits out.

(Oh, yes, you do have a squad that accompanies you into battle. But I didn't mention them earlier because they serve no purpose.)

The music is quite good, but its implementation in the game is lacking. In-game music will suddenly stop and start in an attempt to match the action. Typically what happens is you will kill the last of a group of goblins and then the music will just cut out.

'Too Human' is a sad game, that's made worse by the fact that it is packed with some really good ideas that never come to fruition. Every good thing about the game is hamstrung by something lousy that is difficult, if not impossible to look past.

You can enjoy it, but it will take a lot of effort — and enjoyment shouldn't take effort; or at least not as much as 'Too Human' demands. Try it if you must, but my advice is to let it be. It will disappoint. Guaranteed.