Too Human, more like Too Short-an… amirite!?

Like Gren, I don’t like to point out news from other sites, but this one is worth mentioning. Chris Kohler, over on the Wired blog, technically has the first review of Too Human. Chris name drops Eternal Darkness several times in his write-up, which reveals that his opinion of that classic very much mirrors my own. Eternal Darkness is one of my top ten games of all time. So how did Too Human fare in the eyes of an Eternal Darkness devotee?

Not entirely well. He points out that the game was fun once he came to grips with the combat system, but the game ended for him after just 10 hours. After all these delays and hoopla, we get just 10 hours. Granted, the game is, and always was, meant to be played multiple times. You can take your levelled up character through the game several times. The enemies will become more difficult accordingly. The loot-drops will supposedly be better on each iteration, allowing you to build your character up in preparation for the sequels.

It sounds very much like an MMO, or more specifically, it sounds like a Diablo style game. The idea is not to blow through the game and be done with it. You’re meant to play it over and over, constantly grinding away the enemies until your character is a badass.  I’ve known about this aspect of the game and have been prepared for it, but if it only takes 10 hours the first time through, it’s not going to take very many nights of playing to totally max out the characters.

Furthermore, will it even be fun enough to play over and over? Eternal Darkness is a 10-20 hour game as well. It too was meant to be played multiple times. The difference with ED is that it was actually different each time. The story was slightly altered, as were the endings. On top of that, it was just plain fun to play multiple times. It never felt like a chore to me. Will Too Human have the same effect, or will it just feel like 10 hours of “going through the motions” and nothing more? We’ll know for sure come Aug 19.