Xbox 360 Fanboy

Why all the Denis Dyack (stuck) hating? That's the question Fable 2's Peter Molyneux (stuck) seems to have asked himself because recently, in an interview with VideoGamer, Molyneux expressed sorry feelings for Dyack and how he and Too Human have been treated as of late. "I feel sorry for Denis Dyack because you know, I think a few things were said wrong, there was that really unfortunate showing at E3 a few years ago" Molyneux continued, saying that "everyone got on the bandwagon of saying things about Too Human." Peter then threw his support behind Too Human saying that "it's a good game" admitting that "it doesn't deserve a lot of that harsh criticism."

A perfect example of how developers have to stick together if they want to survive in the industry. Strength in numbers, friends, strength in numbers.

Today, in achievement news, the fellas over at 360Sync were able to score a list of all 50 Too Human achievements including descriptions, Gamerscore values and achievements artwork. Though, most of them (21 to be exact) are the dreadfully dreadful "secret" achievements of which we only get to view their Gamerscore values. Stupid secret achievements, always trying to be so darn secretive. We can only hope that by the time we achieve the "True Son of Odin" achievement we'll have earned all the secret ones as well. If not, a few Silicon Knights heads will roll.

In development for nearly a decade, Too Human is an action-RPG from Canadian developer Silicon Knights. Its story revolves around an alternate reality where Norse mythology and cybernetics govern the world. As Baldur, son of Odin, players are tasked with fighting off a mechanized horde of invaders hellbent on destroying the human species. Sounds cool right? Well, you don't have to rely on our "back of the box" style description because you can play Too Human right now! The demo, as we've mentioned before, is on Xbox Live right now. Give it a shot. Expect a special X3F Demo Impressions video of the Too Human Demo soon. In the meantime, check out our galleries of screenshots and character art from E3 2008.

After all the controversy that has surrounded the game, gamers can finally give Too Human a shot for themselves. While it's possible that the demo of the Norse inspired dungeon crawler might not give one the full flavor of the game considering how story and loot driven the experience is supposed to be. Still, something is better than nothing, especially with a game that has been so divisive as this one. The demo is 1.1 gigs and is online now.

Microsoft just made two huge E3 related announcements this morning. The first being that they'll be connecting E3 and Xbox Live users by holding another Bringing it Home campaign! And we know how much our fellow fanboys love their Bringing it Home. Complete with daily E3 wrap-ups, game trailers, game videos, screenshots, gamer pictures, themes and game demos, Bringing it Home will allow gamers to experience all the goodness that E3 has to offer all from the comforts of their Xbox 360 and the Xbox Live Marketplace. Microsoft's second huge announcement, Bringing it Home will be bringing a Too Human demo home to the XBLM sometime next week during E3. A Too Human demo, w00tacular! Also, be sure to mark your E3 Bingo Cards, because we just received our first official free space!

Let's face it, spiders are scary. They're creepy, crawly, sometimes hairy, and they are positively loaded with legs. And eyes. They also make webs and have nasty pincer mouths. Nobody likes spiders. Anyone who claims to like spiders is lying. They would be lying ... unless of course they were talking about the awesome robot spiders in Too Human! Yes, we've been hit with yet another video featuring Silicon Knights head Dennis Dyack extolling the many virtues of Too Human. This time it's about spiders, helpful little robots that can be summoned to your aid when crawling the cyber-Norse dungeons of Too Human. They can help you juggle foes, destroy incoming missiles, and oh so much more. Watch the video above and sleep well knowing that not all spiders are evil.

It looks like the promised early preview copies of Too Human have started to arrive, as we're now being flooded with new video from the game as well as previews from both Wired and MTV's Multiplayer. Joystiq has gone to the trouble of summing up both previews. We recommend reading both previews if you have the time. Having read the previews, the reaction definitely seems to be a mixed one. Both previews note that the game is very short, clocking in at around 10 hours, and that the cliffhanger ending doesn't live up to the rest of the game, with Wired's Chris Kohler noting noting that there was "not nearly enough payoff for all the story exposition." What story is present is apparently well told though, and, more importantly, the gameplay is reportedly very solid, as MTV's Steven Totilo notes the game "has the potential to win fans of pure play."

That said, Kohler notes that the game can be played again using the same character and that the game will be repopulated with more challenging enemies and remixed levels. From the sound of both previews, Too Human will find a home with fans of dungeon crawlers who intend to play through multiple times and get the best loot, but may suffer with those who only intend to play through once in order to enjoy the story. Frankly, we'd settle for a good dungeon crawl on the 360. We'll have to wait and see if the game delivers when the reviews start showing up in August.

In the meantime, enjoy some more Too Human footage after the break.

We're trying really hard to stop harping on Too Human for its lack of four player co-op. Silicon Knights, it seems, is doing its best to make it as hard as possible for us to do that. You see, in this video, studio head Dennis Dyack talks about the various classes in Too Human and how they can complement one another. For example, the Bio-Engineer class has a healing buff that constantly heals himself and other party members. Oh wait, party member. See, that's where that stinging pain sets in. It's when Dyack uses words like "group" and "combinations" that the two player co-op reality crashes down.

Of course, it's still valid, and certain classes will complement others, but we can't help but think of how dynamic it might have been.

Yes, you read that correctly. A game that began its life waaaaaay back on the original Playstation is finally nearing completion. According to a developer blog entry from Silicon Knights guru Dennis Dyack, Too Human is "likely just days away" from being sent to certification, where it will reach the hallowed 'gold' status that all games must attain before release. Dyack throws a few more tidbits into the update, noting that gamers can expect to earn at least 600 achievement points on their first runs through the game. Furthermore, he states that it would be difficult for anyone to comprehend the complexity of the game after playing only a short demo (a point we concede), and assures everyone that press will get their review copies "well in advance of the release date."

Really? Does that mean we can have ours right now? We've got a serious desire to build a new tank (we guess Joystiq can be our healer ... maybe).

[Via Joystiq]

Update: So, uh ... yeah. Halo Wars is actually on the E3 list. Honestly, we can't read, we didn't think it was part of the blogging gig. Anyway, our apologies as we say bring on the Halo Wars!

As E3 gets closer and closer, the video game industry as a whole are dotting their "i"s and crossing their "t"s for the craziness that'll go down next month. And Microsoft, being the organized folks that they are, just released a confirmed list of games that'll be making an appearance in Los Angeles on July 14th. A list that isn't all that unexpected.

It should be no surprise that Microsoft's confirmed list of E3 video game attendees will be hot 2008 releases including Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Too Human, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise. See, nothing crazy different then what we already expected. But noticeably absent from their list are games like Halo Wars Halo Chronicles and Alan Wake, all games (except Chronicles) that are the latter is still slated for a 2008 release. Though, our confidence in that "fact" is waning.

Also, one thing we can count on at this year's E3 will be at least one super duper surprise. Whether it be a new game announcement, new hardware, new peripherals or some unthinkably awesome tidbit of info, we're uber excited. E3 is coming ... get happy!

A new Too Human video has been released, this time discussing the game's battlecries (game developers can make two words into one now?). For those unfamiliar with the game, battlecries are essentially part of the game's magic system. When activated, battlecries bestow positive effects on players, including co-op partners. Some examples in the video (as explained by studio head Dennis Dyack) are a battlecry that makes all hits critical hits, giving players the ability to deal twice as much damage (pretty handy in a fight) and an ice shield that freezes enemies when they attack (also useful). Now, if we could just find the battlecry that makes it August right now.

Chris from the Gamerscore Blog just sent us an update (and the fancy schmancy video embedded above) regarding Too Human and a new pre-order program they're running in North America. How it's planned, when you pre-order Too Human at any participating retailer, you'll receive five sets of exclusive in-game armor (one for each character class) that not only maximizes each class' abilities and sport two slots for customization, but they also look totally badass. Especially the Bioengineer ... total badassery. So, if you're cool with two player co-op instead of four and support Mr. Dyack, then go get your pre-order on before August 19th to score some new armor duds. Also, feel free to look over the five sets of pre-order armor goodness in the gallery below.

GameTrailers has posted a new trailer from the upcoming Silicon Knights hack and slash, Too Human. There is no gameplay feature. However, what it lacks in gameplay, it makes for it with Thor. As the Norse god of thunder, Thor has something of a temper, which is fairly evident in the video. Watch as Baldur and Thor search for the doorway to the serpent's lair. We hate to spoil it for anyone, but let's just say that if you're the god Thor and you carry a giant hammer, you can make doors.

Speaking to Gamerscore Blog, Silicon Knights head Dennis Dyack spoke to the recent revelation that Too Human would support two players in co-op. As the game was originally touted to have four player cooperative play, the news was upsetting to many would be fans. When asked what prompted the decision, Dyack noted, "it really came down to the gameplay and what's the best experience we could possibly make for the gamer." He added further that four players was "really chaotic" and that the team decided that limiting co-op to two players was "just the right thing to do" when it came to balancing the game and making it fun.

We're sure that this explanation won't dull the pain of those who were looking forward to hacking and slashing with three friends, but hopefully Too Human will be a better game as a result.

The latest Too Human developer diary has been released (according to DCEMU, it should be on Xbox Live sometime today). This episode focuses on the game's two player co-op mode. Of particular note are the loot sharing options and skill manipulation. Co-op play offers three different options for divvying up the loot found during play. Loot can be distributed randomly, free-for-all and round robin. The first two are self-explanatory (with free-for-all being the best options for the ultra competitive), but round robin is a little different. Round robin alternately gives each item to a different player. In other words, player one gets the first item, player two gets the next item, player one gets the next, etc.

The second revelation in the video is that players will be able to reorganize their entire skill tree at any time. It costs a certain amount of in-game currency, but it also means that you won't have to create a new character if you're unhappy with the skills you've chosen. Not only that, but it will allow players to customize their character based on a given situation (like choosing new skills that compliment your co-op partner, for examply).

Finally, the video continues The Goblin Man of Norway, the fake documentary that began in the previous developer diary. We are again reminded of Halo 3's Believe ad campaign, which is by no means a bad thing. Check out the (very long) video after the break.