On Screen / Aimee Green

Soulcalibur IV a gorgeous fighter; 'Too Human' has some issues

By Aimee Green/ Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star | Saturday, September 06, 2008 | () comments

NAMCO BANDAI One of the playable characters in the PlayStation 3 version of Soulcalibur IV is Darth Vader. (Contributed photo)

    ''Soulcalibur IV'' got a lot of attention when Namco Bandai announced that the weapon-based fighting game would include Yoda and Darth Vader (for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, respectively).

    At the time, I thought it was a weird match. Luckily, the game turned out to be fantastic enough that the ''Star Wars'' connection didn't really bother me.

    For a fighting game, there's an awful lot to do. You've got the typical eight-match arcade mode. There's a (kind of weak) story mode. There's the Tower of Lost Souls mode, which has you fighting up and down floors in a tower to win prizes. And then there's the comprehensive character creation, which lets you edit existing characters or create a new one from scratch. And, of course, there's online play.

    ''Soulcalibur IV'' has a few interesting new battle elements: Active Matching Battle, in which players fight multiple opponents and can tag in and out; equipment destruction, which can leave you or your opponent in nothing but your underwear; and critical finish, which is a special move that triggers a cutscene and defeats the opponent. These all add a strategic element to your fights.

    ''Soulcalibur IV'' is beautiful visually and a solid fighter. Buy it.

You'd think a game that's been in production as long as ''Too Human'' has (close to 10 years) would be polished to a reflective shine upon its release.

    Unfortunately, that's not the case.

    ''Too Human'' is a mix of role-playing game and action game, and its storyline combines Norse mythology and technology. It has some interesting features, and it's entertaining enough to play through once. But it's also got some major problems.

    The story is convoluted and hard to follow. It took me a good four or five hours of flashbacks and cutscenes before I started piecing together some of the story. The dialogue is cheesy and some of the voice acting is cringe-worthy.

    The main character is a god called Baldur, who is on a big quest for vengeance. He and other gods, called Aesir, use cybernetic implants, lots of weapons and heavy armor. Runes also are used to alter the stats on gear and can be worn as charms.

    The control scheme in ''Too Human'' is different, and some will be turned off by it. It certainly takes a little getting used to. Instead of using the face buttons to attack and the right thumbstick to look around, as most games do, ''Too Human'' uses the right thumbstick to attack.

    When Baldur is near enemies, a green circle appears underneath the one that is targeted. A flick of the right thumbstick sends Baldur flying at the enemy. He attacks in whatever direction the thumbstick is pressed.

    In addition, more powerful attacks can be performed using the right and left thumbsticks together.

    For the most part, this system works, but it lacks the precision I would have liked.

    Baldur has a variety of weapon types to choose from, from swords to staves to hammers. He also can use guns, which are activated with the right and left triggers. Which weapon is most useful depends on the character class you choose at the beginning of the game.

    Unfortunately, the targeting system is awful and makes using ranged weapons awkward. The game auto-targets whatever is near you, and it's nearly impossible to target what you want when you're surrounded by lots of enemies.

    There's no dying in ''Too Human,'' either. Instead, when Baldur dies, a Valkyrie descends from the sky, grabs him and takes him back up. Then he respawns at the last designated point as the action continues.

    This would be fine except the Valkyrie animation takes a good 15 seconds, and you can't skip it. The more I played and the more frequently I died, the more frustrated I got having to wait through that scene.

    But ''Too Human'' is great for people who like the loot-collection aspect of RPGs. As Baldur defeats enemies, all kinds of items are dropped. He can find new weapons and armor, runes or blueprints for making high-end gear. The result is a high amount of customization that will be fantastic to some and too much micromanagement to others.

    ''Too Human'' isn't a bad game, but it's not as good as I hoped. It's short and linear, and the story is a confusing mess. Battles can be fun, but the death animations, poor targeting and some lame boss fights can cause some frustration.

    It's interesting that ''Too Human'' is supposed to be the first in a trilogy. Hopefully, the next game will make more sense and fix the issues.

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    Reach Aimee Green at (402) 473-7326 or Aimee.Green@lee.net.

    Too Human

    Microsoft, for Xbox 360

    Rated: Teen

    Cost: $59.99

    Score: 6.5/10

    Soulcalibur IV

    Namco Bandai, for Xbox 360 (also on PlayStation 3)

    Rated: Teen

    Cost: $59.99

    Score: 8.5/10

    Scores based on an evaluation of gameplay (4 points), visuals (2), sound (2) and replayability/value (2).