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'CliffyB' defends Too Human from critics
[Update 2: The Giant Bomb user formerly known as CliffyB has changed his user name based on a request from the Giant Bomb staff. Seems this was a case of mistaken/overtaken internet identity. Joystiq regrets the error.][Update: It seems there's some doubt as to whether or not this review was actually written by Mr. Bleszinski or just some Giant bomb user who took his common online moniker. Either way, the review is still an interesting, alternative look at the game. We're looking into it and we'll update as warranted.]After so much hype and so many years in development, many were surprised by the lackluster critical reception for Silicon Knights' Too Human. Count among the surprised Epic Games' Cliff "Don't call me CliffyB anymore" Bleszinski, who defended the game from its harshest critics in a recent Giant Bomb reader review.Bleszinski says he found the game more engrossing than either BioShock or Call of Duty 4, pouring 16 straight hours into it on his first sit down and readying for a second playthrough after a 42-hour quest. While admitting that the story "isn't God's gift to writing," Bleszinski still insists it compares favorably to a lot of other video games. His main beef, though, is with critics who derided the game's combat as too simple simply because they weren't willing to delve into what Bleszinski sees as some complex strategic depth. "It will require some attention to learn," he warns, "If this is too much to ask, do not fret. There is always the Wii." Ouch!The full review goes into an insane amount of detail on Bleszinski's experience with the game. Check it out if you're interested in a well informed, decidedly different perspective on this epic.
Interview: Dyack addresses Too Human complaints
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/xbox/Interview_Dyack_addresses_Too_Human_complaints'; Continuing with their week-long series, nos amis at X3F talked with Silicon Knights President Denis Dyack over some of Too Human's biggest perceived faults. Part 1 of today's video interview is embedded above. Some highlights: On the community's early judgment: "People are trying to understand a game that's inherently interactive [by watching a video] ... All I can say is try the demo." On clipping and texture issues: "There's glitches in all games. It's really interesting to me because, as an example, there's gonna be things you can always improve. To me, framerate's not really that essential in cutscenes and it never has been for us ... I don't think Too Human's inconsistent from any of our previous games ... So there's clipping. Oh noes. Bottom line is, does it affect gameplay and by how much? Are there ways to improve Too Human? For sure, but the overall big picture? Happy, extremely happy." On the Valkyrie death scene: Dyack estimated it was a 15 and a 1/2 second scene. "If it's a sign that people love the game so much that they just want to get back in and play, could we make it skippable? Sure, it's an easy change. Is it something we ever would have anticipated since we thought it was faster than going to get your body or losing experience [which does not happen in Too Human] ... is that a change we can make in the future? Sure." On comparisons to Diablo: "There's this tactical element. People think, 'oh, this is like Diablo with a bit of action. In Diablo I can just go up to an enemy and pound him away [until it dies] and move on to the next one, if you had the better loot, you usually win. In Too Human, if you don't use your tactics, it is a new kind of genre-bender, you're gonna die. And we're looking at some of the feedback and a lot of people are dying. [laughs]" On future downloadable content: "I think that's gonna be unique to people who pre-order it, that's a one-time thing. But we've got tons of ideas that will far exceed the pre-order bonus." Check out part two of the interview after the break.
Denis Dyack talks to X3F on the origin of Silicon Knights
Our friends at X3F have posted the first part of their 1-on-1 interview with Denis Dyack, where he talks about the history of Silicon Knights, from its previous legal entanglements with Crystal Dynamics over the Legacy of Kain IP, through the prerequisite Eternal Darkness discussion (Spoiler: There's no talk of a sequel) and how they found themselves developing a Metal Gear Solid port for GameCube.In case you missed it, check out the Dyack-guided studio tour from yesterday. You can catch up on all things Baldur on X3F's Too Human page.
Too Human demo now available
As promised, the Too Human demo is now available for download. We haven't had a chance to play it yet, because we're trying to get ready for the MS press conference in a couple hours and make sure that certain bloggers clean up (it's like trying to bathe cats, seriously). Let us know what you think about the Too Human demo -- especially those controls -- and be sure to come back in a little bit for our Microsoft Press Conference liveblog.[Via X3F, Thanks Fernando]
Too Human video explains co-op mode
Microsoft just sent out a press release stating that a video showcasing Too Human's co-op mode is now available on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Silicon Knights' president, Denis Dyack, and design director, Henry Sterchi, host the video and explain how the four-player two-player co-op will work.Of course, if you don't want to do the whole download thing, we've also conveniently placed the video after the break. Be prepared, it's almost 15 minutes long.
Dyack may step down as head of Silicon Knights [update]
GameDaily has an interview with Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack where he talks about stepping down as head of the studio. He won't leave the company, but merely let someone else take over the business side while he focuses on creative. He admits it'll be a little "weird," but as the company continues to grow, he'd like to stay focused on making new IPs.Dyack having a boss could be just what the company needs. Silicon Knights has notoriously slow development cycles and having an "evil" business director cracking the whip might help. We can only imagine what other projects the studio could have been working on had Too Human come out years ago as planned; instead of stumbling in this August.Update: Dyack told GameSpot, "I was as surprised to see this as everyone else. I am not stepping down." The original quote Dyack gave to GameDaily: "So, in the end as the company grows, for my role I'll probably hire someone to be my boss and help run the company, which is kind of a weird thing, and I actually won't run the company while I continue to work at what is the company's bread and butter, which is original IPs with great stories and game concepts that are provocative to gamers."
Dyack sees unified console as 'inevitable'
Are we seeing a movement developing? No sooner does EA's Gerhard Florin say he'd like to see an "open, standard platform" then game designer extraordinaire Denis Dyack says he sees such an idea as "inevitable." Writing for the UK's Official Xbox Magazine (as reported by Computer & Video Games), Dyack argues that having multiple competitive consoles is bad for third parties, who have to make tough decisions on how to split resources, and bad for first parties, who have to spend gobs of money on hardware development to attract the third parties. Such an inefficient market can't sustain itself, Dyack argues, turning a one-console future into "a future we can't avoid."Sorry, we don't buy it. Even with the market split between three strong systems, both first- and third-parties seem to be doing just fine by targeting content to the specific audiences of each console. More importantly, a single standard would remove the competitive drive to innovate, meaning the unified platform could quickly stagnate. The VHS format reigned supreme for nearly twenty years partly because of its near-monopoly on the home video market. Can you imagine if the NES had lasted that long? Thankfully Sega and the Genesis kick-started the competitive cycle that has led to today's varied crop of systems. Dyack sees a "consortium of game makers" deciding on the single standard, but such a consortium would inevitably devolve into petty squabbles over hardware issues like type of disc drive, controller design and motion sensitivity, hard drive size, media center features, RAM and a million others. The result would either be a kitchen-sink system that tries to do everything and costs a bazillion dollars (3DO, anyone?) or a splintering of different hardware configurations that would probably look a lot like our current marketplace.Sorry Denis, but it seems to us like a single-console future is far from inevitable.
Developers talk about Unreal Engine 3 lawsuit
Following the news of Silicon Knights suing Epic games for "inadequacies" with the Unreal Engine 3, ShackNews went ahead and talked to some developers about the issue. Of course, most of the people who spoke against the engine and its licensor Epic (Gears of War, Unreal Tournament 3) did it anonymously -- except for the Postal developers, 'cause they just treat the world with one giant middle finger up in the air, although they did it so softly here with a simple: "It just wasn't the best relationship for us [with Epic]."The statements pretty much cover the spread from good to bad. The most interesting anonymous source talks about several studios who had various levels of experience with the UE3. The key thing is that the source doesn't believe the problems were "intentionally malicious," but a product of Epic being stretched thin because of their own product development. Interestingly, this is given even more credence by Sony swooping in and lending support to Epic in getting the UE3 working properly with PS3. The question is slowly turning into what did Epic deliver to these developers through their license? How much extra work did these developers have to put into the engine to get it functional? Obviously, Sony felt the need to help out. The Unreal Engine 3 tree is going to continue shaking and we're sure to see more stories fall out very soon. Hopefully, with developers who know what they're talking about and are willing to go on the record.
Sony says they're giving Epic more PS3 support
For those who haven't caught on yet, there seem to be some issues with the Unreal Engine 3 and the PS3, resulting in delays for some games and cancellations postponements for others. Sony's Phil Harrison says in a Game Informer interview they didn't do enough initially to support Epic in making the UE3 -- which runs the timed exclusive Unreal Tournament 3 -- run properly with the PlayStation 3. He says Epic "isn't a huge company" and that they've "parachuted in some our [their] SWAT team of super engineers to help them." Harrison says this will increase the performance of the engine on the PS3 and gamers will take notice.Although not a red flag for casual observers, when Sony announced during their press conference that they would be putting more support behind the Unreal Engine 3, it showed a passive acknowledgment of an issue. What that issue is -- well, that's up to the lawyers to decide at this point. The lawsuit by Silicon Knights against Epic showed that the UE3 problems weren't just PS3 based, but Xbox developers are having similar issues too. Microsoft currently has "no comment" on the situation. The UE3 problem issue is something nobody wants to talk about, but could be one deep rabbit hole.[Via GI.biz]
Ohhh, is that where Too Human was during E3?
We'd be lying if we said Too Human's absence from the "everything this year" Microsoft press conference wasn't noticed. Especially considering Too Human is still theoretically supposed to come out this year. How many times must Denis Dyack and the team at Silicon Knights have lemon juice poured into their papercut wounds caused by the stammering flipbook presentation of Too Human at E3 2006? Well, until we play a version of Too Human that doesn't look like a Ray Harryhausen stop-motion monster (and if Harryhausen had computers we couldn't even say that). With Halo 3 and Mass Effect already slated for this holiday season, we're already feeling like we'll be stuffed with sci-fi epics -- so will Too Human make it on the plate?Dyack tells GameDaily, "We made the decision not to show Too Human at the press conference some time ago. The reason for this decision was that we have another event planned in the future for Too Human that we thought would be more appropriate ... Not attending the show and setting appointments with the press was due to Silicon Knights being extremely busy finalizing the game and we simply could not spare the time." Microsoft, who is publishing the game, apparently didn't want to comment on the story. Too Human did show off some in-game engine footage recently, but for a game that is supposedly still coming out this year -- and was already expected last year -- we've heard next to nothing about it.Update: We got an email from Eurogamer letting us know that during an interview they did last week the soon-to-be dearly departed Peter Moore said Too Human would be shown in 2008. The wording of the quote doesn't help explain if Moore is saying Too Human will be out in 2008 or just shown at next year's E3 -- whenever and whatever that might be.
Dyack responds to Too Human feedback
If you followed the 360 coverage from E3 at all, then you probably have some concerns over what we and other members of the press thought about Silicon Knights' Too Human. What we were shown was an early build that chugged along with framerate afflictions which gave off the vibe that it was way too soon to be playing the title. However, you've got to keep in mind that Too Human is still in development, and as such, it still has some tweaking to go through. We knew this when we played it. Nailing down the framerate seems to be one of the last legs of the development cycle, so the showing at E3 didn't necessarily leave a bad taste in the mouth. Even so, 1UP decided to ask Denis Dyack what they thought about the show and the feedback that they received. During the interview, Dyack guaranteed that gamers will not have an issue with the framerate and that no such problems will arise like they did at E3. He even went as far to say that there won't be any concerns in co-op or multiplayer either. Check out the rest of the interview for his other responses.
