A Matter of Perspective

I am almost through the first area of Too Human, and I enjoy the combat system as much as I did when I played the demo. The analog-based melee combat is the best scheme I have yet seen to translate the point-and-click mayhem of a Diablo-style computer title to consoles. The slide and juggle mechanics give the player ample opportunity to feel like a rock star -- not to be confused with, you know, feeling like a Rockstar. I also like spending minutes at a time piddling about the equipment and statistics menus; the nickname "Mr. Inventory Screen" has always described my approach to most games which involve loot. I eagerly anticipate the chance to kit out my character in stylishly colored gear.

At the same time, I can definitely see that the game is not perfect. With the right analog stick claimed by the combat system, the camera is more than a little flawed. I have already taken several missile volleys from foes that had been panned off-screen; that little fact has the potential to be infuriating in an environment where death causes a nice long pause in the action. The decision to only make healing available to a single class puzzled me during the demo, and time has not made it any more sensible. Also, the targeting is occasionally spotty, which can make a large difference when surrounded by enemies. Having thought about the mechanics in place, I have conjectured that Silicon Knights could have resolved the camera and targeting issues in a fairly simple way: make the game's camera view isometric, à la Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance or the Marvel Comics games by Raven Software. I always wanted more use out of those series' jump buttons, and I never got much use from their camera rotation. I think the Too Human combat system could benefit greatly from a mostly-overhead point of view. Of course, a decision like that will most likely never get past the initial design of a modern game, since there is clearly no future for titles that are not portrayed in three dimensions.

Speaking of camera complaints, I almost changed my mind about Tomb Raider: Underworld based on the demo. My wife's support of the game gave way to a mild case of motion sickness, thanks to the amount of manhandling I had to do to get a proper view of my surroundings. I finally found the auto-center technique, which helped to alleviate a great deal of my prior spinning, but the camera control seems a bit more touchy than Legend. Has anyone else noticed this?

Game well this weekend, and may your hit counter keep climbing.