For gamers with too much time on their hands, Too Human is now free. This Nietzschean cooperative Action RPG by Canadian developers Silicon Knights stars the balding Baldur as he and his rhesus-negative Æsir allies wage a star war against loose control schemes, low framerates, and lackluster sales figures. You can download this interplanetary paganism simulator on the Xbox Marketplace right now for the low, low price of zero Nordic runes.
Panned for its Duke Nukemesque development cycle, spanning over a decade and at least three different consoles before going gold on Microsoft’s Xbox 360 on August 19, 2008, Too Human was chastised by critics for being too mediocre at a time when forces of nature like Grand Theft Auto IV were hijacking the sales charts. Too Human crashed and burned like Advent Rising and Mass Effect: Andromeda, two other science fiction role-playing games that reached for the stars but failed to navigate the asteroid field of critical reception.
Still, Too Human’s historical accuracy and pre-Biblical polymerization of ancient astronauts with space magic would ultimately inspire future science fantasy titles like Bungie’s Destiny, which used the life support of live updates and the Games-as-a-Service model to correct an equally catastrophic launch. Bungie would eventually right the ship after multiple expansions, a full sequel, and years and years of patches and community feedback, luxuries Silicon Knights lacked in the dark ages of 2008 when the concept of ongoing downloadable content was still out-of-this-world.
Too Human’s tragically flawed reviews would prove the least of its troubles, as Silicon Knights crusaded against Epic in an “epic” five year-long lawsuit alleging that the former had created the title on a pirated version of the Unreal Engine. This ultimately culminated in the death not only of the stillborn Too Human trilogy but of Silicon Knights itself.
For a game about the final frontier, Dennis Dyack’s ill-fated franchise unfortunately never got off the ground. However, thanks to the ongoing “Operation Warp Speed” leaving mankind stranded inside their own homes, boldly going to the living room to watch the repo market while fidgeting with their surgical masks, Trekkies, Jedi, and Diablo fans alike can satisfy their star-lust with this opening act in a series that would never materialize, like our dreams of a galaxy far, far away.
But it’s not too late to download that initial installment, gaze up at the firmament, and imagine the future that belonged to us.
Source: Too Human Free Download at Xbox Marketplace
