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Too Human cleaved a line between those who appreciate the subtle nuances of button mashery and others who simply didn't get it. It's a gap, however, that may be bridged somewhat with the one element of the game that managed to garner significant praise. No, not the hoarding of random loot, but the music.

The hour-long Too Human soundtrack, scored by Silicon Knight's composer Steve Henifin and performed by the FILMharmonic Orchestra and Choir Prague, is now available for around $16 from Amazon, Best Buy, iTunes and the CD label Sumthing Distribution's own site. The soundtrack promises an interesting mix, from orchestra to metal, and even "cyber elements" that "are more elegant and organic in style." Whatever, as long as we won't again be forced to watch a Valkyrie descend for the hundredth time to carry Baldur (and our patience) off to Valhalla as the selection goes from track to track.

With initial previews of Silicon Knights' Too Human painting the long-in-development action RPG as a few miles short of Valhalla, IGN has stepped up, offering the developer a handful of advice concerning items that site would like to see corrected before the game ships in August.

According to IGN, among the issues needing a little extra lovin' are the game's lock-happy camera, random loot drops, and "sluggish" framerate, as well as a general lack of combat hand-holding and backstory -- each of which the site is only too happy to offer up a helpful tip or two to correct. Of course, with Dyack and Co. set to take their seemingly flawed action romp on the road next month, we doubt that a few choice words from an outside source will help right a decade of stumbling.

Silicon Knight's controversy-fuelled Too Human is nearly finished, as company president Denis Dyack confirms on his IGN blog that the game "is likely just days away" from being completed. Writes Dyack, the team is currently working to squelch a pair of "rare crash bugs" before sending the long-in-development sci-fi Norse action game off for final approval.

The exec also notes that "there will be plenty of time for press to critique Too Human as they will receive evaluation copies well in advance of the release date." This means that when scores come rolling in this August they should not be based on rushed play throughs to meet unrealistic deadlines, at least that's the theory. We admit that part of us will miss the roller coaster ride that has been Too Human's road to retail, though we can't help but wonder what Dyack will be up to next.

Too Human, on the surface, has a lot of things going for it. The game enjoys a very creative setting -- a vision of the cybernetic future colliding with ancient Norse mythology -- featuring grand environments and impressive set pieces along with a cohesive and unique style. But then, everyone already knew that. Many previews have put forth Silicon Knights' vision this year, and Silicon Knights done as much themselves in their own developer video diaries and blogs. Too Human's presence at GDC this year marks the most public appearance the game has had since its infamous showing at E3 2006. It is with this in mind that the journalists gathered to see the game last night were concerned with only one thing: gameplay.

I don't think the comparison is inaccurate given Too Human's wonderfully chaotic encounters, but I've since come up with one that more closely conveys my somewhat conflicted opinion. Too Human is very much like Mass Effect, and not just in terms of technology, grand science fiction settings and heroic bald men, but in how it presents a role-playing game within the shell of an action game.

While Silicon Knights continues to divide its forces between the long-in-development Too Human and the legal mosh pit that is its relationship with Epic Games, the company has apparently marshaled enough energy to begin work on another game, as both it and fellow Canadian dev Digital Extremes have been given a combined $1 million in funding to begin work on a pair of development projects. The investment, awarded by the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC), serves as part of the agency's Video Game Prototype Initiative, which looks to help companies create prototypes of video game concepts in order to attract potential publishers.

While Pariah dev Digital Extreme's game is described as a third-person "old school" horror game for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, Silicon Knights, which recently expanded its Canadian ops, is apparently using the funds for something a bit farther out, promising a third person action/psychological thriller for release sometime in 2010 for unspecified "next-generation systems" -- which by that time may actually be an accurate moniker.

Despite Silicon Knights being in the middle of a major lawsuit, the company still needs to make finish games and do business. The Too Human developer is planning to add 80 employees to its studio thanks in part to a Canadian initiative called the Niagara Interactive Media Generator (nGen), which seeks to "nurture a new generation of interactive entertainment companies."

The Welland Tribune reports nGen is a partnership that includes Brock University, Niagara College, regional and city governments, Niagara Economic Development Corp. and the Niagara Enterprise Agency. The Ministry of Culture will provide $245,000 to nGen's two-year $560,000 budget. Hopefully Silicon Knights will put those kids to work fast and finally get Too Human out the door sometime in '08.

[Via GameDaily]

Normally, it's not exactly newsworthy when GameStop decides to slap a date on an upcoming release. This, however, warrants some attention. In an email being sent to GameStop customers, the retailer announces that Too Human, the upcoming Silicon Knights action RPG, will be shipping on May 6. Whether or not this email lends more validity to the claim than the GameStop listing for the game (which has the same date) is anyone's guess. At any rate, it seems the company is comfortable enough with the date that it has seen fit to directly inform customers. Right or wrong, Silicon Knights might be too busy to notice.

[Thanks Supafreak and Anthony Pasculli]

Microsoft Games chief Don Mattrick has confirmed (or, in some cases, reaffirmed) via a memo a handful of exclusive titles to arrive on Xbox 360 in 2008. The list of assuredly not canceled titles include Halo Wars, Too Human, Fable 2, Alan Wake, Splinter Cell: Conviction and "several exciting yet-to-be-announced titles."

Following the list of 2008 exclusives, Mattrick continues to say that "Xbox 360 will be home to the next versions of great franchises like Grand Theft Auto and Resident Evil ... Madden and FIFA." We're not sure if he meant to imply Resident Evil 5 is due out this year, but it's certainly a suspicious line. Other than this year, no schedule was given as to the release of these titles, although we now get a sense of what Microsoft feels will keep gamers happy in this post-Halo 3 world.

It seems like Silicon Knights is finally ready to throw back the curtain on Too Human, and impressions are coming in from all over the place. Right now, previews can be found on GameSpot, IGN, and 1UP. The long and short of it is that it looks like Too Human is on the right track. One thing worth noting, all the previews take great pains -- probably under the suggestion of Silicon Knights -- to explain that the game is not an all out action affair. It is, as we have noticed in the past, more akin to dungeon crawlers like Diablo. If you find yourself in the market for such a game, Too Human will likely do quite nicely. The previews note that there are a wide variety of items and equipment to be looted from enemies. The loot system is compared to that of World of Warcraft, with tons of customizable weapons and armor. Naturally, the most effective items are the hardest to find. In fact, certain items require that you find blueprints and pay an exorbitant price to have them crafted. The right-stick-controlled combat is described as working very well most of the time, but still in need of some fine tuning. Finally, it was revealed that Too Human is designed to be played through many times in order to max out your character's level. The level cap is set at 50, and Silicon Knights says that characters from the first installment of Too Human can be imported into the future sequels of the trilogy.

Overall, it's sounds like things are looking up for Too Human. Check out the various previews at the links below.

Read -- 1UP Too Human preview
Read -- IGN Too Human preview
Read -- GameSpot Too Human preview

Forget the tiny snippets of gameplay in the recent Too Human video diary, because we've got the real thing right here. Through some sort of wizardry (necromancy, we think) GameTrailers has procured a trailer for Too Human comprised entirely of gameplay footage. Isn't that something? Yeah, we thought so too. Throughout the video you get to see the cybernetic god Baldur doing what he does best, which is apparently killing robotic baddies of all stripes. For those of you out there that have been following the game, we hardly need to tell you that this is one of the very few looks we've had at the game proper. Having watched the video, we can't help but think of Diablo and its dungeon crawling sensibilities, which certainly isn't a bad thing. We're still not convinced about the right stick controlling attacks, but we're still eager to get our hands on a controller and try it out.

Watch the video and tell us what you think.

[Via Evil Avatar]

We really haven't seen much of Too Human's combat since the "flipbook presentation" during E3 2006. Now GameTrailers/Game Head have a "world exclusive" Too Human trailer. The cutscene stuff is mundane at this point, we've seen that before. The real meat in this Too Human trailer is getting a good look at the combat footage.

The combat appears to be Devil May Cry meets God of War, with that still-nagging frame rate hiccup in there. Legal entanglement questions regarding the Unreal Engine 3 aside, we're hoping to speak with Silicon Knights and finally get some hands-on time with Too Human by GDC in February. If we can actually play it this time around, we'll know it's close to being released.

The first in a series of Two Human video diaries has hit the intertubes. Microsoft protests that the video is also available on Xbox Live Marketplace, but our attempts to locate it thus far have proven unsuccessful. The video features Silicon Knights employees describing Baldur, the game's protagonist, and some of the reasoning behind choosing one of the more obscure Norse gods as a main character. There's also a rather off topic bit about what the developers do to blow off steam. Honestly, we've never thought of starting a club for pitching pencils into ceiling tiles, but we're seriously considering it now. Oh, and if you wait until the very end, you might see a few snippets of gameplay that you haven't seen before. Click. Watch. Enjoy.

Can't we all just get along? The lawsuit between Silicon Knights and Epic heats up again as the Too Human developer has filed a motion to dismiss Epic's counter-suit. In the paperwork obtained by Next-Gen, Silicon Knights' attorneys take apart piece by piece Epic's counterclaim that Silicon Knights stole Epic's technology from the Unreal Engine 3 to create (well, technically we should say develop 'cause it isn't done) Too Human.

SK's lawyers say that Epic's interpretation of an "operable" engine under the license they signed is that Epic could deliver nothing in return for SK's payments, which is what they alleged happened. They also say that Epic's claim that it's in their best interest to support UE3 licensees is a fallacy because "the profits Epic assured for itself by having Gears of War as the marquee title for the Xbox 360 dwarf any gain Epic would receive from Silicon Knights purchasing a subsequent licenses for the Engine." No word yet when a judge will rule on the motion to dismiss.

It's all looking too bad for SK really. The success of BioShock and Ken Levine's own words on the matter of the UE3 show that working with a cutting-edge engine is tough, but that's the path you walk with (at the time starting development) an unproven engine. Epic may have screwed SK, but as more games come out using the UE3, it just seems to highlight SK's ineptitude to manipulate the technology like everyone else seems to have had to do.

If any company is going to benefit from the success of BioShock, beyond 2K Boston and Take-Two, it's Epic with their embattled Unreal Engine 3. BioShock has brought very public redemption and good press to the UE3 due to 2K Boston's phenomenal use of the tech. This hasn't gone unnoticed by Epic's Mark Rein who says, "We like to think we set a high bar with our own games, but more importantly we give our licensees the opportunity to take what we've done and do something even better with it ... There are a lot more great titles coming from our licensees as well and we're very proud of what is being accomplished and the helping role we get to play in their success."

2K Boston's Ken Levine didn't wimp out on talking about their issues with the UE3 during our interview with him. Levine said, "Of course, it's an engine, engine's are always a bear. Developing games is really hard, I think the mistake that a company like Epic might make is to say, 'Oh yeah, it's simple, we give you the engine and you go do it fellas, it'll be a breeze.' Development is hard, it gives you a leg up, but if you don't have a great technology team you're going to run into trouble. Even if you have a great technology team you can run into trouble." Although the exact contractual issues regarding Silicon Knights' license with Epic are something for the court to decide, SK's inability to get Too Human working with the UE3 looks pretty awkward in the court of public opinion in the wake of BioShock.